MONEY MATTERS

Next on my list was money matters.  On my World Odyssey I had Travelex cards that basically work like a credit/debit card and there were a few that you could choose from.  They had ATM cards in different currencies and they also had a Visa card option as well.  So, me wanting to be prepared for anything and everything, I got ATM cards in British Pounds, Euros and Australian Dollars and I also got a Visa card in Australian dollars which this was going to be my primary source of accessing my money.  The beauty of these cards is ten fold.  They don’t access any funds from your personal accounts here in Oz; you transfer money via BPay or reload where you bought the cards from.  If you lose them, they are easily replaced at any Travelex office around the world, 24/7 global assistance and you also get 2 cards on the one account.  It is an amazing product and I didn’t have a single issue the whole trip using these cards. 

There were 2 instances where my card was stopped and I was notified.  The first time I was in Madagascar and I had used my card to purchase duty free (considered an African country) and then I flew 4 hours to get to Reunion Island which is under French rule and I used the ATM to get out some cash in Euro’s.  Well the ‘system’ had a problem that I could get from Africa to France in 4 hours and stopped the card till I had let them know what had happened and at the touch of a button my card was re-instated.  The second time was when I left Brazil.  I had used the ATM at the airport to get some Brazilian rials for my return.  I then flew to Frankfurt and purchased a new camera duty free and then 7 hours later I was using my card in the ATM at Addis Ababa International airport for some local cash.  So as the ‘system’ saw it, my card had been used in 3 continents in a span of 30 hours and again suspended my card.  They are good in letting you know, they send you an email and a number to call them back on.  If you don’t have access or money to use a phone they ask for a phone number they can call you on and a preferable time and they will call you.  And again after establishing the account and identity the card is all good to go again within 5 minutes.  I love my Travelex cards.

So having had and used these cards for the last 16 months, I had to check that I hadn’t exceeded the yearly spend on them of 45,000AUD.  If you get to that limit within the year then they will be stopped until your anniversary of the purchase comes around again, as the cards are valid for 3 years.  I was just going to purchase another 2 cards just to be on the safe side, but Travelex have slightly changed their product since I left and now only have a MasterCard option.  I am a little wary of MasterCard as some people on my Africa trip and in South America had problems accessing money from their MasterCard accounts.  The product itself is a lot better, the withdrawal are now free, the Visa cards were 3.75AUD, the yearly spend is now 100,000 and the cards look a lot groovier.  So when I was at the office yesterday I purchased the cards as ‘no fees’ is too good to pass up and I will use my Visa card as a backup if I have issues with MasterCard.  I always have an Australian credit card (small limit), an Australian ATM card and 2 Australian credit card numbers I have written down in code form with me as an extra backup.  I told you I was prepared for anything and you can never be over prepared when it comes to money.  I could think of nothing worse not being able access my money and relying on others to ‘spot’ me till I got my hands on money.  No thanks, hence the billion different options I travel with.     

So nothing extra has to be done in regards to accessing my money for my next journey.  What I had in place on my World Odyssey worked fine and I will use the same process again.  All I can say is thank goodness for internet banking and BPay and with the new MasterCard product having no withdrawal fees I think I am probably in a better place than last trip and also paying less fees than running my funds through an Australian card.