As the holiday season finally pays us a welcome visit and more countries continue to lift travel restrictions to reopen the global economy, many South Africans may plan their next international holiday. However, given the logistics involved in an international trip, extensive planning and preparation is required to avoid a failed trip and excessive spending. Chantal Robertson, head of cross-border advice at FNB, provides a helpful checklist you need to tick to ensure that your trip abroad is hassle free and within budget:
Ensure that you take up some travel insurance cover – Travel insurance covers medical emergencies during your travel, including the cost of medical treatment up to a certain limit, whether for a medical condition or for an accident. It also covers trip disruptions, such as cancellation or curtailment of trip due to any reason and covers booking cancellations by you or the tour company.
Beware of withdrawal fees when drawing cash – There is a withdrawal fee (for example, €4 for withdrawals in Europe), but using a global account debit card is a more secure means of making purchases. Therefore, it is advised that cash be withdrawn using this card at an international ATM only when necessary (in the case where bank cards aren’t accepted.) Global accounts will offer additional security, customers will be able to add a USD, EUR and GBP global virtual card to their physical global debit card at no additional cost. Like the global debit card, these virtual cards can be added to third-party digital wallets, such as Google Wallet, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay.
Use your global account card for international card transactions – Swiping with a local credit or debit card sees an additional 2% currency conversion rate. However, when using a global debit card, there’s no conversion rate at all if you’re using it in the currency of the country. For example, if you’re travelling to Europe and have a Euro global card, there will be no additional fees or commissions levied – it’s the same as spending here in SA. And even if you are spending in another currency, such as the Australian dollar, there is only a 1% conversion rate – which is still significantly less than your local credit card fee. In addition to this benefit, our customers can earn up to 4% back in eBucks when they use their Global Debit or Global Virtual card.
Will you be travelling abroad this holiday season? Share in the comments section below what you are you looking forward to.
