Hi friends, have flight booked for 16th but unsure of this money thing, as in how much is best to take and whether to take traveller cheques or just use visa card at atm's ????? asked partner and she also is unsure , flying into manila and staying in hotel at pasig ,,,,, ao also querie ref malaria meds ,,nurse has said no need as low risk but some friends say otherwise ( mainly in manila area and will be in palawan for 4 days ), all advice greatly appreciated Thank you all in advance
Generally I would always suggest you take some £'s and then exchange over in Philippines. The rates are pretty good over when compared to interbank rates. I tend not to take significant £ amounts solely from a security perspective. You can always take some Peso's with you just to pay for taxi or emergency etc. Everyone has their own way but here's what I do:- - Travel with around P5k cash - Travel with around £250 - Use a pre-paid cash card such as Caxton Card in local ATM's and in most retail outlets. I've been using the Caxton pre-paid card for quite some time now and have found it to suit me exactly. I have 3 cards. A dollar card, a Euro card and a Global Traveller Card in £'s The dollar and Euro cards get loaded at the exchange rates on the day you load them, not on the day you 'spend' them, so you have a nice chance to play the markets. Always worked for me so far this year. The other benefit is that the card(s) can be loaded up with cash at any time from your UK bank account online, by telephone or by text.That way your risk is contained somewhat. BTW, you can get extra cards in the name of your nearest and dearest that also can be loaded from your UK bank in the same way. Alternatively consider sending remittances to your Philippine bank (if you have one) That's the way I work it anyway. I'm sure other folks have their favorite ways too. Always consider security and minimising the risks. There's really not much you can do to control exchange rates, which actually won't change hugely during a month anyway. Just my 2 centavos
Ahh, the age old question To be honest, from me, it's maybe a question of do as I suggest not do as I do. If you follow my drift. I spent my working life of 35 years travelling around Africa, India and Asia. As you can imagine I entered into some high risk areas malaria-wise. There was a time I did take those anti-malaria pills, but you can only take them continuously for a limited period of time. It really does depend on where you go and the 'published' risks. The best advice I can offer is to follow FCO guidelines and be sure you comply with the requirements of the insurance policy. Outside of that it's a personal choice and down to you to make the decision based on your circumstances. Any medical advice you ignore is at your own peril. There are plenty of other helpful aids as well such as nets, sprays, annd burners. There is no cure for Malaria. How long do you intend to spend in Philippines?
Thanks Micawber I,m going for two weeks and the med site shows manila and puerto princessa are listed as low risk and none required for malaria , though must admit if all goes well with initial visit then there will be lot more so will have to do all the meds they advise, seems is just one visit now and again then quite a few meds not required ,,,,,,arm aready feels like been hit with lead hammer lol, Money wise i like the idea as my partner and i did discuss the prepaid card so many thanks for your advice
However the Caxton card has a 2.75% FX markup, and there is a local fee for using it in Philippine ATM machines, which can add one or two percent, dependant on the withdrawal amount. Always take out as much as possible, a fee of 200 peso on a 10,000 peso withdrawal adds 2% to the cost, so you will lose 4.75% in total. I find that the best rate is from a money changer, look for a reputable business. I have always found that they charge about 2.00% FX markup so I always travel with a bundle of clean fifty pound notes.
Yes Dave that's correct. There is a mark up of 2.5% to 2.75%. That's made very clear an upfront by the card issuer. I'm not trying to plug Caxton, just passing on some information that helps me. You know in the Philippines most ATM's have a charge. Some even charge P200 per transaction. Some ATM's have quite a low withdrawal limit. But how does the pre-paid Caxton card compare with other pre-paid cards, or even with your regular UK debit card / credit card ? Do you have comparative data? Just interested. As always it's horses for courses. Personally, I'm not the kind of person who feels comfortable travelling around with significant bundles of cash. I'm sure it may be more secure if you're staying in one place that you know well. The benefit of pre-paid for me is that the loss risk is only that amount on the card. The card can be topped up very easily and safely. Likewise, I don't feel comfortable roaming around with more cash than I need. I do agree that local money changer rates are also generally pretty good. I'm a believer in risk minimisation. Spread it around. No offence intended.
Yikes, worse than I remember. 1. All convert at Visa's exchange rate. 2. Commission is then charged. 3. UK bank then charges a fee for using a foreign ATM, this can have minimum and maximum amounts 4. The local Philippine bank now also charges their fee. =========================== Using the example of an ATM withdrawal of 10,000 PHP paying a 200 PHP local ATM charge (which is 2%). Citibank (at non-Citibank ATM**) 2.75% commission + 2.00 fee + 2.00% local fee. Lloyds Tsb 2.99% commission + 1.50% fee + 2.00% local fee. Caxton 2.75% commission + zero fee + 2.00% local fee. HSBC 2.75% commission + 2.00% fee + 2.00% local fee. ============================ Doing rough addition of the percentages: Citibank = 6.75% Lloyds TSB = 6.49% Caxton = 4.75% HSBC = 6.75% *Moneychanger = 2.00% *From experience a Moneychanger takes about 2.00% commission off the interbank rate when changing GBP to PHP. ** Note: If you have a UK Citibank card and find a Citibank ATM it is better than the moneychanger.
I usually take £ cash and have a Visa credit card for emergencies. I always change at the moneychangers but I do a bit of comparison on these also as I've found some are better than others. I keep the £ in my sock as I've never heard of people losing their socks in a robbery before. The moneychangers at the airport have strangely good rates in the Philippines compared to other countries in my experience so I change £100 on arrival.
Western Union cops a lot of flak over their transfer charges, however I always found their exchange rates to be very competitive, before I leave Australia I transfer what ever I feel I will need for the trip to my wife in one hit, where she is living there is a 5,000 peso withdrawal limit and a 250 peso foreign card transaction fee, not to mention the disgraceful exchange rates offered by Australian banks along with their foreign transaction fee's.... I got caught once and it cost me about 350 dollars in transaction fees for the one trip...... never again...
