I have the two phones too, for exactly the same reason. To which I can add that one is buried away in the cubbyhole on my 1600 and I can’t be arsed to get it out. I am now thinking that I might get myself an Apple Watch and make payments that way.
For ALL Pre-loaded cards / debit cards / credit cards - What is best for travel?
- Thread starter 47steve
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I have the two phones too, for exactly the same reason. To which I can add that one is buried away in the cubbyhole on my 1600 and I can’t be arsed to get it out. I am now thinking that I might get myself an Apple Watch and make payments that way.
What about Steptoe in the 1980’s , travelling through Europe on an old airhead
No phone
No breakdown cover
No credit cards - just a pocketful of francs and pesetas or lire
No sat nav, just a map or route notes scribbled on a chain restaurant serviettes (with a map of France etched on them)
Leather jacket and jeans, plus waterproofs
An old open face helmet, without comms or music playing via Bluetooth
Spare a thought,bikermate ….
Now we have so many charge cables,adapters and seemingly ‘essential’ gadgets we need a whole bag or top box just to carry them
I can still remember the days when the only communication I had was a French telecom phone card and a map, plus a book of travellers cheques
Well done
Next the JaJa and / or Halifax credit card. As they are free, you might as well have both, keeping them separate.
it will have to be the Halifax card. Jaja are not taking new customers, so I am expecting to be ported to a third provider in the near future...
Virgin (was Yorkshire & Clydesdale) & Santander have similar cards with no currency conversion fees.
I too remember the French phone cards…… and I remember before those materialised, too.
The main reason I have two phones, is that one is used for work and one is private.
I can also remember not having any waterproofs to speak of, only a bin bag.
Maps, I have never given up on.
What though I have adopted is anything that makes my life easier and more comfortable *. If I can just fill up with fuel in sunny France, wander over to the pay desk, possibly picking up a sandwich en route (that’s French) and pay for the lot with a flick of my watch, the job’s a carrot. Likewise paying for anything else.
* That embraces waterproof clothing, too…..
Thanks for the heads-up about JaJa. I guess I’ll be moved to someone else, too. I’ll hold off looking at a Virgin or Santander card until I know what is going on with JaJa. If you hear of anything, please let us know.
seems Jaja are focusing on providing cards for other organisation. They have the AA card and recently launched an Asda branded card but this has the 3% currency conversion fee.
I too remember the French phone cards…… and I remember before those materialised, too.
The main reason I have two phones, is that one is used for work and one is private.
I can also remember not having any waterproofs to speak of, only a bin bag.
Maps, I have never given up on.
What though I have adopted is anything that makes my life easier and more comfortable *. If I can just fill up with fuel in sunny France, wander over to the pay desk, possibly picking up a sandwich en route (that’s French) and pay for the lot with a flick of my watch, the job’s a carrot. Likewise paying for anything else.
* That embraces waterproof clothing, too…..
Agreed
Every time I pack up the bike to go away, I think how much extra we take now and think back to carefree days in the 1980’s and 90’s where we took a lot less (and survived)
In the mid 90’s I went to south of France to the Bol d’or
One chap Malc (RIP) on a Ducati 888 turned up at the ferry, with just a tank bag - but wearing full leathers, with a one piece waterproof suit (worn as a bumbag, when not deployed)
All he needed was in the tank bag (wash kit/underwear/shorts/T-shirt/fleece/flip flops) for the week away
How simple life was back then
Yup. Been there and had only poor gear. Not anymore. Maybe apart from fancy waterproofs and still a piss pot. And a bit more spending money.
mikedefieslife
Registered user
Quite a lot of choice when it comes to travel cards now. https://moneysavinganswers.com/travel/the-best-travel-credit-and-debit-cards-for-foreign-currency/
I noticed that for HSBC users there's a new global money card that looks interesting, I've not tested it myself though.
Incidentally, I remember my tours earlier in the 2000s (2008-13 etc..) and many euro petrol stations and tolls didn't like UK debit cards. Yesterday I running low on fuel in Italy, and most petrol stations were pay at the pump type. My starling card via Apple Pay worked well which was a nice surprise.
I noticed that for HSBC users there's a new global money card that looks interesting, I've not tested it myself though.
Incidentally, I remember my tours earlier in the 2000s (2008-13 etc..) and many euro petrol stations and tolls didn't like UK debit cards. Yesterday I running low on fuel in Italy, and most petrol stations were pay at the pump type. My starling card via Apple Pay worked well which was a nice surprise.
Thank you. As I bank with HSBC, I have applied for and received the new card.
I’ll use it to replace my Post Office cash card.
I’ll use it to replace my Post Office cash card.
The HSBC cash card seems to work (at least in its digital form) which is encouraging. I have added the card to my Apple iPhone’s wallet, where it’ll be useful for paying small bills when abroad. I’ll drop my Post Office and Revolut cash cards but retain my Caxton card as a back up. I’ll also retain my Jaja (previously Post Office) credit card and my Halifax credit card. These I only use when abroad, as I leave my HSBC main debit and credit cards at home.
Why do I have two credit and cash cards? Simply as a bit of insurance, as I keep them separated, reducing (I hope) the chances of losing both at once. Why do I leave my main HSBC cards at home? Simply so that, if I was to be as unfortunate as to lose my wallet(s) abroad, I will still have easy access to my bank account and main credit card when I get back home.
Why do I have two credit and cash cards? Simply as a bit of insurance, as I keep them separated, reducing (I hope) the chances of losing both at once. Why do I leave my main HSBC cards at home? Simply so that, if I was to be as unfortunate as to lose my wallet(s) abroad, I will still have easy access to my bank account and main credit card when I get back home.
The quite popular JaJa credit card, previously the Post Office credit card, is closing its doors from 17 May 2023….. but maybe not for everyone.
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I have not had any notification. Have you had an email or letter?
An email, about 20 minutes ago.
I have had one for years, it having taken over from the old Post Office credit card.
Of course it might just be me, as I now see that they refer to ‘your’. I hardly use the thing and pay it off in full, so I guess they make feck all out of me. Maybe it’s because I have just had my birthday?
I don’t take it personally. I only owned the card as a spare, using my Halifax credit card in the main when travelling, as I leave my HSBC cash and credit cards at home. I do though like the security of having two credit cards when abroad, in case I lose one. On the strength of this alone, I have just applied for and been approved for a Barclays credit card, which came as highly recommended on the Money Supermarket comparison website thing for overseas use.
I also have the new HSBC overseas cash card thing and a Caxton cash card thing, both of which I can charge up via my phone, so I am pretty much OK day-to-day abroad, as all I need is something to buy fuel, pay hotels / small bills and MOST IMPORTANTLY, get me home in a hurry if the chips were ever down.
I declined their kind offer to keep me up-to-date with their blurb.
I guess I could have just wondered into Halifax on Fenchurch Street and asked them about a second card? Hey ho, Barclays it is.
a couple of my legacy card accounts have been closed due to inactivity. They were cards that had decent rewards programmes when opened but those programmes were withdrawn or watered down so they had not been used for years.
I used the Jaja one when in Spain last September so maybe I will be okay. Nothing on their website to say they are closing down the credit card business, although they have not been opening new accounts.
Anyway, I also looked at MSE and I already have a Barclaycard Rewards card (not the good travel version but gives me cashback so used for everyday stuff) so I have opened a Halifax account as a reserve if the Jaja one is withdrawn.
I used the Jaja one when in Spain last September so maybe I will be okay. Nothing on their website to say they are closing down the credit card business, although they have not been opening new accounts.
Anyway, I also looked at MSE and I already have a Barclaycard Rewards card (not the good travel version but gives me cashback so used for everyday stuff) so I have opened a Halifax account as a reserve if the Jaja one is withdrawn.
Indeed so.
I remember that JaJa had closed for new card applications; I think it was you that gave the news on UKGSer. So, I wasn’t much surprised when the mail came in.
If the banks are clearing out legacy cards, it’s a good thing really.
I might just use my Halifax card a bit, just so they can see it ticking over once a month, as it would be a nuisance to have that one closed for lack of activity. To that end, I have just added it to my wallet on my iPhone. I’ll use it to buy cups of tea once or twice a month. I’ll do the same with the new Barclays card, too.
I remember that JaJa had closed for new card applications; I think it was you that gave the news on UKGSer. So, I wasn’t much surprised when the mail came in.
If the banks are clearing out legacy cards, it’s a good thing really.
I might just use my Halifax card a bit, just so they can see it ticking over once a month, as it would be a nuisance to have that one closed for lack of activity. To that end, I have just added it to my wallet on my iPhone. I’ll use it to buy cups of tea once or twice a month. I’ll do the same with the new Barclays card, too.
I’ve just chopped up my JaJa card.
I’ll leave the app on my phone active in case any (now very late) transactions come through and, of course, in case some nice fellow in Nigeria once lifted the details and hadn’t got around to buying a pair of bling’ed up Nike trainers in Los Angeles.
I’ll leave the app on my phone active in case any (now very late) transactions come through and, of course, in case some nice fellow in Nigeria once lifted the details and hadn’t got around to buying a pair of bling’ed up Nike trainers in Los Angeles.
Just out of vague interest I called JaJa to get the story. Following a strategic review, they have decided to end the JaJa card for everyone. Strangely enough, I wasn’t the first person to have called them today asking why.
I can only assume JaJa are cancelling the cards in batches?
If there is anyone out there who holds the card, using it as a main card or just a back-up as I did, you might want to think about getting a replacement lined up, all be it you do get a couple of months’ warning.
PS I have now got (as in been approved for) a second Halifax Clarity card, to sit alongside my first to act as a spare, kept separate when I go travelling. It has a separate credit limit to my first card, which is definitely good enough for most things up to and including emergency returns home. Interestingly, you can chose how to divide the credit limits of the two cards between them. I take it that, were I to lose one, I could freeze it and transfer the balance of the credit into my second card or, in a huge emergency, simply combine the two credit numbers into one. Hopefully I will never get to test it.
This means I needn’t have bothered getting the Barclays card, which I can now either cancel or keep as a ‘spare’ spare. Having a spare is always useful, as I have found out and a happy Wanderer on a Wapping’s Wanders also found out, too.
I can only assume JaJa are cancelling the cards in batches?
If there is anyone out there who holds the card, using it as a main card or just a back-up as I did, you might want to think about getting a replacement lined up, all be it you do get a couple of months’ warning.
PS I have now got (as in been approved for) a second Halifax Clarity card, to sit alongside my first to act as a spare, kept separate when I go travelling. It has a separate credit limit to my first card, which is definitely good enough for most things up to and including emergency returns home. Interestingly, you can chose how to divide the credit limits of the two cards between them. I take it that, were I to lose one, I could freeze it and transfer the balance of the credit into my second card or, in a huge emergency, simply combine the two credit numbers into one. Hopefully I will never get to test it.
This means I needn’t have bothered getting the Barclays card, which I can now either cancel or keep as a ‘spare’ spare. Having a spare is always useful, as I have found out and a happy Wanderer on a Wapping’s Wanders also found out, too.
I have had the Jaja email today, account to close in May. The new Halifax card's PIN came yesterday and a text today to say the card has been posted. This will take over as the main travel purchase card with a Virgin credit card in reserve. Virgin debit card for cash withdrawals if needed. All have no currency conversion fees.
As for a debit and ATM card I was going to go down the Starling route as I can make my own foreign exchanges using Currency fair to load into Starling. No commission but purchases other than ATM is MasterCard exchange rate.
Is HSBC a better option than that?
Is HSBC a better option than that?
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