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Travel insurance and ATM cards

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Need Advice
14 years ago, March 30th 2010 No: 1 Msg: #107571  
Hi all,

I'm after any info on recommended travel insurance companies and ATM VISA / MasterCard Debit cards for international usage.

i have done a little research on some debit cards such as the Wizard clear Advantage MasterCard and the NAB Gold Advantage Cards but being new to international travel i could use some help on this or other cards / banks recommended for RTW travel.

I have read a lot of info on some cards that say they can be used anywhere VISA or MasterCard ATMS are labeled, then they go on to say stuff about Cirrus and Plus networks, anyone able to explain this a little in layman's terms.

As for Travel insurance, i have looked into STATravels insurance and a few others. what im after here is a cheap option that covers the necessaries without leaving me high and dry, any recommendations??


Looking for any advice from Aussie travelers who have had experience with these cards / insurance or any they would reccomend to look into before i go on my trip.

Thanks in advance, Chris Reply to this

13 years ago, April 21st 2010 No: 2 Msg: #109266  
Hey, Chris, the Travelex Visa Debit is pretty good, they've got it in several currencies, I've used it before and known of people to use it in Asia, Europe and the USA. travelex.com.au.

Take it easy!
Michael
Reply to this

13 years ago, April 21st 2010 No: 3 Msg: #109301  
B Posts: 58
Hello Chris. We have been on the road for 18 months and carry both Visa and Mastercard. We tend to use Visa most of the tim - we have both debit and credit cards - and keep the Mastercards as a back up if there is a problem with the Visa. There can be problems when a transaction trips one of the flags that the banks set up to detect fraud and stop your card so a back up is useful. You can get them to lift the stopper but it does take an international call and that can be a nuisance in some places

We have found that Visa is accepted more than other cards. We have been through places such as China, Vietnam, India, Eastern Europe and Africa and had no problems. Just look for an ATM with the Cirrus or Visa tags on them and away you go.

On travel insurance, we had some for 12 months with a company called CHI. They were reasonably priced at the time and paid up well and quickly with the only claim we had to make. But when we needed our second year of insurance we found a company called Itrex. Their premium was about half that of the previous one. They did have some restrictions on countries not covered but we had been through most of those countries already so that was OK. I found a web site that compared all of the available options that was handy. Sorry but I can't remember what it was called.

Good luck Reply to this

13 years ago, April 21st 2010 No: 4 Msg: #109305  
B Posts: 58
Sorry Chris. I should have also said that I don't really know what Cirrus and Visa Plus are all about. I do know that their labels on an ATM mean that you can withdraw cash on your Visa Debit or Credit card.

You might want to check with your bank what they charge for each transaction. We found that our banks fees - Westpac - added up to almost triple per transaction what the credit union - ACCA - we have an account with charge. Reply to this

13 years ago, April 23rd 2010 No: 5 Msg: #109420  
hey chris, we used STA travel for insurance and have an NAB gold card for all our purchases/ATM withdrawals.

On the insurance front, I'd say that STA has good coverage and paid our claim pretty quickly (a couple of weeks for a very basic $80 medical fee, I wonder if it would have taken a lot longer for something more pricey), but the premium was quite high. About $3100 for a couple for 12 months, and that was AFTER a 20% promotional discount they had at the time we purchased it. I would shop around, I've heard Nomads (try googling it) has a pretty good deal but I have no idea what the extent of their coverage is.

With the NAB Gold Visa Debit card, I have been super happy with it and recommend it to every Aussie traveller I know who is going overseas for some time. It's only $10 a month and gives you unlimited debit withdrawals and purchases with the debit Visa for no additional costs whatsoever. Of course other financial institutions may charge you a couple of dollars for using their ATM but if you're in a country for an extended period of time, you'll find out which ones don't charge fees (for example TD in Canada, Chase in the USA, and quite a few in the UK. Most Europe and SE Asian countries didn't charge anything if they were a major banking institution). Best of all, you can book all of your flights etc over the internet using the debit visa portion, without paying the 2% fee (or whatever is it) for a regular credit card for the currency exchange fee. Reply to this

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