Senecio:

 

$10 per coffee!!

 

Turkish coffee is pretty good,  but you should see the Ice Cream :) 

Senecio:

 

$10 per coffee!!

 

We paid over the odds on that occasion, closer to $7 other places. But on the whole, so far, for food and drink Turkey is coming out more expensive than NZ. In Istanbul, main dishes can range from $40 to $100 in the tourist areas, though you can find cheaper if prepared to hunt around outside of key tourist routes. Today we drove 4 hours to Zeytinbagi and we were still looking at $40 to $80 for a main course. Years of high double digit inflation have taken their toll, Turkey is no longer the cheap tourist haven of the past.

In the process of signing up for a wise card, does anybody have a referral link they would like to share? Thanks

If you don't already have one, mine is:  https://wise.com/invite/drhc/pauljosephk17

Interestingly, yesterday I discovered one thing that I wanted that Wise couldn't do.  i.e. transfer NZD to a Cook Islands bank account.  When you choose NZD as currency, it expects a valid NZ bank account.  I had to revert to transferring from my bank.

Earbanean:

 

If you don't already have one, mine is:  https://wise.com/invite/drhc/pauljosephk17

 

awesome, thanks

Just got back from our trip on Tuesday night. Happy to report Wise worked perfectly everywhere and the groups setting to keep a separate pot of money we could both access worked as we wanted. We both had a digital card for this on our phones and the main time we used it was for the tube in London. You can pay with contactless card/phone so we both just tapped in and out at the stations and it took the money from the same account with 2 different cards. 

Also if you need to topup to Wise while away it's best to do it on a weekday if you want it quickly. We did a topup during a weekend (didn't need it urgently so it was ok) and it didn't come through until the Monday morning NZ time. Another time we did it during the week and it came through in a couple of hours.

Also recommend Sim Corner for esims. We used an unlimited data package for Europe and worked perfectly. Mainly used for google maps and public transport journey planning while out, and contacting each other (messenger or whatsapp) any time we were separated. Only had an issue once in Ireland when there was an outage and we couldn't use google maps to get back to our accommodation but our rental car had its own satnav so it was ok. The esim was back working by the time we got back.

invisibleman18:

 

Just got back from our trip on Tuesday night. Happy to report Wise worked perfectly everywhere and the groups setting to keep a separate pot of money we could both access worked as we wanted. We both had a digital card for this on our phones and the main time we used it was for the tube in London. You can pay with contactless card/phone so we both just tapped in and out at the stations and it took the money from the same account with 2 different cards. 

 

Also if you need to topup to Wise while away it's best to do it on a weekday if you want it quickly. We did a topup during a weekend (didn't need it urgently so it was ok) and it didn't come through until the Monday morning NZ time. Another time we did it during the week and it came through in a couple of hours.

 

Also recommend Sim Corner for esims. We used an unlimited data package for Europe and worked perfectly. Mainly used for google maps and public transport journey planning while out, and contacting each other (messenger or whatsapp) any time we were separated. Only had an issue once in Ireland when there was an outage and we couldn't use google maps to get back to our accommodation but our rental car had its own satnav so it was ok. The esim was back working by the time we got back.

 

Having returned recently from a six week trip, first time Wise user, I can't recommend it highly enough. What I really like is the instant advice of the full NZD cost at the time of the transaction - compared with my Visa which shows an initial charge as pending for several days, before adding in a couple of extra fees a few days later. I did a test in Turkey where I purchased the same item with both Wise and Visa; Wise was about 10% cheaper than Visa.

I used mainly contactless via phone for most transactions, only using my physical card occasionally, mainly for ATM.

I'm about to travel with a friend who has been recommended a "Travelex" card by the travel agent.

Anyone have negative experience with a Travelex card, or is it much the same as Wise?

I've signed up for a Wise card (perhaps more reliable for us to have different brands of card?)

robocat:

 

I'm about to travel with a friend who has been recommended a "Travelex" card by the travel agent.

 

Anyone have negative experience with a Travelex card, or is it much the same as Wise?

 

I've signed up for a Wise card (perhaps more reliable for us to have different brands of card?)

 

Travelex cards seems to be dripping with fees

"Load/reload in NZD: 
the greater of 1.0% of the initial load/reload amount or NZD$10.00. Load/reload in other currencies: zero.For example, for a Distribution Outlet charging a 1.0% initial load fee, if you purchase a Travelex Money Card and load NZD$800, you would be charged (NZD$800 x 1.0%=NZD$8), unless a minimum fee of NZD$10 applies"

"Monthly inactivity fee
Charged at the start of each month if you have not made any transactions on the card in the previous 12 months
Unless your card is used again, or reloaded, this fee applies each month until the card is closed or the remaining card balance is less than the inactivity fee.
NZ$4.00 per month

"Currency Conversion Fee
Applied when a purchase or ATM withdrawal is conducted in a currency either not loaded or sufficient to complete the transaction and the cost is allocated against the currency/ies used to fund the transaction
MasterCard® rate plus 4.00% of the transaction value. "

Travelex Money Card closure fee (Cash Out fee)
Charged when you close or Cash Out your Travelex Money Card. This fee is set and charged by MasterCard Prepaid Management Services.
NZ$10.00

https://www.travelex.co.nz/travel-card#faqtmcnz

That travelex card is daylight robbery, to reuse an old phrase! Presumably the travel agent gets a nice commission for referrals though

shk292:

 

That travelex card is daylight robbery, to reuse an old phrase! Presumably the travel agent gets a nice commission for referrals though

 

There is probably a very good reason why many know of the Wise card and very few of the Travelex card.

Definitely use Wise. Great app and found it so easy. Added benefit is being able to instantly transfer money between you and your friend if say one pays for something on behalf of the other etc.

Edit: And as per the topic of this thread, you can set up a "group" option if you want to pool any money together than you can both access to spend.