ANZ Card

[chickyann]

Hi Aussies,

We're off to Anaheim in October, in the past we've travelled to LA, Hawaii, the UK & Europe before with our own credit cards with mixed results, we're thinking of using a pre paid card in US dollars this time so I'd love some insider info on the ANZ travel card.

Have you used it? how does it work? are there any hidden fees & traps?

TIA

 

[aussiegirls]

Hey chickyann Good to see you over this side of the boards.

I will tell you what I know about the ANZ travelcard. We used it when we went over in October last year and found it to be great. I researched, and researched on our best option before we left, and I don't regret using the travelcard.

It costs $11 to set up the card with your initial deposit and 1.1% of each deposit after that. So the cheapest way to do it is to put all your cash on in one go, that way all you pay is the $11. If you need to put more on, it is usually more economical to buy a whole new card than to top up an existing one.

You can use it anywhere that they take Visa - which is pretty much everywhere and there are no fees for doing that. There is a fee of USD$2.20 for ATM withdrawals, but we only needed to use an ATM once I think.

There is a monthly account keeping fee, but they only charge this if the card has been inactive for over 12 months.

They also give you a PIN so you can get online at any time and check your balances etc, so you know if you are running low on funds

Personally, I found it great and would recommend it. I actually bought another one this week for our trip coming up in Nov/Dec. And the ANZ exchange rate is pretty ok too. It's not as great as AMEX but as far as banks go, it was one of the better ones, I found.

Hope that helps.

xxx

 

[chickyann]

thanks Aussiegirls!!

So have you closed your older cards? Easy to do, or do they charge for that too?

 

[aussiegirls]

I only have 1 other card and I haven't closed it as it still has quite a bit of USD on it, so I am taking it with me.

As far as I am aware there are 2 ways of closing it. You can just go to an ATM in Aust and get all the money out, but I am not sure if there are any fees that go with taking it out at a different currency.

The other option is going into a branch and filling out a closure form. They will then send you a cheque (I think) of your remaining balance at whatever exchange rate is on the day you hand in the form.

xxx

 

[shan08]

Aussiegirls - I have just purchased my first ANZ travelcard. We are thinking of taking two rather than topping up the one I just got, so that way I can use one for food, petrol etc, and the other purely for spending, clothes, gifts etc. Maybe we can track our spending better that way. When you go online to check purchases/balances, is it instant or do you have to wait a couple of days?
Also IF there is anything left over when we come home, what is the process to get it? (Haven't read the booklet they gave me yet).
How much cash do you really need to carry, if we are using a TC? Would you only need it for tipping, cabs/buses, drinks etc?
We leave in six weeks, and although everything is pretty well booked and paid for, Im starting to get a little nervous. I know the family will be relying on me to have everything under control.

 

[aussiegirls]

shan, I think (as with all credit card transactions) it may not show immediately on your online banking. Having said that though, the transaction should have at least come off your available funds if it hasn't come up on the statement - if you know what I mean.

We took maybe about $1000USD in cash with us, but it really was not necessary, aside from a small amount of tipping where I didn't use the card. I mostly took cash so I could separate the kids spending money, and also it was much easier for them to keep a track of their own money if they had cash as opposed to just taking it off a card for them. We just stored our cash in the safe in our room and each day the kids would decide how much they wanted to take for that day. Aside from that all I used was the travel card and never had any issues at all.

My previous post gives, to the best of my knowledge, procedure for getting remaining cash when you return home. Although I haven't done it myself, it is how I understand it is done

xxx

 

[shan08]

Thanks Aussiegirls, I was planning on taking $1000US, also have got $500US each for the kids, so like you they can choose on a daily basis how much they want, and I dont have to bother with all the calculations from my money.
RE tipping - still very confused. If we eat at a restaurant and pay with our Travel Card, do we cash tip or that would be on the bill? Everyone is saying it takes a while to get use to tipping, but it still makes me nervous!!

 

[aussiegirls]

When you pay at restaurants with any sort of credit card, what they do is, on the little bit of paper they bring for you to sign, it has the total for the meal and then a little line underneath where you are supposed to write how much you want to add to it. Then you add the two up, and sign for the total.

xxx

 

[shan08]

Thanks for that. So they dont put what is required and we just have to pay it. Does that go for WDW too. What happens if your on Dining Plan. Do you tip cash?
Sorry for the questions!!

 

[aussiegirls]

No they don't tell you what you have to tip - thank God!!!!

I have not been to WDW, so can't help you with that one, sorry

xxx

 

[BrizMarc]

The commonwealth bank travel card is good too, it allows you to keep up to 5 different currency on it and they dont charge you a fee when you put your first amount of money on it.

 

[aussietravellers]

Thanks for that. So they dont put what is required and we just have to pay it. Does that go for WDW too. What happens if your on Dining Plan. Do you tip cash?
Sorry for the questions!!

At WDW there are tipping suggestions on the bottom of the bill. I think it is 15% and 18% suggestions but it may have 20% also. If you are a group of 6 or more (which includes 5 and a baby or 4 and two babies) or you use TIW then it is an automatic 18% tip added to the bill. But it is up to you to add the amount you want if there are under 6 people in your group, but there are definately suggestions at WDW

If you are on the dining plan you can pay the tip by cash, room charge, credit card (travel card) travellers cheque, Disney Gift Card, the option is yours They will again give you suggestion of 15% and 18% (and maybe 20%) as you still tip the actual amount of the bill even if dining credits are being used to pay for the meal. You don't have to tip at Counter Service restaurants though.

There are some places where the tip is included like CRT.

Where ever you go, just make sure that they tip isn't included. They can be sneaky, at Disneyland at PCH Grill for breakfast, we were paying the bill and the tip was included, added to the bill. I said that I wanted to pay the food by room charge but would pay the tip in cash (thinking that he would prefer the cash tip, but it's all the same to them). Anyway so he took the bill away and came back for us to sign the room charge and the amount was the same, he had taken the cash tip and had not removed the tip from the bill! So we had been charged 18% on the bill and I had given him 20% cash, so I was paying 38% tip for a buffet!!!!!!!!!! I questioned him about it and he said "oh I just thought you were giving me extra!" I said "ah no I was quite clear that I was paying the tip in cash". He threw the cash back on the table and said "FINE" and stormed off. He was a rude won't say it.

So from then on, I always just added the tip either by room charge or credit card as I didn't want there to be any confusion

Tipping can be a little daunting, but many restaurants put suggestions now and if not, just leave 15 to 20% of the bill and you will be fine. Also some will offer suggestions of tips hearing that you are not from USA (they will think you are from the UK or NZ )

 

[aussiegirls]

BrizMarc, yes the Comm Bank travel card is similar, but the initial card issue fee is $15 and the ATM fee is USD$2.50.

xxx

 

[aliceinoz]

I have been doing my homework and I think I am going to go with the ANZ Card. I was told that the local bank may charge a fee in addition to the ANZ fee. Has anyone experienced this?
Also, I was at AMEX yesterday redeming some reward points for cash and they told me they are introducing a Travel Card in the next couple of weeks. But they couldn't give me any details yet. Maybe I'll wait to see what they offer.
Oh and one more thing, Amex also have a promo at the moment for fee free cash if you have an AMEX card. I think that is valid for August only.

 

[BrizMarc]

I was at AMEX yesterday redeming some reward points for cash and they told me they are introducing a Travel Card in the next couple of weeks. But they couldn't give me any details yet.

Very interesting, Is that all they said?

 

[aussiegirls]

aliceinoz, the only additional fees that I received on the travelcard from another bank was an ATM fee. You know the ones you get when you go to an ATM and it says that this transaction will cost you $2, it's that same fee. Aside from that I didn't get charged any other fees.

xxx

 

[1rocky]

When you use the travel card for purchases do you press credit on the keypad or savings thanks for a great thread it has helped alot

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

When you use the travel card for purchases do you press credit on the keypad or savings thanks for a great thread it has helped alot

Yikes, that's a good question. I can't remember what we did last time.

Hopefully someone knows.

 

[PrincessInOz]

When you use the travel card for purchases do you press credit on the keypad or savings thanks for a great thread it has helped alot

When you use the travel card to pay for purchases, you press credit. It works like a debit credit card and I understand from my husband that you don't pay any fees for these transactions.

When you use the travel card to withdraw cash from an ATM, you press savings. You pay the ATM transaction fee, which I believe may be either $2 or $5. I can't remember which.

 

[aussiegirls]

To be honest I can't remember if I pressed savings or credit when I was making the transactions, but I do remember putting my pin in all the time, so it probably was savings, but I can't be sure.

The ATM fee was, at the ATM I used, only $2. I remember because at the time I thought that it was exactly the same as I would have been paying at home. It was def not $5 when I used mine, if it was I would have and probably not taken the money out.

xxx