Australians Travelling International - Spending

It's been three years since I first made my way overseas, since then I have been to 12 countries (in September it will be 13), to say I have the travel bug is an understatement, I have the travel disease. I never have any annual leave saved anymore, opting to spend it every chance I get on international destinations. My most returned to destination has been Florida, USA. Mainly because I have made the most amazing friends there, I never thought playing video games could make this kind of connection!

After all this I feel I'm more experienced in providing feedback and ideas on spending whilst away. I mentioned some options in a previous post and I want to update my suggestions

28 Degrees MasterCard

28 Degrees mastercard has been my go to spending card at all my destinations so far. I can use it anywhere mastercard is accepted (I haven't been to a place that doesn't accept it). You need to be really strict! or face the high interest charges. I always load it up (keep balance in credit), or at least have the funds to transfer onto it to pay off the balance immediately.

The Good: 

Convenient
Minimal fees
Free Global Wifi (have not used yet)
No Annual Fee
No Set Currency
Mobile Pay

The Bad:

High Interest Rate (but if you load money or pay balance before due you won't have to pay the interest)
Can't lock in currencies when they're good
Account transfer fee 95c every time you make a payment to the card (if it's in the negative)
Cash Advance fee 3% of the cash advance or $4 (whichever is greater)

I like that I don't need to worry about loading times then waiting for the funds to become available. I can use the credit card balance if I don't have it in credit. I don't have to load it with any particular currency, conversion is done automatically through mastercard. If the balance is in credit when I get home I can leave it for next time or I can spend it easily in Australia.

Prepaid Travel Cards: e.g. Qantas, Velocity (Virgin) and Travelex

If you don't like the idea of a credit card there are other options, Prepaid debit cards. All have their own fees but they all allow money to be loaded on to them. Banks can offer their own travel cards too, they usually cost to set up and they use their own conversion rates.

The good: 

It's your own money.
You can lock in exchange rates by loading when the currency is good.

The Bad: 

You have to load specific currencies onto it. It's fine if you are travelling to one country or to a place that uses the one currency but if you don't spend everything on it it will cost you to transfer it back. They can cost to load up, use and transfer off. So many fees!

ING - Bank Card 

This has it's own section, it's a new option (2018). I haven't used it yet, but for my upcoming trip to Japan I will be testing. Basically I can use my everyday banking card and have no fees. Most similar to 28 Degrees Mastercard but using my own money.
last year I converted my everyday banking to ING. The interest rate on their savings account 2.80% was just too good to pass up, no other bank even comes close. One of their main benefits is no fees ever! No transaction fees, account fees or ATM fees, this was only in Australia but in March 2018 they made it international (provided certain goals were made).

No international transaction fees

Shop online and overseas and we'll rebate the ING international transaction fees on your eBays, Etsys and more.

ATMs absolutely everywhere

In addition to free ATMs in Australia, we'll rebate the ATM fee at any ATM around the world within five business days (excluding the Orange One cash advance fee).

The goals are easily accomplished if this is your everyday banking:

1. Deposit at least $1,000 from an external bank account to any personal ING account in your name (excluding Living Super and Orange One) each month
2. Make at least 5 card purchases using your ING debit or credit card each month

I will update once I test this out.