Looking to put about £600 ish on a travel card, and take about €400 in cash for a trip to Paris.

Anything better than FairFX? Don’t want to take my regular bank card in case it gets nicked.

Ta!

I can’t see the advantage, how are they any more secure than your normal card? (serious question).

They’re often cheaper than your regular bank. Will be packing my card when we go.

I can’t see the advantage, how are they any more secure than your normal card? (serious question).

Because there is a limit to what they can steal – if they stole my current account card they could blow all the money in my account for mortgage and everyday bills.

if they stole my current account card they could blow all the money in my account for mortgage and everyday bills

If you’re worried about that then best not to have a debit card at all, it’s probably just as likely to be stolen in the UK as Paris.

I use caxton FX, which one is better depends how much money and how you want to use it.
Caxton has a good app on the phone so you don’t have to log on to online banking or anything over dodgy wifi and lets you put any currency on it which is handy. Free withdrawals and usage out of the UK.

If you’re worried about that then best not to have a debit card at all, it’s probably just as likely to be stolen in the UK as Paris.

Never use my debit card for anything other than cash withdrawals at a bank machine i know is ok – everything else is credit card for security. CC charges are extortionate abroad so the FX card is loads better from that point of view, you can also fix your currency rate so you know exactly how much its costing without carrying around 000’s of foreign cash. A good foreign credit card can be good but even the cheapest will normally charge for a cash advance.

There are international use fee free credit cards around – Nationwide and Halifax do them for starters. My one only charges the exchange rate and it’s a decent exchange rate. I don’t use cash much.

Another Caxton Fx user here.

I used a FairFX card this year in Austria and Mallorca. Much better than using my usual bank cards, either debit or credit card.

Their app woks well, no problems at all with using them.