We’re going on holiday to Spain in a month and normally we’d just take a debit card and pay for things the same as we would here.

I fancy the look of the Visa travel cash cards – one aspect is the security, another is the novelty value, and the other is that I can get a good rate for my Euro’s.

I’ve heard that some places can charge a premium for using them, but is this just the same as any other debit / credit card charge?

If nothing else I may get one or 2 for emergencies. Has anyone used them and had any bad experiences, other than not spending all the money on them?

I live in Spain & its all cash round here – certainly cafes, bars & restaurants with a bill under say 50e I doubt they take cards – cash all the way. Watch out for ATM fees on it, my bank ran out of cash one weekend so I went to another bank, was warned an ATM withdrawal fee was 7e for 100e….so waited till Monday.

BTW I just got 1.41e to 1 gbp via currencyfair.

I’ve always used the debut card abroad, never found the exchange rate unreasonable.

I used to be a debit card abroad person, but the exchange rate and additional charges take the proverbial.

So, being an M&S credit card user, I took advatage of a recent great offer to buy currency on the card at an excellent rate (1.39, no commission). So, we went with loads of cash and didn’t use the cards once when in Italy recently. In fact, we managed to come home with leftover money, which I then sold to my boss at the same rate.

Cash is, as any accountant will tell you, king.