Flex Account Options

[daleyboy]

OK i know this has been covered before, nationwide flex account is the way to go for taking cash out in Thailand which is why i have now opened said account. But what i want to know is what exchange rate is applied? In the UK at the moment you are getting anywhere between 60 and 65 to the pound where Bangkok bank are offering 70 to the pound, which with the amount of cash i am bringing makes quite a difference. The difference is my car hire for 2 weeks.

So anyone know which is which? I spoke to nationwide and they don't seem to know <deleted> all also anyone got any bad stories about nationwide? Lost cards? How long they take to replace?

If this isn't the way to go then it will be travellers cheques again, but if i want sterling they want 40 quid charge in the UK then 33 baht a cheque in Thailand, if i order U.S or euro then there is no charge but still the 33 baht for each cheque.

What would you guys and girls recommend?

[katana]

Whenever I've used them in the past, they've always given the higher Thailand rates, not the inferior UK rates.

[Guest endure]

You'll get the 'Thai' rate if you use a Flexaccount ATM in Thailand. It's undoubtedly the cheapest way for a Brit to get cash in the LoS. If you want to buy sterling traveller's cheques, buy them from Nationwide (do a search for 'travel money' on their website). If you use your Flexaccount debit card to pay for them the only charge you'll pay is £3.50 delivery charge.

[daleyboy]

Thanks for the heads up, thats just the news i wanted to hear, now i guess i will ask them if its possible to issue a "spare" card just in case i lose the other one

[Guest endure]

I called them about the possibility of losing my card while abroad and they suggested that I open another Flexaccount and set them both up to online banking so if I lost one I could just log on and transfer the dosh to the other account. You can also set up an 'esaving' account online associated with each of your Flexaccounts. At the moment esavngs is paying 4.abit percent and transfer between accounts is instantaneous.

[daleyboy]

I called them about the possibility of losing my card while abroad and they suggested that I open another Flexaccount and set them both up to online banking so if I lost one I could just log on and transfer the dosh to the other account. You can also set up an 'esaving' account online associated with each of your Flexaccounts. At the moment esavngs is paying 4.abit percent and transfer between accounts is instantaneous.

Thats not a bad idea, you would think they would make it easier though, and just give you a spare card to carry just in case, will give them a ring now and see whats involved in opening a second account. Thanks Endure

[Guest endure]

My pleasure

[daleyboy]

My pleasure

Just spoken to them,ohhh so nice to talk to somone in the U.K that actually speaks English rather than been put to somewhere in Bangledesh she is getting someone to call me tommorrw between 9 and 11 to help set me up another flex account. Just registered for online banking, so hopefully this should be sorted in the next week or so

[Guest endure]

The online banking is pretty good. You can set up bill payments, make transfers, all that stuff. I haven't been inside a Nationwide branch for years.

[daleyboy]

Well i am hoping i dont have too much messing around setting up a second account, the first account i had to goto the branch with all my id, trouble is my local branch is a <deleted> pain in the arse to get to, so hopefully as i already have one account they will do it over the phone for me

They also told me that they do their exchange rates on whatever Visa set them at, and currently today visa has them set at 70.82 which beats the <deleted> out of the post office which is around 62

[Guest endure]

I'm almost certain that I didn't have to go to the branch for my second account. In fact I don't think I had to go for my first as I'd already opened a savings account with them in the hope of doing a bit of carpet-bagging when it looked as though they were going public

[JimGant]

I called them about the possibility of losing my card while abroad and they suggested that I open another Flexaccount .....you would think they would make it easier though, and just give you a spare card to carry just in case

Yeah, I see what you mean. And don't forget to write your pin on the card, so the bloke who finds it doesn't have to experiment too much....