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Friday 10 September 2010

Two VITAL cards to take

So, pretty sure I'm leaving for Strasbourg either Sunday or Monday! Excitement is kicking in.

Here's another key tip for you travellers:

Travel Ex Cards:



I mentioned these in my 'What to pack' guide. For those of you who have been abroad before I wanted to withdraw money from an ATM using your debit or credit card, you'll notice when you return home there's a nasty fee for using your card abroad. Now, most banks will promise you it's only a minimal charge in comparison to the conversion rate and all this rubbish but the truth is, if you use your card abroad, you're most likely going to be charged for it. Now, I'm going to be using my card for a year, and I don't fancy returning home to £300 of just charges.

This is where Travel Ex comes in. Basically, a Travel Ex card is a card that can be bought for however much money you would like on that account. For example, I purchased a Travel Ex card for £100.60 with £100 (155 euros worth) on it. It can be used at anyone ATM displaying the Mastercard logo and I will not be charged to withdraw my own money! As I created account with cashpassport (the site you use to sign up for the card) I can transfer funds between my regular bank and my Travel ex card whenever I want. So glad my friends informed me of this and I would STRONGLY URGE any travellers out there for an extended period of time to invest in one of these!

Can sign up here:

http://www.cashpassport.com/


Card number 2:

E111 Card.



Now, hopefully I will never have to use this card. Basically it's a European health insurance card that will mean if I do fall ill, I will be able to save a large percentage of the fees. For those of you who have fallen ill abroad before and had to purchase medicine, you'll know exactly how I feel when I detest paying such large fees for anti biotics etc. Although this card doesn't entitle free health care, it WILL cut down your medical fees buy a substantial amount.

Applying for one of these cards is easy enough. You can either pick up a E111 form from your local post office  or you can apply online here:

https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/home.do

NOTE: This card is only available to UK residents
NOTE: This card is completely free, but some places will try and charge you. DO NOT LET THEM CHARGE YOU 

41 comments:

  1. Very interesting post, will have to keep that in mind!
    Showing some daily support =]

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  2. Interesting stuff. Thanks for the info!

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  3. This is great information, I wish I had this when I went abroad to Romania and Costa Rica. I will definitely remember it for my next Europe trip!

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  4. Important things are usually the best things to take with you on a trip :D

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  5. Great tips, really. Have a nice trip my friend!

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  6. Don't use one of those travel visa cards. They charge $2.99 USD per transaction, regardless of the actual amount you are charging. I got raped by that once, lost a good $60 from those stupid fees.

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  7. I live in america.. I wanna move back to budapest.

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  8. That reminds me to get a new EU-health-card.

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  9. good post....supportin.

    http://muphucka.blogspot.com

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  10. Always useful to hear some random tips. Keep up the good work.

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  11. Ya que hablas en español, te voy a firmar en español...

    Buen blog... Podes practicar tu español en el mio :)

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  12. thanks for the tips, ill defiantly look into these cards when i go to France next summer

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  13. E111 indeed! Dunno if the other is essential like, but not bad, will look into it moar :D

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  14. Wow some really good info there didn't know that, thank you!

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  15. I'll keep the health insurance in mind if I ever get around to traveling abroad :)

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  16. this information could come in handy THANKS

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  17. i love u.k and liked your posts

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  18. Ahhh im jelous i wanna go on that trip :<

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  19. im totally gonna have to make sure my gf knows about this, she wants to travel the world, ty :)

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  20. Thanks man that means a lot :D I leave on Monday!

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  21. Wow, I should do this the next time I travel. I might be going to across Europe pretty soon! :3

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  22. nice check my site for travel tips

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  23. I remember some of my old neighbors had to get their visas removed every once in a while and it was a bitch

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  24. i had to refresh this page 10 times !
    is there something wrong with my browser ? or is it your page?

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  25. Nice tips. Thanks for sharing!

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  26. Good info. Any advice on fixing a screw up on your credit history?

    http://soulaccelerant.blogspot.com/

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