Hi,
I did a post asking what people thought about Wizard's Clear Advantage Master Card. This card is a credit card, no annual fee, current interest rates apply after 55 days and straight away for cash withdrawals.
Email Wizard and asked about fees involving cash conversion etc. Have in writing no fees involved. Sounds promising. Thought I would apply for one, use it as soon as we get to Thailand and then go online and see if there was some catch somewhere!!

Have just had a reply to my post on another site from someone who has this card and has used it in Thailand and she says if you load it with your own cash and use it, there are NO fees at all.....

Sounds like what we all need....... a card that does not rip us off!!!

Only have 11 sleeps to go and will use it once we are there. Will let you know how it goes!!

Cheers

Karin

Karin ... only 10 more sleeps now ... tomorrow you will be down to single figures - HOW EXCITING - I REMEMBER HOW VERY EXCITED I WAS!!!

5 weeks away in Thailand - what a pleasure that will be for you. Have you got all your accomm. booked now?

Looking fwd to hearing how the Wizard card stacks up - if you recon its ok, there may be plenty of us forumites getting one!

Have a great trip, and I will be patiently awaiting your JBR. Im already contemplating my next trip (would love to take hubby there and do more of the beautiful sightseeing and cultural places, rather than the full-on shopping places we just did!) - thinking of Phi Phi Island and Koh Samui, that type of place.

Kitty

PS Did you end up getting travellers cheques or just sticking with cash and wizard card???

Sunset Beach Resort in Patong looks nice, small, quiet, maybe a bit out of the way from everything, can you walk into centre Patong from there do you think? Curious to know roughly how much you paid per night to stay there ... There are SOOOOOOO many options of places to stay in Patong, quite difficult to chose one all by yourself, just easier to go with recommendations.

Kitty

Hi Kitty,

I ended up getting $1500 in travellers cheques and will take cash also. Will use the Wizard Card as soon as I get there and will check online and see how it goes. If it is the real deal will just keep topping it up with $1000 as I need it. That way if there is a problem with fraud then there will not be much in it. With online banking it makes it easier to access cash/move it around.
My sister has a cash passport card in $us and put money on this but somehow it doesn't add up . I don't know what rate they were giving her but but even though it is cheaper than an ATM card it still charges a lot for fees.
So if this Wizard Card is the real deal it is the answer to every travellers problem of how to take money....time will tell.

As for the Sunset Resort, it is a bit out of the way but they have a free shuttle into Patong from 9-9pm. So at worst, you should only have to pay to get back from town if you stay out late at night.

I had a look at Ixplore and we got rooms for around $50 a night. For 2 rooms for 3 adults, 2 kids it cost $734 for 8 nights. I would have liked to stay at the Thara Patong, as its pool is a great setup for kids but I had to cut back a bit on accommodation..... Another budget alternative is the Swiss Palm, apartments with cooking facilities, lounge room for about 2000bt per night (10% discount for kids) which would of fitted us all in. But my sister wanted a nicer pool.
The upside of staying at this end of town is that there are heaps of restaurants and it is cheaper because it is not in the middle if the tourist district.

Yes counting down, doing last minute things.....haven't started panicing yet!!!

Karin ... that sounds like a good balance of payment alternatives. Yes we will be waiting to see how the Wizard card turns out.

The Swiss Palm Apartments is one that Cathy mentions on her page and likes it a lot, I think she is staying there for several weeks this time. I can see that staying slightly out of the hustle and bustle of central Patong would be a nice change from where we stayed at the Merlin. Although its nice to have everything close by, it would also be nice to be in a quieter place and a little bit more laid back. Main feature we would look for (especially with kids in tow) is a great pool, and for us, the Merlin was fantastic. If I was going there with my hubby (which I hope to one day!) I would be looking at a quieter place, with fewer kids!!!

Kitty

PS. Great price for the Sunset - $50 per room per nite! At Merlin, we paid $43 each per nite, so $86 per room, with breakfast. I still think thats amazing value for money!

OK folks ... today I got my monthly statement from my Credit Union (City Coast Credit Union). While in BKK I only used it once to do an ATM withdrawal, I took out 10,000bt which is about $348AUD. I was quite pleased that the only fee to do this was a $4.00 o/s withdrawal fee from my credit union.

So ... if a card is only going to be used as a backup for if you run out of cash, then I see this option as an extremely viable one.

A) It is a safer option to do a withdrawal at a bank and not using it for an actual purchase, as it has been reported that credit card fraud (via purchases) is quite high in Thailand

B) It is fairly low in fees - I recon only $4.00 is worth it for the convenience. Some atm withdrawal fees can be as high as $20AUD once you add in a conversion fee as well.

C) It saves you the hassle of having to go out and set up/apply for an additional account with, for example, Wizard - as Karin has mentioned. Also, this option is much much lower in fees, than using either travellers cheques or the travelex card.

Anyway ... hope this helps anyone contemplating whether or not to use their credit card o/s

Kitty

Hi Kitty,
thanks for getting back to us about charges on your ATM transaction. I think that because it is a credit union rather than a BANK that that is why the fee is so low. As you said it is quite reasonable - $4.00. I have one account (it is a high interest saver account) that charges me $2.50 everytime I use my card. Luckily there are no charges for internet banking...

Karin

I'm becoming interested in this topic. I rent out property in Perth and frequently withdraw money from my CBA account using my ATM card at Thai ATMs, on the max amount you can withdraw, 20,000 THB, I currently pay around $AUD18 in fees, previously it was about $4-5. So If I can get these fees down it would be a good thing.

Hi BobMac,
if it all works out and is above board then it is the ideal thing to have when travelling overseas. It was easy to apply for online and came within a week.

Will let you know how it goes.... only 6 more sleeps...

Yes Bobmac, maybe you shd look into the wizard card or perhaps do your withdrawals on a credit card, and maybe your fees will come down.

Karin ... ONLY 4 MORE SLEEPS TO GO!!!!!! (I think you leave on Wednseday!??) I hope you have a fantastic time and as I said, Im looking fwd to hearing all about it.

Kitty