Monthly Archives: November 2012

Music — No Comments
27
Nov 12

Safe and Sound

I’m a huge fan of Taylor Swift. However, for Safe and Sound, I much prefer the cover version by Tiffany Alvord and Megan Nicole.

Life — No Comments
26
Nov 12

TODO List

I’m not talking about your day-to-day to-do list. I’m talking about your ultimate to-do list. Things that you don’t know when or how you can achieve yet. List them down. What’s on your list? Here’s my TODO List.

Now, work out how you can achieve them and go do it! Anything is possible when you put your mind to it.

Travel — 1 Comment
19
Nov 12

Best travel money card

After spending hours researching numerous travel money cards, I came to the conclusion that Kiwibank’s Loaded for Travel is the best travel money card in most situations. I personally have not tried it. Instead, I got sucked in by Air New Zealand’s OneSmart promise of zero conversion fee. I expected the OneSmart conversion rate to match that of Bank of New Zealand. However, it is about 1 percent lower than what Kiwibank offers for Loaded for Travel. Nonetheless, OneSmart comes a close second behind Loaded for Travel. The main reasons I went with OneSmart are its low service fees, and support of multiple currencies that most other travel money cards do not. I find the process for loading money onto the OneSmart account convenient, and I like the flexibility of being able to convert the currencies at a time when the rate is favourable.

When it comes to travel money cards, the devil is in the service fees. Most cards charge a currency conversion fee of 1 percent of the amount exchanged. Although OneSmart promises zero conversion fee, its rates are lower than what most banks offer, effectively putting it at par with most cards in this particular regard. The other major service fee is ATM withdrawal fee. OneSmart is the only card that does not charge an ATM withdrawal fee. Most cards also charge an inactivity fee, which will slowly eat away at any money you leave on the card.

There are a few things you can do to minimise on service fees.

  • If you are converting large sums of money, avoid cards that charge a percentage conversion fee. Instead, opt for a card such as Loaded For Travel that charges a capped, fixed conversion fee.
  • Paying for items in cash is a good way to avoid credit card surcharges that some retailers impose. When withdrawing cash, do it in large sums to minimise on ATM withdrawal fee.
  • Air New Zealand charges a membership fee for its Airpoints programme, which you will need in order to take advantage of the OneSmart feature. Google search for Airpoints promo code to save on the membership fee.
  • With OneSmart, do not leave money in the New Zealand Dollar wallet to avoid paying inactivity fee.