[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 0:30:34 #823119

Hello,

We will be travelling through Switzerland by car in September for 10 days and are looking for the best way to access money, getting/ exchanging cash and which card to use.

I have read recently that Amex is accepted in Switzerland, how widely accepted? We will also have Visa as a backup as well as a little bit of cash. We are travelling from Australia and will have a travel card (linked to MasterCard) but this has high fees for using in Switzerland!

We will be entering through Lichtenstein (via Austria and Germany) and travelling through Andermatt on way to Zermatt, then on to Reichenbach/ Interlaken/ Lauterbrunnen/ etc and onto Schaffhausen region via Bern and Zurich, before heading to Konstanz and back to Germany for our departure back home.

We will not be staying in any big cities, day trips to/ through them.

Are there any places to buy/ exchange monies on the border?

Any assistance appreciated.

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[rockoyster]

30 July 2019 at 3:45:26 #918882

G’day Adam and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

You can get cash from an ATM. To do that’s best to use a Travel Card. There is a bit of a discussion on transaction charges at http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/rail-europe-transaction-fees#kpj2o6DW9mqS6v8AA FcRTQ.

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 3:57:23 #918883

Hi rockoyster, thanks for the welcome.

You can indeed use a travel card in Switzerland but so far I have not found one that you can “preload” CHF on to. You can load (in most cases) up to 10 currencies, CHF not being one of them, so you can indeed use it at an ATM/ etc, but then they will charge you at their exchange rate (which is high) plus another 4%!

My Amex is much better than this, just wondering how readily accepted they are…..

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 3:58:07 #918884

I will add that I had a bit of a look through that thread and will read some more.

Cheers

[rockoyster]

30 July 2019 at 4:06:23 #918885

I’ve never used American Express so have no idea what it is capable of doing.

See also http://www.choice.com.au/trav el/money/travel-money/articles/travel-money-cards.

[rockoyster]

30 July 2019 at 4:12:57 #918886

Actually I’ve just re-read what I wrote there and I’m going to have to rethink for my next trip. The Qantas Cash Card is looking good. I’m pretty sure the CBA card does not have any ATM charge but it does of course have a cross-currency fee.

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 4:20:28 #918887

You are correct in that no card that I have found so far lets you load CHF.

I have looked at the Qantas card and the exchange rates are terrible! Plus they have ATM fees. From Australia there is no simple answer….

On this trip we are also going to Abu Dhabi and the Czech Republic, most times travel cards are useless here too…..

The Citi Global Currency Account may be ok, only 2.5% for cross currency conversion. Like a travel card but looks to have better rates.

Amex charge a small rate plus their conversion rates are really good.

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 4:24:23 #918888

The Citi ones lets you load CHF too, so may be a winner!

[rockoyster]

30 July 2019 at 4:32:44 #918889

That’s good to know. I edited one of my earlier posts because I was clearly talking out of my hat.

I’ve just realised that the Ubank(NAB) account I have doesn’t charge currency conversion fees. Not sure what their X-rates are like.

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 4:52:28 #918890

All good!

I recognise a lot of your pics on your WordPress…. 😎

[rockoyster]

30 July 2019 at 5:15:16 #918891

Here’s a few tempers for your Swiss visit .. .. .. flickr.com/photos/6400 7154@N00/sets/72157682 761524252. 😉

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 12:09:08 #918892

Cool, thanks. Some nice pics in there.

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 15:49:30 #918893

I’ve been in Czech Republic and I use my CapitalOne360 debit/Mastercard everywhere without any fee. It uses US dollars, but I never have a fee.

Anyone used the CapitalOne in Switzerland? And what about phone service? Can I use my T-Mobile? I have used it in Czech Republic without any international fees also. Would a personal hotspot be needed in Switzerland? Or is wifi on every bus and train?

Thanks for any input.

[rockoyster]

30 July 2019 at 21:08:58 #918894

Hello Rita,

See http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/phone-and-wifi-in-switzerland.

Asking the same question in two different places won’t get you a better answer. 😉

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 21:15:02 #918895

Oops sorry. I don’t know how this works. Thanks

[Removed user]

30 July 2019 at 23:24:34 #918896

Capital One not available in Australia.

The Citi one could be the go, has anyone any experience with Amex in Switzerland?

Thanks

[rockoyster]

31 July 2019 at 0:26:18 #918897

My go to reference on this is @paddington (if only this forum could alert people to e mention) who says ” we have a Citibank Plus Everyday Account which is a free account. You put AUD in and you can get it out at ATMs overseas in the local currency of that ATM. The exchange rate is exceptionally good and it is applied on the day you withdraw the cash. There are no charges to put money in or take it out and there is only one currency (AUD) in the account (unlike the travel cards). When you come back to Australia you can withdraw all your money down to $1 and just have it sit until you next go overseas. There is a list of all the ATMs in every country (and they are very widespread) where it can be used for free (no ATM fees) but you can use it at any ATM if you are desperate.”

[Rels]

31 July 2019 at 8:11:53 #918898

Hi Adam,

We are Aussies too, and spent 5 weeks in Switzerland in May/June. We use a 28 degree MasterCard (credit card) that we got specifically for travelling, it has no OS transaction fees. We found credit cards accepted just about everywhere, and got some cash out when we arrived in Zurich using our home bank card (fee of a few AUD charged by home bank). We withdrew 1000 CHF, but didn’t need anywhere near that amount, and the Swiss ATM’s charge ~4%, which wasn’t disclosed by the ATM before we withdrew the money, so should only have got a couple of hundred out.

Our kids use a Citibank account for their banking, and I believe it has no OS transaction fees either.

Have fun, the scenery is mind blowing!

Regards,

Narelle

[rockoyster]

31 July 2019 at 9:29:35 #918899

Thanks Narelle. Good info. As a result of this thread I revisited my choice of a CBA TravelCard in 2017 and am sitting ashen-faced at how much they fleeced us. Definitely looking at CitBank for next trip plus Ubank Debit Card (once I test how their exchange rate looks).

[Removed user]

31 July 2019 at 23:25:48 #918900

Hi Narelle,

Thanks, and yes looking forward to seeing what Switzerland has for us!! Odd that the ATM did not disclose fees, were they all like that?

I have now opened a Citi Global Currency Account, it looks to have all that we may need.

Thanks all!

[Rels]

1 August 2019 at 1:03:09 #918901

Don’t know about all ATM’s, only used them once!