Prepaid travel cards can make or break your experience abroad when using money internationally. There’s a common misconception that going abroad means there’s no getting around high conversion fees or mysterious add-on charges from using cash and card internationally. Not so.

With Zing in your pocket, you can use money abroad easily and cost-effectively – spend, send and hold money comfortably abroad like you would at home.

So let’s take your money even further – get saving-savvy with these educational tips.

Try paying in the local currency

We’ve all done it – booked that trip in a rush and then wondered if you’ve really overpaid on your flights, hotels and activities.

Next time you book online, try switching to the currency you’re going to spend in, rather than in your home currency. The price differences can be significant.

Instead of the usual site aggregators like booking.com and Skyscanner, it can sometimes be cost-efficient to use sites native to your travel destination. Try browsing social media forums like Reddit to find the names of sites that locals use. 

It goes without saying that once you’re on the ground abroad, you’ll have an easier and more cost-effective time spending in the currency of your destination. But that said, some countries are open to accepting strong currencies like USD, especially in cash. Make sure you do your research and know the strength of the rate and any hidden fees involved. 

An app and card that lets you track rates for conversion and store currencies in wallets like Zing is the most low-effort way to make sure you’re always paying the best way locally. 

Toggle your location to compare prices

On top of paying in the local currency, travellers that book online may discover that using a VPN service and searching the same things can unearth unexpected savings on flights, accommodation and activities. Next time you’re booking that holiday, try and set your location to the destination of your choice and compare the prices to if you were buying from home. 

It’s well understood that some countries like Japan treat tourists and locals differently, which includes how they market goods and services. Not everyone gets the same price. So always check you’re not getting mugged off. On native sites, translation tools can help make your experience researching and paying a bit easier. 

Convert money ahead of a trip

The great thing about a multi-currency card like Zing is holding 20+ currencies in wallets that you can monitor in the app and spend all on the same card. It means you can top up your account, convert money to go into the wallets you need, and then when the time comes to travel, your money’s already there. Easy!

But today’s rate is not always tomorrow’s rate. It means what you pay closer to the time you travel might be more than if you converted a lump sum a few months before. And that’s true vice versa.

It pays to check the history of rates. If you sense that you’re getting a good rate in the present, and you want to convert as much as possible before the rate goes against your favour, then convert and store a larger sum. You can save it all in your wallet for when you’re ready to travel. 

If you’re travelling to a destination where Zing doesn’t support a wallet to store currencies, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re losing out by not converting ahead of time. You can consider either paying by card, simply paying a small conversion fee every time you make a card transaction, or you can make an ATM withdrawal and pay in cash. Multiple conversions versus one conversion (and remember, you get one Zing fee-free ATM withdrawal per month). 

Get a card that avoids “dreaded decline”

Prepaid travel cards can get a bad rep. Many in the market have limitations on how you can top them up and spend across currencies. 

So when it’s time to pay for that big group dinner on your last day of holiday, if the amount is over what’s left on your card, you’ll get a “computer says no” moment. Dreaded decline. Cue making a hasty transfer within your app or else coughing up hefty fees by using another card instead. 

But with Zing, you get a card that can automatically convert money from other wallets to make the payment. It’s a little something we call “FX Sweeping”. 

You’ll pay the real-time rate and a small conversion fee so that your transaction goes through uninterrupted (provided you have money in your other wallets). A small price to pay to save face.

Travel the worry-free way

Now you’re clued up, make sure the next time you use your money internationally, you use Zing for a worry-free experience.