[Naetik30]

Most of my travels have been official ones and so my company generally arranges for forex (Cash and card). In the few personal trips, I have used my company's vendors for the same and it generally works out exceedingly well.

For my upcoming personal international travel, I decided to check on the web for some competitive rates. I found bookmyforex.com was the most widely used. Also, their rates were the cheapest among the ones I checked. About 1%-2% better rates than HDFC, ICICI, etc.

Long story short. Well - you get what you pay for.

The call center support from bookmyforex.com for new forex purchases is excellent. You are answered within a couple of minutes or they call back within an hour. Had several questions -
1. How long for forex card deliver?
Ans: Within 24 hours.

2. How long for currency delivery?
Ans: Within 24 hours.

3. How long for card activitation and loading?
Ans: WIthin 12 hours of receiving card.

4. How long for card reloading?
Ans: Within 6 hours.

I then placed an order for the currency and forex card (Yes Bank Bookmyforex co-branded card). Now the story starts.

Currency was delivered within a few hours of placing the order. This was commendable. No issues here.

But the fun starts with the forex card. Now, before that lets understand about the support system from Bookmyforex -

1. Their customer care works from 9AM to 6PM. No support beyond that.

2. The wait time for existing orders is atleast 20 minutes everytime. And the standard response for any complaints or status query - It will be done by EOD (or) There is a problem on YesBank side.

3. No support on Sunday.

4. While waiting for 20 minutes on the hold for some one to answer, they will recommend to use their chat support. I have wasted multiple hours on the chat support. Not even once has any one responded on the chat. Hell, even a chatbot would have soothed my nerves.

5. They promise call back. Never happens for existing orders.

So, I paid for the entire order on Day 1 and did not receive any response for the forex card for more than 24 hours. So called up multiple times to bookmyforex.com and after 1.5 days finally got the card delivered. So, the first promise of delivery within 24 hours was a lie.

Now that the card had arrived, I was waiting for the activation within 12 hours. No activation for more than 48 hours. Again calls to bookmyforex. Standard response: Saar issue on YesBank side. Will be done by end of day. Waited again. No response. There goes the second lie.

By then it was Sunday and so all bookmyforex staff have a jolly-good-day. Damn the customers who paid several days back for the whole order.

Tweeted to @bookmyforex handle and only then discovered several disgruntled customers having similar issues. There were many who were pleading with bookmyforex as they were running out funds in a foreign country. God, would I love a Class action suit here.

Finally found a Yes Bank customer care number and called them up. Response: Sir your card is not activated and so we do not have your details. Will get back by end of day. 'By EOD' is the worst word in the english language. (a-la-Vijayakanth style: English-la enakku pudikkadha ore vartha).

This is going to be an interesting few days for me.

Again: We get what we pay for. DO NOT GO TO BOOKMYFOREX to save the few thousands. Your peace of mind is worth more than that.

[Naetik30]

Always amazed by the impact of team-bhp. This thread went live few minutes ago. Tweeted this out to @Bookmyforex and voila, next few minutes my card is activated and loaded. Well!! Well!!

[sachinayak]

Had the absolutely same experience with them. They loaded the card after I left India. And I needed an OTP to activate my card. Was forced to switch on and pay roaming fees just for this. They were unable to stick to their SLA and so called customer service is a joke.

[AtheK]

Same experience, card though was delivered in couple of hours took more then 48 hours to activate that too after multiple calls and one email. Won’t use them ever again. This was also two weeks back.

[Samfromindia]

Contrary to all you guys, I used their services last year and got both Cash & Card delivered to my Pune address within 24 hrs ! Never had to call their customer care though as entre booking process was done online on their website and I could manage the card on my mobile app. They also have a basic responsive website for managing card, changing ATM pin, checking transactions etc.

[fiat_tarun]

Have used them for cash and it was a smooth experience.

I use my HDFC credit card for most spends as they charge only a 1.99% forex charge which works out cheaper than taking a forex card. Many banks offer similar rates on the premium cards, so explore that option as well.

[GTO]

As a rule, I never venture away from the established players just for 1 - 1.5% cheaper rates from a smaller / newer company. Is the net saving in INR worth the risk? Many people opened up fixed deposits in banks like PMC offering 0.5 - 1% higher rates in an FD. On a 1-lakh rupee FD, that will make you 1000 more every year. Is it worth the risk? No way. So many news articles on PMC Bank customers suffering heart attacks and so on.

Bookmyforex's post sales support sounds awful. Imagine the nightmare if you lose your card or something.

Originally Posted by Naetik30

Always amazed by the impact of team-bhp.

Haha! Very happy to hear that. And it's not even gone on our homepage yet .

[Arun_S]

When I was looking last year for some forex, checked on bookmyforex, the reviews were pretty bad, just skipped them altogether, went with a local vendor.

As GTO says for these conversions 1% to 1.5% cheaper rate works out to be 25 paisa to 50 paisa, it is not worth the hassle.

[dmplog]

This thread came in just timely.

I have a personal overseas trip coming up soon. So let me fire away my question.

I have an Indian credit card which has 1.99% of markup fee.
Should I use that or get a forex card instead. Or I should just carry Cash? I need 2 currencies - SGP and THB.

[Naetik30]

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

I use my HDFC credit card for most spends as they charge only a 1.99% forex charge which works out cheaper than taking a forex card.

Originally Posted by GTO

As a rule, I never venture away from the established players just for 1 - 1.5% cheaper rates from a smaller / newer company.

Originally Posted by Arun_S

As GTO says for these conversions 1% to 1.5% cheaper rate works out to be 25 paisa to 50 paisa, it is not worth the hassle.

Originally Posted by dmplog

This thread came in just timely.

I have a personal overseas trip coming up soon. So let me fire away my question.

I have an Indian credit card which has 1.99% of markup fee.
Should I use that or get a forex card instead. Or I should just carry Cash? I need 2 currencies - SGP and THB.

From the comments I realize there is a bit of confusion about how the forex card vs credit card vs currency works. Let me explain -

1. Conversion rate/Exchange rate - The conversion rate is the rate provided by the banks/forex dealers/etc for converting Forex. For example HDFC could provide USD-INR of 82. This changes every day. In most cases, this would be higher than what you see when you search on google. And the rate also differs for forex card purchase (buy forex to card), forex card encashment (sell forex from card to bank), currency purchase (buy forex as cash), currency sale (sell forex as cash).

Thumb rule - buying forex as card is always cheaper than buying currency. And you will pay more when buying and get less when selling.

2. Forex markup charges/FCY charges/etc - This is a certain % that banks/vendors charge above the provided conversion rate. Lets say you use your HDFC credit card in the USA to buy something for $100. Lets say the conversion rate is 82. And HDFC would have declared a FCY charge of say 1%. So basically, on your card statement you will find 3 entries -

a. Purchase transaction for USD100 = 82*100 = INR 8200
b. FCY markup (1%) = 1/100*8200 = INR 82
c. GST on the markup

In some cases, for premium cards, the FCY markup rates are lower and they also provide cash back/points/etc. But it is what it is.

You will not have to pay the markup charge if you are using a forex card. Because you are using the other currency and there are no conversion charges. But if you use a credit/debit card you will have to pay the mark up charges.

Advantages of Bookmyforex:

Now, please read my first post for the issues with Bookmyforex. But there are advantages as well -

1. From all comments and my own experience, bookmyforex works well for direct currency purchase.

2. The exchange/conversion rate is the lowest. This is about Rs2/USD cheaper when compared to HDFC exchange rate. If you are purchasing a few thousand dollars, this can add up. And this applies to almost all country currencies and for both card and cash purchase.

3. Vis-a-vis using credit card - there is no FCY markup to be paid and that in itself is a win. So, if you are using a HDFC credit card and compare against the bookmyforex card - You will pay about Rs 2 higher for exchange rate + another 1-2% on top of that for the FCY markup. So you will end up saving about 3-4% easily on your entire forex transaction.

My recommendation - Use bookmyforex.com for currency. And use them for forex card - if and only if you have atleast 2 weeks before your flight to sort out all issues.

[aayusht]

Originally Posted by Naetik30

2. Forex markup charges/FCY charges/etc - This is a certain % that banks/vendors charge above the provided conversion rate. Lets say you use your HDFC credit card in the USA to buy something for $100. Lets say the conversion rate is 82. And HDFC would have declared a FCY charge of say 1%. So basically, on your card statement you will find 3 entries -

a. Purchase transaction for USD100 = 82*100 = INR 8200
b. FCY markup (1%) = 1/100*8200 = INR 82
c. GST on the markup

In some cases, for premium cards, the FCY markup rates are lower and they also provide cash back/points/etc. But it is what it is.

You will not have to pay the markup charge if you are using a forex card. Because you are using the other currency and there are no conversion charges. But if you use a credit/debit card you will have to pay the mark up charges.

Advantages of Bookmyforex:

Now, please read my first post for the issues with Bookmyforex. But there are advantages as well -

1. From all comments and my own experience, bookmyforex works well for direct currency purchase.

2. The exchange/conversion rate is the lowest. This is about Rs2/USD cheaper when compared to HDFC exchange rate. If you are purchasing a few thousand dollars, this can add up. And this applies to almost all country currencies and for both card and cash purchase.

3. Vis-a-vis using credit card - there is no FCY markup to be paid and that in itself is a win. So, if you are using a HDFC credit card and compare against the bookmyforex card - You will pay about Rs 2 higher for exchange rate + another 1-2% on top of that for the FCY markup. So you will end up saving about 3-4% easily on your entire forex transaction.

My family and I have used BookMyForex on multiple occasions. we have had a mix of experiences with BookMyForex - some good, some bad.

I have observed that when using my credit card, the rate at which Credit cards do the conversion is lower than what BookMyForex offers. This has been observed in 2 recent international trips. When I include the FCY markup fee and the 18% GST of credit cards, the total still turns out to be slightly lower or almost equal to the rate at which BookMyForex offers Forex (I have mostly taken cash from BookMyForex).

For reference, I have observed this with premium and mid tier cards across different issuers (banks), but not tried with Amex. I believe Amex will turn out to be expensive with FCY markup fee and GST.

[aadya]

While I may not be a seasoned international traveler, I have gained valuable insight into the purchase and usage of foreign currency through my involvement with family and friends. After careful observation, I have come to the conclusion that purchasing physical or paper currency is often the simplest option for most destinations. International credit cards, particularly premium ones like HDFC Infinia that offer discounts on forex usage, are also a viable option. However, it's essential to ensure that your OTP number is active for usage limit control as most countries do not have two-factor authentication. Forex cards should only be considered if the first two options are not feasible for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, even top-tier banks and so-called international banks are not immune to forex and travel card glitches. I have experienced this firsthand and have found that third-party services such as bookmyforex.com can also suffer from similar issues. As a result, coordinating with the bank's customer care and home branch can lead to endless calls and headaches when traveling with friends and family.

[Naetik30]

Originally Posted by aayusht

My family and I have used BookMyForex on multiple occasions. we have had a mix of experiences with BookMyForex - some good, some bad.

I have observed that when using my credit card, the rate at which Credit cards do the conversion is lower than what BookMyForex offers. This has been observed in 2 recent international trips. When I include the FCY markup fee and the 18% GST of credit cards, the total still turns out to be slightly lower or almost equal to the rate at which BookMyForex offers Forex (I have mostly taken cash from BookMyForex).

For reference, I have observed this with premium and mid tier cards across different issuers (banks), but not tried with Amex. I believe Amex will turn out to be expensive with FCY markup fee and GST.

As I mentioned, cash is always costly than forex card rates. You are comparing credit card conversion rate against the currency conversion rate.

For example, today's rates from HDFC are here - https://www.hdfcbank.com/content/bbp...tent/rates.pdf

USD-INR Forex card purchase - INR 83.31
USD-INR currency purchase - INR 83.87

On top of this, you will pay markup of 1% or 2% if you used HDFC credit card.


From Bookmyforex -

USD-INR Forex card purchase - INR 81.87
USD-INR currency purchase - INR 83.24

In both cases bookmyforex rates are better. But there are obvious issues with bookmyforex with customer support.

[Drive Head]

Although I am not a pro or a very avid traveller but have my own share of experiences.
I have always used forex in CASH in all these years of my travel. Recently have used the Tripmoney card of MMT and was surprised to see the benefits.

- A small lower % of conversion rate.
- No mark up
- Online add money anytime
- Check all spends in the app

Do others also have experience in using this ?

Currently I have given the card to my daughter for her daily personal use topping it with her monthly pocket money .

BTW our other forex woes have also become a bit smaller on recent inclusion of 18 countries to accept Indian currency.

[mxx]

I have often wondered what is the benefit of forex card compared to using debit/credit card. In a previous post there is a mention of 1-2% markup on debit/credit card on top of the transaction. Is this the only disadvantage of using credit/debit card compared to a forex card?

Another question: is forex card like a prepaid card that can be loaded online even when i am traveling?