Post office travel money card

Boombastic_2

Would recommend not to use this.

Advantages
- you don't have to carry cash
- you can top up online

Disadvantages
- Lower Rates - you can only top up using Post Office - and therefore the rates are much lower
- Cash withdrawals are subject to charges
- Hidden Charges - if you top up using credit card - it is treated as cash withdrawal and therefore you have to pay cash withdrawal charges on your credit card

marie2109

I purchased one of these for a holiday in Majorca in July and couldn't use it - the PIN number wasn't accepted. I then complained and was informed there was nothing wrong with my card and they could buy the money back from me with a loss of £60 to me!!! So, I kept the money on there and as I had a letter saying it was fully operational I tried to use it again in the Canary Isalands....... only to find that again the PIN was not accepted, despite me ringing to check it worked.

So.... I have no choice but to accept the buyback rate..... an absolute con!!!!

Stay well away:mad:

Phillip_C

Thought we would try this PO card for travel to USA for 3 weeks; the local postmaster was effusive about its benefits, with no fee.

It was certainly convenient to use and accepted everywhere in USA. However, based on forum comments from others, the Post Office has not tried to improve its weaknesses.

There is no stated fee, but the exchange rate for money you load on the card is, at best and this only for amounts over £500, about 9% below official rate. We make decisions about what we pay for the convenience of such a card, but transparency would be appreciated.

We moved hotel every couple of days and each one took a varyingly large holding deposit on checkin, and these stayed on the account for up to 3 weeks even after the bill was settled. So it was impossible to track your balance on the card. No blame on the PO for this - workaround is to authorise your credit card when you sign in (and let the holding deposit sit uselessly on there), then pay on departure with your travel card. I did that at the last two hotels without issue.

On my return, I wished to exchange the remaining dollars into Euros for a forthcoming trip. Cannot do that. I either leave the dollars on the card in case I visit USA again (ridiculous). Or I cash in.

The cashing-in process is bureaucratic - as 'JollyRoger' pointed out, you cannot just go back to the Postmaster and cash in, it requires a long-winded phone call to a customer centre plus a 15 day wait for authorisation letter to take to your postmaster.

More importantly, the exchange rate for cashing in is some 14% below the official rate. In my case, cashing in around 400 dollars cost me nearly £30 loss (or 'fee' as the PO would describe it if they were even prepared to acknowledge the hidden charge at all) against the official rate.

The lack of flexibility is laughable, and there are hefty fees at both ends of the Post Office's restrictive admin process.

Looking at risk & cost for future holidays, think I will go back to taking cash!

meer53

I used one last year in the USA with no problems. I topped it up before we went and again whilst we were there by text. I understood how it worked and would never dream of using it to authorise accommodation payments. That's where you need a credit card. It's a prepaid card so why would your use it for an authorisation only ? I had no problems with the pin and only topped it up with what I thought we would spend so there was nothing on it when we returned.

If you try to use it like a credit card you'll come unstuck.

nanto3girls

W got one last October,to use in Las Vegas. Only restaurant that would accept it, was McDonalds.Quite a few attractions in the hotels wouldn't accept it either.Fortunately we did have enough cash with us.
Withdrew the money out when we got home.Wouldn't have another one.

meer53

nanto3girls wrote: »

W got one last October,to use in Las Vegas. Only restaurant that would accept it, was McDonalds.Quite a few attractions in the hotels wouldn't accept it either.Fortunately we did have enough cash with us.
Withdrew the money out when we got home.Wouldn't have another one.

Strange. We didn't find anywhere that didn't accept it in Florida.

It's backed by Mastercard.

eryn_kathleen

Is it the Travel Money Card worth it over just using my debit card to make purchases and withdraw cash in the USA? I'm American but living permanently in the UK. I go back to the US about once a year or so and usually just use my debit card for expenses there.

I was thinking about getting the PO Travel Money Card this time because it might help with budgeting and it looks like the fees could be a bit less than what I currently pay through NatWest. But maybe it would be better to just use my debit card and withdraw my allotted cash all at once when I arrive? It won't be very much money since I'm on a budget - and I'm staying with family and not planning on eating in restaurants often.

Daffodill34

My wife is in Austria. After two failed attempts at each of four ATMs she contacted me in the UK asking for help. I spoke to the so-called customer service desk, I had all the relevant details but they refused to talk to me insisting that they must speak to her. This really is taking security considerations to ridiculous limits. I didn't ask for and required no information from them about my wifes account; I simply wanted them to help her get access to the money on her card. She is in a mountainous area with little or no mobile signal. She thought it reasonable to ask me for help and we both thought it reasonable to expect to receive help but it seems we must put up with the usual second-rate service one expects from so many institutions these days. Our advice is don't trust this product to give you good service - use your bank - it might cost a little more but you should have a greater degree of confidence that you will not have to spend valuable time chasing your money.

meer53

If she managed to contact you, how come she couldn't contact them ? Standard security procedures as far as speaking to you goes. Would you have been happy if they'd discussed her details with someone who had stolen her bag containing her card ?

It can hardly be called second rate service really. I've used one for years and not had any problems with their customer service.

altinvest

So is the consensus that the Post Office offering is not good?