Prepaid Travel Cards (Dollars - USA)?

miketurtle81

Hi guys,

I'm off to LA and Las Vegas next weekend and am considering my options with regards to currency - looking to load £1400 onto a credit card...

I have looked at the Travelex cash passport and it looks attractive in terms of its free cash withdrawals but some reviews online have made me wary.

Post Office's travel cash card looks average, seems to take commission on every withdrawal...

I'm at a bit of a crossroads - any advice would be much appreciated!

ess0two

Just come back from US,i used the post office card,$2 dollars per atm transaction,but free if buying goods in store and using card as a swipe.

miketurtle81

ess0two wrote: »

Just come back from US,i used the post office card,$2 dollars per atm transaction,but free if buying goods in store and using card as a swipe.

Is it definitely 2 bucks per transaction? I read it was 3?

Were you able to check the balance of the card via ATM or did you have to do it online?

Many thanks

ess0two

The atm i used you could check balance for free,took $2000 on card and drew it out in lots of $500,had a safe in hotel room.So cost me $8 in total,£7.50ish.

Donnie

If you are sure to spend all of your money whilst away, consider the CaxtonfxDollar Card.

miketurtle81

ess0two wrote: »

The atm i used you could check balance for free,took $2000 on card and drew it out in lots of $500,had a safe in hotel room.So cost me $8 in total,£7.50ish.

Sounds fair enough - we are unlikely to have a safe in our hotel room so will be withdrawing smaller increments but I guess 200 bucks a time will only cost us about 12 pounds... thanks for your help.

miketurtle81

Donnie wrote: »

If you are sure to spend all of your money whilst away, consider the CaxtonfxDollar Card.

How soon can I get my hands on this? I am travelling next Saturday.

Donnie

miketurtle81 wrote: »

How soon can I get my hands on this? I am travelling next Saturday.

Contact us

ferf1223

remember also that most US ATMs charge a fee for withdrawals (using any card, so it's not like using one card over another will make a difference). Those in most Vegas casinos are pretty steep - $4.99 but you can find some with lower fees like Casino Royale which I think is still $1.

I only mention it as taking several small withdrawals will just mean you get hit with the ATM fee more often, so may make more sense to take more each time unless you are really worried about the security of the cash. Most Vegas hotels have a safe in the room, but some charge for it.

shuck

I was looking at the Travelex Cash Passport too. I'm going to load £2200 on in dollars and use it in Vegas, Hawaii and New York for our honeymoon. We leave in a week so I need to really make my mind up soon.

The advantages of the cash passport from where I see it is that you don't pay to withdraw from an ATM (only pay for the fees of the machines themselves) and also there is no transaction fee when using it in shops and restaurants. This last point is the biggest selling point in my opinion as I was planning on using it for only buying items with, and there will be nothing left on it when I come back.

The biggest disadvantage I can see people saying is that they charge a 5.75% withdraw fee on any remaining balance once you get back to the UK.

Is there something I have missed as it seems like the card is really good?

dzug1

shuck wrote: »

I was looking at the Travelex Cash Passport too. I'm going to load £2200 on in dollars and use it in Vegas, Hawaii and New York for our honeymoon. We leave in a week so I need to really make my mind up soon.

The advantages of the cash passport from where I see it is that you don't pay to withdraw from an ATM (only pay for the fees of the machines themselves) and also there is no transaction fee when using it in shops and restaurants. This last point is the biggest selling point in my opinion as I was planning on using it for only buying items with, and there will be nothing left on it when I come back.

The biggest disadvantage I can see people saying is that they charge a 5.75% withdraw fee on any remaining balance once you get back to the UK.

Is there something I have missed as it seems like the card is really good?

The snag with this card is the exchange rate they use when you load the $$ in the first place - it will be their cash rate, which is nothing special.

If you are going in a week you don't have time to (reliably anyway) get one of the better cards.