pre-paid credit card for use abroad

jumpybongo

hi,
im looking for recommendations for the above please,as im travelling to thailand/se asia in a few weeks and need a reliable credit card to use for flights,cash withdrawals etc.
i only have a santander debit visa listed as a "card from hell " i know,
and unable to get a mainstream credit card currently.

thanks in advance

Svenena

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/prepaid-cards#overseas

ViolaLass

Do you want a pre-paid card or a credit card? They are different things.

jumpybongo

ViolaLass wrote: »

Do you want a pre-paid card or a credit card? They are different things.

pre-paid advice please.

Svenena

Did you look at the article from this website which I posted for you above? It states: "the only foreign currencies prepaid cards operate in are Euros and US Dollars, so if you’re going somewhere more exotic, they’re not for you"

If you can use Euros or US Dollars, it sets out the best cards in detail.

Svenena

Since I assume you haven't looked round the rest of the site, if you decide prepaid cards aren't for you, you can also find out the cheapest way to get cash: http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/.

jumpybongo

Svenena wrote: »

Since I assume you haven't looked round the rest of the site, if you decide prepaid cards aren't for you, you can also find out the cheapest way to get c

looked around site extensively thanks.

both caxton and fair fx do sterling global cards too though bizarely i need a $ too to pay for services in asia!

was jut hoping someone could provide some anecdotal up- to-date advice.

sorry that i must sound like such a noob.

Svenena

I wasn't being deliberately rude The articles are generally pretty up-to-date - the prepaid card one was updated a couple of weeks ago. Generally if something new comes up, it's added fairly quickly.

If you're after anecdotal evidence, I used the FairFX card for Euros last summer and had no problems. It came within a couple of weeks, was Mastercard, so widely accepted where I was, and I topped up while I was away too, using my debit card online. That money was available for use on the card within a couple of hours. Not much else to say about it. If you can use US dollars on your hol, and the FairFX card is the cheapest, I'd say go for it.

You mentioned flights - if you're looking at paying for them by credit card because you're after section 75 protection, I'm not sure whether you're covered on a pre-pay card. I remember reading a discussion about it on here last week, and I think the consensus was that you're not, since they're not actually credit cards. You could try applying for a sub-prime card for this, but they don't tend to give very high limits (eg it might be around £200), so not sure whether that would be enough for your flights. They also have outrageous interest rates, so be sure to pay back in full.