Pre paid Card (Dollar) for Hotel Amenities Charges

kegan5

I'm looking at getting a prepaid card for use in hotels, when they hold £X per night for things like mini bar.

I only have a UK debit card so far and don't want to use that as the funds are actually removed.

Can anyone advise on the best prepaid card to get based on the use?

There may be times where I would use the card, perhaps where an ATM isn't available so I would like to try and find the best overall.

Are there any with Free ATM withdrawals and 0% Fee's.

Does anyone know if the % fee would count, if hotels are only reserving funds and not actually taking them out?

Thanks in advance

A.Jones

Prepaid cards are not good for things ike this. They put a "block" on the card, and it can take days / weeks for it to be removed, reducing the balance. For example, if you used it for 30 nights in 30 different places, with just $10 on it per night, you would need to prepay $300, even though you were not actually spending on it.

I'd use a Halifax Clarity credit card for this. You would not be charged a percentage in interest, since you are not spending. It is free to withdraw from ATMs, but you pay interest on the amount withdraw. Just log on, and clear the balance asap to minimise the fees. This is usually better than paying a couple of dollars / pounds fee to withdraw.

kegan5

Thanks, I can't get a credit card fortunately.
I also don't mind how much I need to put on the pre paid card, I just wanted to keep those funds separate to spending funds as I'm travelling on my own. It would simply be used for the hotels holding funds... If there is anything refunded to the card before I leave I can/would use it up and if not we travel to the US as a family quite a lot too so it would be used up on a future trip.

A.Jones

In that case, go for a FairFX (https://www.fairfx.com) US currency card. No management fees, no loading fees, no transaction fees in the US, and a decent exchange rate. The only charge you are likely to need to pay is $2 ATM. So try to avoid withdrawing cash from the ATM, and always spend on the card rather than with cash.

Or, if you are likely to use ATMs a lot, go for a caxton one. It has a slightly worse exchange rate, and a minimum upload ($150), but free ATM use.

kegan5

Many Thanks