Prepaid Travel Card

Manoona

Hey,

Not been around for a while and hopefully i'm not posting the same as others, but I did a search and i coudlnt find what i was looking for!

I am off travelling in November, I will be spending some time in SE Asia, before hopping over to Oz and maybe even new Zealand at some point.

I was told the best way to take currency was to sort myself out with a prepaid travel card - much like the prepaid credit cards but cheaper to use abroad - The problem is there are so many and I just dont know which to go for - We booked out tickets through STA travel and they do a card that they obviously recommended, has anyone else had any experience of using one?

Is it better to go for one thats cheaper to withdraw from ATMS or has a cheaper % on transactions - its all confuzzling, any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Walshy_J86

I would be a little wary of the STA travel card - my girlfriend had several problems with actually putting money on it, not sure if it was a one off or what?

She also found that whilst it was advertised and sold to her as fee free / free withdrawals, she was in fact charged several times whilst making her way across the Far East / Australia / Los Angeles. She even had $51 in her account in LA, but the ATM's would not allow her to withdraw $50 as there would not be enough left to cover the fees!!! Upon her return she went to the STA branch which sold her the benefits of the card, but they simply did not want to know and just told her to call the helpline.

I don't have experience of any others so can't recommend any others unfortunately, so sorry to be all negative, but I'm sure someone on here will be aware of a decent alternative.

Good luck and happy travelling!

dazza.mk

Walshy_J86 wrote: »

She also found that whilst it was advertised and sold to her as fee free / free withdrawals, she was in fact charged several times whilst making her way across the Far East / Australia / Los Angeles. She even had $51 in her account in LA, but the ATM's would not allow her to withdraw $50 as there would not be enough left to cover the fees!!! Upon her return she went to the STA branch which sold her the benefits of the card, but they simply did not want to know and just told her to call the helpline.

Fee free doesn't mean that there are no fees at all, just that STA (or other providers) won't charge a fee, they have no control of fees charged by the local cashpoint owner.

Manoona

Oh gosh - thanks for that, I hear good and bad things about most of STA's services to be honest. They were very helpful when booking our tickets, but i'll shop around for the card etc, dont want to be getting charged left right and centre whilst over there!

Ta :-)

iwanttoberich

The withdrawal itself might be free from the ATM, but the card company will charge a fee for their services and the foreign exchange fee as well, if the transaction is in a different currency of the card or country. Much like the ATMs at petrol stations where they say "withdrawal is free but your bank may charge you".

I have used the FairFx card in Paris, and more recently in Iceland. You can load it up to twice per day and the funds are available within the hour, although they say at least 2 hours. And you can do it online, so if you find you are short of money you can transfer some more straight away via your debit card.

They now have an any-currency card. Of course they will charge fees for it, but to be honest, the fee is not exorbitant. I don't think there is any card, prepaid or otherwise, that is not going to charge you for its use. Just include a few extra pennies to cover the fees.

For me, the best advantage of using a prepaid card is that if it is stolen or any other horrible thing happens, noone can access your bank account. They can only get whatever is on that card.

Have a fabulous holiday.

Bob_the_Saver

Have used the Fairfx pre-paid card in ALL of the places you mention with no problems. See link below

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#prepaid

jen245

I also have fairfx card, the US dollar card, and have been using it for a few years now with no problems at all