Topup Prepaid Mastercard from Credit Cards

Lunartick

Hi,

Not sure if this is even possible, but hope someone might be able to advise.

A couple of friends and myself are looking to book a holiday. The idea being we find something, split the cost 3 ways and pay individually on credit cards - ie £1800 total, £600 each on individual credit cards. No company seem to allow this and credit card transaction fees work out about 3% - so ~ £60 on £1800. A couple of companies we have looked at dont seem to charge for prepaid mastercards.

So what we are after info on is, are we able to get a prepaid card and each top it up with £600 from each of our credit cards, then use that to pay for the holiday?

Are there any specific companies to look at/offer this option does anyone know?

Any help appreciated, thanks.

Tixy

If you book in person at a travel agent they will allow you to split the cost and put it on each of your cards. Or better still (financially) as you appear to have the cash for the holiday is that you could pay a small deposit on your credit cards (so you get the section 75 protection) and then pay the remainder in cash/debit cards. That way you only pay credit card fees on the small deposit.

As far as I know one of you could get a prepaid card in their name and all pay them the money to top it up. But you won't get section 75 protection if you pay on a prepaid card (unless its the creditbuilder cashplus card which has a fee to own one) and I suppose you should consider the risk that you have handed over the cash to one person (although presumably you trust them).

Lunartick

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

We dont actually all have the cash, we we hoping to be able to top up £600 each from each of our credit cards on to one card to make the payment.

The holiday we have seen is through Alpharooms.com and they have said that we have to buy the holiday as one payment, we can't split it. Also the nearest a travel agent have offered is nearly £500 more, so booking that way isn't really available to us.

Not sure if anyone can advise further? Thanks.

Tixy

I think a lot of prepaid cards (possibly most) won't let you top up the prepaid card from a credit card.
If you find one that does I would double check how the payment will be treated from your first cards - it may be that it is treated as a cash withdrawal - which usually costs more than a purchase.

Edit - Sorry just looked again - it looks like some will allow you to top up with a credit card online - but charge a fee of maybe around 3% to do this.

stilltheone

Tixy wrote: »

I think a lot of prepaid cards (possibly most) won't let you top up the prepaid card from a credit card.
If you find one that does I would double check how the payment will be treated from your first cards - it may be that it is treated as a cash withdrawal - which usually costs more than a purchase.

Edit - Sorry just looked again - it looks like some will allow you to top up with a credit card online - but charge a fee of maybe around 3% to do this.

Travelex Cash Passport Globe

Doesn't cost anything to topup with CC(though check if your CC will levy charges) and useful on holiday too.

Fees & Limits The £29.99 fee no longer applies.

Tixy

stilltheone wrote: »

Travelex Cash Passport Globe

Doesn't cost anything to topup with CC(though check if your CC will levy charges) and useful on holiday too.

Fees & Limits The £29.99 fee no longer applies.

The T&C seem to say that you may be charged 1.5% if you use a mastercard creditcard?

From here - http://www.travelex.co.uk/uk/personal/terms_and_conditions.aspx#cash_passport, which is the T&C link at the bottom of your first link

Credit/Debit cards may be subject to a card handling fee or cash advance fee set by the card issuer. You will not be charged a card handling or cash advance fee if you choose to pay by Maestro, or MasterCard® Debit Cards. If you wish to pay by MasterCard® Credit Card, a handling fee of 1.5% of the order value may be applied (min £4.00 - max £15.00). This will be shown within your order summary as a "credit card fee". If you choose to pay by Visa Credit or Debit card, your card issuer may apply a cash advance fee which will be shown separately on your Credit or Debit Card/Bank statement.

At least thats how I would interpret it, that the 1.5% fee is what travelex themselves [STRIKE]would[/STRIKE] may charge (though its not very clear).
Does look as though they will be treated as cash advances by the credit cards though, so could end up being costly if they cannot pay off their cards quickly.

Haven't had one of these though so no idea whether such a fee is charged in practice.

stilltheone

Tixy wrote: »

The T&C seem to say that you may be charged 1.5% if you use a mastercard creditcard?

From here - http://www.travelex.co.uk/uk/personal/terms_and_conditions.aspx#cash_passport, which is the T&C link at the bottom of your first link

Credit/Debit cards may be subject to a card handling fee or cash advance fee set by the card issuer. You will not be charged a card handling or cash advance fee if you choose to pay by Maestro, or MasterCard® Debit Cards. If you wish to pay by MasterCard® Credit Card, a handling fee of 1.5% of the order value may be applied (min £4.00 - max £15.00). This will be shown within your order summary as a "credit card fee". If you choose to pay by Visa Credit or Debit card, your card issuer may apply a cash advance fee which will be shown separately on your Credit or Debit Card/Bank statement.

At least thats how I would interpret it, that the 1.5% fee is what travelex themselves [STRIKE]would[/STRIKE] may charge (though its not very clear).
Does look as though they will be treated as cash advances by the credit cards though, so could end up being costly if they cannot pay off their cards quickly.

Haven't had one of these though so no idea whether such a fee is charged in practice.

The clue was there all along. One can call 01733 457630 for clarification.

Lunartick

Thanks for the info.

Will take a look into this card, will work out cheaper than paying cc fees.

AmitSharma

I think if you do your research you should be able to find a couple of prepaid cards which allow you to top up with a credit card at no additional fee. Have a look at the prepaid comparison section on prepaid365

A number of prepaid card companies actually dont allow credit card loading anymore as they were experiencing a lot of credit card load fraud - i.e people loading anonymous prepaid cards with stolen credit cards, then going to an ATM and withdrawing all the cash but I think a few still offer it. I think Neteller and Kalixa charge 1.75% and 1.95% respectively but I am pretty sure you should be able to find a free one in there too. All the best