Another pre-paid travel card headache

JadeElizabeth91

Hi Guys,

Basically, like other users I'm very confused as to the best card to suit me. I go Interrailing for a month on the 19th August, and admittedly i've probably left it a bit late in sorting out my currency!

I'm travelling to Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Croatia, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. So whilst some have the Euro, others do not.

I can't really make purchases on my debit card as it's Halifax and the rate is awful.

Therefore I'd appreciate any advice possible, I would probably make most transactions through an ATM and need a card which will come in the next week. I've heard of the Travelex, Caxtonfx cards etc, but have become so confused as to what will best meet my needs!

stilltheone

Travelex Cash Passport Globe ordered via TopCashBack or Quidco if you have an existing account(with Quidco) is likely the best value for you.

The card advised is the best all round for your usage. An alternative is the Kalixa Card. Please don't ask the same questions that have been asked here every day for months now. Further info is available in earlier threads.

Peruse this thread for some pertinent information.

barafear799

hopefully I won't get told to read all the other threads as well - I have read them - and I would just like clarification that my calculations are correct:

Ok - let's suppose we ignore the cost of the card (I know Kalixa is £4.95 - but I'm planning to use quidco/topcashback - so I should get that back eventually) - ok - I want to use the card in Prague -

so looking at the current true exchange rate it is approx 27.70 KC to the £ - my understanding is as follows:

With Travelex there is no fee to use the ATM - but there is a 1.49% transaction fee - am I right to assume that will mean my cash will be exchanged at a rate of approx 27.29 - so in the following example:

If I withdrew 8000 KC in one ATM transaction - the net cost to me with Travelex would be:

8000/27.29 = £293.15

However, with Kalixa, I would get the true exchange rate (Admittedly it is their "own" rate - but I believe it is more or less the market rate) - so we'll work on a rate of 27.70

Therefore the cost would be:

8000/27.7 = £288.81 plus the one off ATM fee of £2.25 = £291.06


So assuming I keep my withdrawals big, I should be better off with Kalixa? I would probably not be planning to use my card for transactions.

Any advice, much appreciated.

Thanks

stilltheone

barafear799 wrote: »

hopefully I won't get told to read all the other threads as well - I have read them - and I would just like clarification that my calculations are correct:

Ok - let's suppose we ignore the cost of the card (I know Kalixa is £4.95 - but I'm planning to use quidco/topcashback - so I should get that back eventually) - ok - I want to use the card in Prague -

so looking at the current true exchange rate it is approx 27.70 KC to the £ - my understanding is as follows:

With Travelex there is no fee to use the ATM - but there is a 1.49% transaction fee - am I right to assume that will mean my cash will be exchanged at a rate of approx 27.29 - so in the following example:

If I withdrew 8000 KC in one ATM transaction - the net cost to me with Travelex would be:

8000/27.29 = £293.15

However, with Kalixa, I would get the true exchange rate (Admittedly it is their "own" rate - but I believe it is more or less the market rate) - so we'll work on a rate of 27.70

Therefore the cost would be:

8000/27.7 = £288.81 plus the one off ATM fee of £2.25 = £291.06


So assuming I keep my withdrawals big, I should be better off with Kalixa? I would probably not be planning to use my card for transactions.

Any advice, much appreciated.

Thanks

What the hell is a Travelex Euro Passport Globe??

If you are including the CashBack in your equation for the Kalixa Card, did you do the same for the Globe card?

dzug1

One complication: in some countries you would be hard put to find an ATM that would give you that sort of sum in one go so there might be more than one £2.25 fee.

Whilst I don't know, I suspect the Czech Republic could be one of them.

barafear799

Travelex Cash Passport Globe.

The cashback on the above would not be as much (as I would probably not be planning to load it up with more than £500 - therefore the cashback would only be £2.50 - whereas Kalixa is £7 - so a net £2 (after the cost of the card) - so the cashback amounts would be more or less the same .

Is my maths correct in understanding the Travelex's 1.49% transaction fee?

I'm trying to remember what my max withdrawal was the last time I went to Prague (at the time I had a "fee free" Nationwide Debit card - sadly no longer!). I'm sure £300 in one go doesn't sound like too much?

I agree the flexibility of smaller withdrawals with the travelex card might sway me toward that.......

Thanks for the help.

barafear799

oops.....one more question - given the fact I would be wanting "an exotic currency" - would there be any other potential card I could compare in my forecasts (given the fact the FairFX card does not seem so attractive for the exotic currencies because of the 1.4% fee I believe???). Thank you.

stilltheone

barafear799 wrote: »

oops.....one more question - given the fact I would be wanting "an exotic currency" - would there be any other potential card I could compare in my forecasts (given the fact the FairFX card does not seem so attractive for the exotic currencies because of the 1.4% fee I believe???). Thank you.

No. Other than proper bank accounts and/or CCs.

wrecclesham

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]My son (17) has had a nightmare of an experience trying to use this card in Portugal. The card was registered to my wife as he is under 18, but all the money on the card was his. We thought as the card had no direct access to his bank account if it was lost or stolen the damage in terms of financial loss would be be relatively minor.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]When my son tried to use the card after 3 days into his week long holiday the problems began. He put the card into an ATM with the Mastercard symbol as advised at the post office, only to be faced with a menu system all in Portuguese. He called home and asked us to contact the customer service team to confirm that they card was active and that there were no problems. This we did and it was confirmed that the card was active and that he should be able to withdraw money.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]He went to 3 different ATM's the following day and at various times was asked to enter a 6 digit PIN. As the card was only issued with a 4 digit PIN, he was understandably confused and concerned.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We called the customer services again and they re-set the card as it had been used unsuccessfully 3 times. Assuring us that there was no problems with the card we called our son and suggested that he tried again. He continued to have problems.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We called the call centre again and spoke with Elizabeth, and as this was late evening she had no interest in dealing with our concerns and offered no assistance whatsoever.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We called the following day to again be met with indifference to our sons plight, a total lack of urgency and what appeared to us to be complete apathy towards finding a resolution to our sons lack of finances. He was by now having to borrow money from his friends to buy food and drinks.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We eventually spoke to a representative who indicated that there must a problem with the PIN and he would change the PIN and send my son a text with the new PIN. After 6 hours and no text we called again, only to be advised that changing the PIN “was a sackable offence” and the PIN would never be sent via text.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This put us back to square one, no money for my son and no help from the call centre, we were by now becoming very frustrated. They then suggested that my son try to make an over the counter purchase to see if it was a problem with the ATM's. We weren't particularly happy about this. It's embarrassing enough if your card is refused in your own country, but to suggest that a 17 year old in a foreign country should try it, seems to be a “we've tried everything we can and now this is our last resort” option. Unsurprisingly, the transaction failed.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 5 of the holiday (Saturday) arrived with no resolution and no money and no open banks. We called and asked to speak with a supervisor (Mohammed) who agreed that this should have been resolved many days ago and promised to get a solution as quickly as possible. [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Well time passed and still nothing concrete happened. We called again and spoke to Mohammed and again he agreed that there was still a problem that they were trying to resolve, but couldn't explain what the problem was and why it was happening. He did agree to call our son and confirm that they were working on the problem, but that really didn't do anything other than provide a fleetingly short period of reassurance.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Sunday and day 6 of the holiday and nothing changed, everyone was running round like headless chicken and not achieving anything useful. More calls, more fruitless trips to the ATM's, more money borrowed from his friend and no access to his money.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Monday, my son was due to come home today with the taxi arriving at the apartments at 6:00pm to take him to the airport, but without money to pay his fare he could be stranded, with no money, no accommodation and no transport. I called to speak with Mohammed, but he was on another call and I asked to be put through to his manager. I was advised by Stevie (female 23) that Mohammed was in a call and Ian Allen was at lunch, something that my son could not afford to buy, nice touch Post Office![/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I am sure it was the innocence of youth, but whilst trying to stress the urgency of my concerns, Stevie asked why we hadn't considered making a back up plan if my son ran out of money and why couldn't I send money by Western Union. I didn't need a back up plan as my son had plenty of money, but he couldn't get at it because of the problem with the card. She failed to see the error in her logic and passed me through to Mohammed. [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]At about 2:15pm on Monday again called the centre and asked for Ian Allen. He had decided that he was replete and deigned it appropriate to return to his desk and maybe do something. Not quite sure what he did because he was no use at all. I was fed up with pressing all the buttons trying to get through and asked him for a direct number, which he refused to provide.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]He did however say that they were in contact by email with Mastercard technicians to try to resolve the problem with the card. He couldn't give me a telephone number, but he would forward me their email confirming this action. Result! The email (received at 14:27) contained his direct telephone number, the one that he staunchly denied existed. So he was lying then. Not quite sure what he hoped to gain by not giving his number to me, but it backfired spectacularly when he sent the email. I'm sure he won't be doing that one again. [/FONT]




[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Never mind I'll do it for him. Ian Allen (alleged) call centre manager, but the job title at the bottom of his email is Forecasting and MI Analyst – Direct Number is 0121 410 4323 or email [/FONT][EMAIL="jacqui.verwey@fnis.com"]ian.allen@fisglobal.com[/EMAIL]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After quickly losing faith with abilities of Ian do do anything productive or useful, I asked for the name and contact details of his manager. He appeared to want to get rid of me very quickly as he gave me his mangers name instantly. A Richard Goudenhooft and he was available on the above number. Asked to be put through to him immediately, but unsurprisingly he was in a meeting and couldn't be disturbed. Now call me sceptical, but I found that a bit too convenient.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Called back about 20 minutes later and was put through to Richard by Ian and he seemed a little flustered. Presumably I had called back before he had had time be be briefed fully (not my problem). He listened and blustered and I was astounded to hear him ask his colleagues what solutions were available. I suggested that as Stevie had suggested to me, that they send him some money via Western Union and that if the Post Office couldn't do it than maybe he could do it from his personal finances. He didn't seem to happy with this idea, can't see why not myself, after all, it was what his staff had suggested I do.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Certain that I would need to speak with him on more occasions I asked for his direct telephone number which he provide without hesitation (0121 410 4326 – email [EMAIL="richard.goudenhooft@fisglobal.com"]richard.goudenhooft@fisglobal.com[/EMAIL]) and I said I would call him back every 15 minutes for updates. He couldn't really do anything other than accept this. After all, my son was due to leave for the airport to come home at 6:00pm and without any money to pay for a taxi I had made it very clear they he (Richard Goudenhooft) was personally responsible for my sons welfare and well-being and also responsible for any financial agreements my son may have to make to ensure passage home via the British Embassy.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Anyway, this seemed to spur the team onwards and upwards, and after a couple more calls I receive a call from my son confirming that he has now been able to withdraw money from the cashpoint. Success. [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I then had quite a discussion with Richard Goudenhooft, who had called me for a change. We discussed in great depth what I expected from the FSA complaint process that he was committed to complete. I stated that I wanted full transcripts from all the calls from all the different telephone numbers we had used since this sorry saga started. I also wanted copies of all emails both internal and external regarding anything to do with the resurrection of my sons card.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I am waiting for the confirmation letter from the complaints team confirming my complaint is being investigated. Don't hold out much hope that I will get much joy from that. However, am calling Richard Goudenhooft every day just to make sure that he is very aware that he cannot expect an easy ride and this complaint has not yet been resolved to any degree.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As an aside, this is not the complete story otherwise it would be twice as long as it is now![/FONT]

mama4321

My daughter is interrailing at the moment and is using a Travelex Cash Passport Globe, (thanks "stilltheone"for the recommendation) she has had much the same itinerary as you including Prague and Budapest.

The card (plus a free second card with a different pin) came within a couple of days, and has been great. I have been topping it up as necessary, just so there is not too much on it at any one time in case it got lost/stolen.

She has had no problem drawing cash anywhere.

She did take a few Euros, Forints and Korunas in cash too just in case.

Have a good trip.

stilltheone

wrecclesham wrote: »

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]My son (17) has had a nightmare of an experience trying to use this card in Portugal.

It's a particularly poor value card. Whatever possessed you?