now need a pre-payment card as ran out of time!! and no trolling on this post please!

F_Bear

due to my short sightedness i wont have time to apply for a Carity credit card as planned. :mad:

i need a pre-payment card and have looked at the previous post regarding this, that ended up in a cat fight between two members!!

can you use pre-paid cards as a debit card to pay for meals at places and is there a commisson for this? same again with taking cash out?

id be happy to get one in either euros or sterling as my budgeting is better than my planning :A

and are they expensive to load/unload if i dont spend it all?

thanks

ps, if the card is lost or nicked do you 'lose' the money thats loaded on it?!

Bob_the_Saver

F_Bear wrote: »

due to my short sightedness i wont have time to apply for a Carity credit card as planned. :mad:

i need a pre-payment card and have looked at the previous post regarding this, that ended up in a cat fight between two members!!

can you use pre-paid cards as a debit card to pay for meals at places and is there a commisson for this? same again with taking cash out?

id be happy to get one in either euros or sterling as my budgeting is better than my planning :A

and are they expensive to load/unload if i dont spend it all?

thanks

ps, if the card is lost or nicked do you 'lose' the money thats loaded on it?!

Only if they can spend it.

spinningsheep

If you are planning on using it in the eurozone, you could get a Thomas Cook Euro travel card. It's an embossed Mastercard with chip & pin, from memory when I used it last summer, all card transactions were free (euro rate obviously fixed at time of purchase) and there was a €2 fee deducted as well as the transaction amount if you withdrew cash ( I did 3 or 4 withdrawals whilst there, worked out cheaper than using my UK debit card and safer if I lost it). As far as i remember, they gave me a UK number to call in case of loss or theft and they would arrange to be able to redeem the value left on the card at a local bank or send a new card if practical. Think it cost me about £5 for the card issue but the card was issued and loaded immediately. Just had to take my passport as ID. I know other cards offered better € exchange rates at the time but they mostly were cards you applied online for and I was in a similar situation to you where I did not have the time to apply for the card in advance, plus rightly or wrongly I liked the idea of the instant issue in store and the Thomas Cook name backing the card. As far as I can see the card is no more or less secure than a UK debit or credit card, and the PIN would need to be used to withdraw cash at an ATM or to make a chip & pin purchase, but bear in mind not all of the EU has chip and pin, especially if you use it off the beaten track.

callum9999

spinningsheep wrote: »

If you are planning on using it in the eurozone, you could get a Thomas Cook Euro travel card. It's an embossed Mastercard with chip & pin, from memory when I used it last summer, all card transactions were free (euro rate obviously fixed at time of purchase) and there was a €2 fee deducted as well as the transaction amount if you withdrew cash ( I did 3 or 4 withdrawals whilst there, worked out cheaper than using my UK debit card and safer if I lost it). As far as i remember, they gave me a UK number to call in case of loss or theft and they would arrange to be able to redeem the value left on the card at a local bank or send a new card if practical. Think it cost me about £5 for the card issue but the card was issued and loaded immediately. Just had to take my passport as ID. I know other cards offered better € exchange rates at the time but they mostly were cards you applied online for and I was in a similar situation to you where I did not have the time to apply for the card in advance, plus rightly or wrongly I liked the idea of the instant issue in store and the Thomas Cook name backing the card. As far as I can see the card is no more or less secure than a UK debit or credit card, and the PIN would need to be used to withdraw cash at an ATM or to make a chip & pin purchase, but bear in mind not all of the EU has chip and pin, especially if you use it off the beaten track.

Really - are you sure? I've had various Thomas Cook cards before and there was no way I would have bought them if I had to pay for the card.

TakeThis

Cash Passport Globe is the best that you can get at short notice and in the top two Prepaid cards anyway. You can order it four hours before you need it and pick it up yourself. Perhaps even at the airport if convenient for you. You can only order it online.

Order via TopCashBack > Travelex > Globe card to get 0.5% of your initial topup back.
Make sure that your bank's debit card does not charge to top up Prepaid cards.

TakeThis

spinningsheep wrote: »

If you are planning on using it in the eurozone, you could get a Thomas Cook Euro travel card. It's an embossed Mastercard with chip & pin, from memory when I used it last summer, all card transactions were free (euro rate obviously fixed at time of purchase) and there was a €2 fee deducted as well as the transaction amount if you withdrew cash ( I did 3 or 4 withdrawals whilst there, worked out cheaper than using my UK debit card and safer if I lost it). As far as i remember, they gave me a UK number to call in case of loss or theft and they would arrange to be able to redeem the value left on the card at a local bank or send a new card if practical. Think it cost me about £5 for the card issue but the card was issued and loaded immediately. Just had to take my passport as ID. I know other cards offered better € exchange rates at the time but they mostly were cards you applied online for and I was in a similar situation to you where I did not have the time to apply for the card in advance, plus rightly or wrongly I liked the idea of the instant issue in store and the Thomas Cook name backing the card. As far as I can see the card is no more or less secure than a UK debit or credit card, and the PIN would need to be used to withdraw cash at an ATM or to make a chip & pin purchase, but bear in mind not all of the EU has chip and pin, especially if you use it off the beaten track.

I know you mean well, but it isn't good at all compared to the best.

In fact, it is terrible value compared to the best.

Doshwaster

F_Bear wrote: »

due to my short sightedness i wont have time to apply for a Carity credit card as planned. :mad:

i need a pre-payment card and have looked at the previous post regarding this, that ended up in a cat fight between two members!!

Yes, discussions about currency cards has a habit of getting a little tetchy.

F_Bear wrote: »

can you use pre-paid cards as a debit card to pay for meals at places and is there a commisson for this? same again with taking cash out?

Yes, just the same as a debit card. The fees structure for each card varies so you need to check them but generally the card provider makes their money (they have to make a profit somehow!) by taking a small percentage of 1-3% off the exchange rate either when you load the card (in the case of Euros) or when you spend (in the case of Sterling)

Bogtrotter

I can only speak about the FairFX and CaxtonFX cards. Both ordered online cost £10 and received within a week. In both cases the £10 fee was added to card funds when the cards were topped up (don't know if this is still the case).
Exchange rate is similar for both but usually slightly better on FairFX (with the rate about 2% less than the published mastercard exchange rate)

All point of sale transactions in Euros are free if using a Euro card but if using the Sterling denominated cards there is a 1.4% charge with FairFX and 2.75% with Caxton.

Taking cash out at an ATM abroad is free with Caxton and costs €1.50 for the FairFX. Apparently some ATMs will make extra charges but I haven't been charged extra at any ATM so far.

No fee to load the card with debit card (or bank transfer with FairFX). Some banks apparently charge a fee but this practice is being phased out.
FairFX also accepts credit cards at a extra charge of 2.5% and your credit card may apply a cash advance fee.
With Caxton you must register a specific debit card to fund the currency card. FairFX you can register a card or use any other of your debit cards. Minimum load is €60 for FairFX and €150 for Caxton.

If you want to unload unused funds at a UK ATM when you return... FairFX will charge €1.50 + 1.4% fee, Caxton charges 2.75% fee. Generally I'll "unload" the card in the airport shops or the beer/wine stores at the ferry port.

Louisdf

Bogtrotter wrote: »

I can only speak about the FairFX and CaxtonFX cards. Both ordered online cost £10 and received within a week. In both cases the £10 fee was added to card funds when the cards were topped up (don't know if this is still the case).
Exchange rate is similar for both but usually slightly better on FairFX (with the rate about 2% less than the published mastercard exchange rate)

All point of sale transactions in Euros are free if using a Euro card but if using the Sterling denominated cards there is a 1.4% charge with FairFX and 2.75% with Caxton.

Taking cash out at an ATM abroad is free with Caxton and costs €1.50 for the FairFX. Apparently some ATMs will make extra charges but I haven't been charged extra at any ATM so far.

No fee to load the card with debit card (or bank transfer with FairFX). Some banks apparently charge a fee but this practice is being phased out.
FairFX also accepts credit cards at a extra charge of 2.5% and your credit card may apply a cash advance fee.
With Caxton you must register a specific debit card to fund the currency card. FairFX you can register a card or use any other of your debit cards. Minimum load is €60 for FairFX and €150 for Caxton.

If you want to unload unused funds at a UK ATM when you return... FairFX will charge €1.50 + 1.4% fee, Caxton charges 2.75% fee. Generally I'll "unload" the card in the airport shops or the beer/wine stores at the ferry port.

Travelex globe is still better, a 1.5% fee and no cashpoint withdrawal fees.

TakeThis

Louisdf wrote: »

Caxton globe is still better, a 1.5% fee and no cashpoint withdrawal fees.

It is Caxton Global Traveller and the fee is 2.5%, so considerably worse than the Cash Passport Globe at 1.49%.

Louisdf

TakeThis wrote: »

It is Caxton Global Traveller and the fee is 2.5%, so considerably worse than the Cash Passport Globe at 1.49%.

Sorry that's what I meant, I got mixed up with Caxton and Travelex.