Prepaid Cards - South East Asia Trip

OffIGo

Hi, I have been reading through the info on MSE page and also on various of the forum threads but haven't yet been able to decide what would suit my needs best...

I will be travelling around SE Asia for 3 months this summer and will be taking a Halifax Clarity Credit Card to use for transactions (hotels etc) but it's not the best for cash withdrawal which I will also be doing a lot of.

For ATM use only the prepaid seem to be best, is this correct? For me the best two seem to be the CaxtonFX* or the ICE Travellers Cashcard. I will need to withdraw both in US Dollars (in Vietnam & Cambodia particularly but other places too- VISA costs always seem to be asked for in US$) but also in the local currencies, eg Indonesian Rp. I'm wondering whether I would be best to get their Dollar cards or their Global ones? Problem with the Global cards is that the rates/fees aren't as good, whereas they are good for the Dollar one.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

NiftyDigits

Use the Clarity for cash withdrawals. When you have Internet access, pay off the amount that you have spent on the card via online banking. Don't wait for the statement to be produced.
If in or near London, get a Metro Bank debit card. If this is not possible, then think about a Kalixa Pay Prepaid Mastercard with the ICE Prepaid Sterling card as your second choice for backup cards.

The Kalixa Promo code for the waiving of the £6.95 card issue fee still works.
Use only TeleBank ATMs in Vietnam. No US$ ATMs there. Everywhere other than Cambodia you'll need to take the local currency and then change externally. Thailand has a US$ ATM at BKK, but it's not cost effective.

Dragonista

Don't use USD, use local currency, it works out cheaper. In Indonesia at least you can use sterling too (and other major currencies) for the VISA. Everywhere hotel I've stayed at quote prices in USD actually put it on the bill in local currency (I live in Asia).

NiftyDigits

Also, bear in mind that in some countries, notably Thailand, all of the ATM(bar AEON) add a levy of 150 baht to any withdrawal. You can avoid this by withdrawing over the bank counter, but not with a Prepaid card. So the Clarity or the Metro bank or N&P debit cards.

Doshwaster

I've been a recent convert from pre-paid cards to the Halifax Clarity. As long as you are able to keep track of spending online then the costs are minimal and it avoids the problem with pre-paid cards of running out of funds.

SE Asia is very much a cash society so apart from booking hotels and flights, everything else is done in cash. I just take out enough cash to last 2-3 days. As above, try to avoid taking out small amounts in Thailand due to the BHT 150 fee. If you take out BHT 10,000 at a time then the fee isn't significant.

NiftyDigits

Doshwaster wrote: »

I've been a recent convert from pre-paid cards to the Halifax Clarity. As long as you are able to keep track of spending online then the costs are minimal and it avoids the problem with pre-paid cards of running out of funds.

SE Asia is very much a cash society so apart from booking hotels and flights, everything else is done in cash. I just take out enough cash to last 2-3 days. As above, try to avoid taking out small amounts in Thailand due to the BHT 150 fee. If you take out BHT 10,000 at a time then the fee isn't significant.

Just go into the branch with your passport.

Doshwaster

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Just go into the branch with your passport.

A little hard when you run out of beer money at midnight. Besides, I don't like to carry my passport around with me. In the context of holiday spending, BHT150 every few days to top up with cash isn't the biggest problem.

NiftyDigits

Doshwaster wrote: »

A little hard when you run out of beer money at midnight. Besides, I don't like to carry my passport around with me. In the context of holiday spending, BHT150 every few days to top up with cash isn't the biggest problem.

Wasn't for you. I've had this conversation with you before.

I usually have my own transport, so take the five minute journey to the ATM every week or so.
But the those who can't, get to a branch in the daytime, with your passport.