Cheap Travel Money or Card for travelling teenager

Edyian17

My 17 year old daughter is about to go on a placement in Tanzania. The organisation she travels with suggest that it is best to take a Card for getting local currency from an ATM rather than taking cash with her.

So off I went to check the site and the Forums to see which is the best card for travellers. I then hit a major problem......all the advice is aimed at travellers who are 18 or over, for legal and commercial reasons.

I have looked at credit and debit cards, prepaid cards, even asked my card supplier if she can use mine (Definitely NO!!!!).

So does any one know from experience or knowledge ..........which is the best the card for overseas use by a travelling teenager (under 18)? And the rules for obtaining that card when she currently doesn't have a regular income or credit rating?

NiftyDigits

Caxton Global Traveller

Obviously_the_best

As above, Caxton global traveller. The primary card has to be in your name, but you can get a secondary card for anyone aged 13 or older.

Kernow666

sainsburys do one ( sold via travelex its a mastercard)

you can get 2 cards

primary cardholder needs to be over 18 though which wont be a problem
secondary cardholder can be your daughter

you can top it up back here in england and funds will appear on her card almost instantly
if there is a sainsburys near you that has a travel money bureau you can go in and get one there and then

NiftyDigits

Kernow666 wrote: »

sainsburys do one ( sold via travelex its a mastercard)

you can get 2 cards

primary cardholder needs to be over 18 though which wont be a problem
secondary cardholder can be your daughter

you can top it up back here in england and funds will appear on her card almost instantly
if there is a sainsburys near you that has a travel money bureau you can go in and get one there and then

In which currency would that be?

If in Pounds, there is a 3% charge for loading the card and then a 5.75% forex charge on spending.

Very poor value in this case.

Kernow666

not even going to bother giving suggestions on here anymore just get shot down

NiftyDigits

Kernow666 wrote: »

not even going to bother giving suggestions on here anymore just get shot down

That's a bit of a childish reaction.

Especially when the whole ethos of the website is to point the consumer towards the best deals.

If it were you who were asking, you'd be happy there was someone to scrutinise it for you

Which would you prefer? An overall charge of 2.75% or 8.75%?

Edyian17

Thankyou!

My Daughter is now in Tanzania and the Canton FX card is working as described/expected.

Just one thing to be aware of. When we were at the London Heathrow we tried to use an ATM to check the balance on the card. Unfortunately it did not work and we got an error message 'Unauthorised Transaction'. My daughter was then very worried/upset as she thought she was traveling without any money as she thought she had the wrong PIN.

When I got home I rang the customer service who were very helpful! They confirmed this was working correctly. They explained that the card works on the credit network and not the debit network and so cannot provide balances at the ATM. Unfortunately the ATMs do not know how to deal with this and give out this error message. The fact that it did this was actually a sign that the PIN was correct and working. The ATM had accepted the PIN but could not process the balance inquiry. I contacted my daughter and she is very relieved !

Edyian17

Daughter now back home and this worked a treat.