Pre-paid Cash Card ”v’s” Traveller’s Cheques.

PeterPanandTink

Whenever we have been abroad previously we have taken a little bit of cash and travellers cheques in the currency of the country we are visiting.

I was planning on doing the same for our holiday next year but a few people have suggested taking ‘pre-paid’ cash cards instead of traveller’s cheques. I like the security that traveller’s cheques give me (they can be replaced if lost or stolen), the convenience of being able to spend them like cash and being able to trade them in on our return should we have any left (this has not happened very often!!)

Having never used them before I’m not sure whether pre-paid cards offer the same flexibility or what cover I have should they be lost or stolen, also are they freely accepted in the USA like travellers cheques?

Any help, tips or advice would be much appreciated.:)

NiftyDigits

Are you incapable of obtaining a mainstream card, such as the Halifax Clarity?
Buying currency to travel to first world countries, is not only 'last century', but perhaps ten or twenty years into the last century.

With a suitable card, you have access to the Mastercard rate, currently: US$1.646199 to the £.

American Express offer US$1.5931 for TCs.

Read the Travel Money article and come back to ask questions.

hgotsparkle

Travellers Cheques are becoming more and more difficult to spend as cash in the US, using a pre paid card, if it is a swipe visa card then it is exactly the same as most US bank cards and also gives you the same protection as TCs

SevenOfNine

We always took $ cash, traveller's cheques, c/c & d/c cards to USA years ago, but last year we added a pre-paid card as well.

ALL of it is freely accepted in USA though apparently there are one or two places no longer accepting TCs - but we didn't find any, so not quite as "last century" as you're being led to believe. Of course 'this century' do have a tendency to stick everything on credit & debit cards so it's a popular option.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/travel-money/using-pre-paid-cards-abroad/ gives plenty of info on all the choices with positives/negatives.

The only pain we found with the dollar loaded card (we had a Caxton) was constantly having to keep checking what the remaining balance was either by going on line or keep a running balance with the receipts.

We used up all the TC's fairly quickly, Walmart, restaurants & all over the place. Some $ cash brought home which we're happy to hang on to.

Didn't use c/c's or d/c's at all in the end - not necessary. Wasn't bothered about searching for the cheapest option, just whatever suited ourselves therefore was the most convenient for us.

benjus

SevenOfNine wrote: »

apparently there are one or two places no longer accepting TCs - but we didn't find any, so not quite as "last century" as you're being led to believe

The USA is a bit of a special case though - in most of the world TCs are a pain to use. However, since the question was specifically about the USA I won't dwell on that.

As has been pointed out above, TCs are an expensive way to take money abroad. On that basis alone I'd avoid them. Another reason is that when using a GBP-denominated card (whether debit, credit or prepaid) it only converts as much currency as you need, so no need to change leftover money back to Sterling when you get back.

Obviously_the_best

Travellers Cheques on the whole are faster to replace than a lost card, however the price you pay is that they're more expensive.

It's a completely personal trade-off. I personally take fee-free credit and debit cards, so if I lose one I've got the other (only works if you keep them separate though).

SevenOfNine

Obviously_the_best wrote: »

It's a completely personal trade-off. I personally take fee-free credit and debit cards, so if I lose one I've got the other (only works if you keep them separate though).

That reminds me, we usually ensure we have a mix of MasterCard AND Visa given that we once experienced problems in the Far East with MasterCard, thankfully had Visa one as well but now we make an absolute point of having both when travelling.

PeteDoff

SevenOfNine wrote: »

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

That explains it, I've been doing too many sit-ups - thank you.