Prepaid Travel Card HELP PLEASE

thaInfo

Hi all, i'm hoping one of you can point me in the right direction as i'm getting really confused. I am going travelling again and will be visiting Thailand, Cambodia and also Australia with the possibility of a few other places in S.E.Asia. Last time i went i had a Fairfx travel card and got on fine with that.

When i go travelling, i try to plan my week at the start of the week so i can account for how much money i need to withdraw and withdraw it all in a oneie for the week ahead. I have a few questions.

1. Will i be better buying a prepaid travel card in Sterling or US Dollar?

2. I wont qualify for the Halifax clarity card which is the best available BUT if i am ONLY using the card abroad and for CASH WITHDRAWALS in the countries currency which travel card is best for me.

3. I dont intend on being away for years, probably only 6months so i dont want to incur fees for non use of the card once i am home.

4. I will be loading around £2000 onto the card so that may make a difference to the card you guys think i should get.

Please help

Thank you

NiftyDigits

Forget about having just one card. What will be your fallback position?

Kalixa Pay is a good all round card. Unbeatable for purchases. Same rates as Clarity(so use it in that capacity whenever possible. Supermarket shopping etc).
It has a fixed amount of £2.25 for ATM withdrawals. Not bad if you take out a decent chunk each time. If at least the equivalent of £100, that's 2.25%.
£200; 1.5%.
£300; 0.75%. No forex charges attached.
Of course Thailand has it's own 180 baht ATM fee. You cannot avoid it when utilising a Prepaid card.

For smaller cash withdrawals, perhaps Caxton Global Traveller as a Backup and also because it is a VISA card, to add balance to the Kalixa Pay Mastercard. It takes a 2.75% commission. So £50 withdrawn via Caxton Global costs £1.375.
Any cash withdrawal over the equivalent of £82, revert to Kalixa Pay.
Put all purchases on Kalixa Pay. Link to half price offer here

NiftyDigits

Coraline wrote: »

I would open a Metrobank account and just use their debit card. I believe the current fee is 1.9% outside the EU, and 0% in the EU.

How would that be helpful..a month after the question was posed? 1.9%? Why would you do that? Especially as Kalixa charge nothing. Withdrawals 1.9% + £1 for the Metro Bank debit card.