Prepaid Travel Cards guide

dobbollah

last time i went i used the Thomson one, no complaints, but I'm led to believe with Revolt the exchange rates are better.

I'd welcome any suggestions for any others??

bulletthebluesky341

Good morning all,

First post here, so apologies if this has been asked and answered already: I have read through the whole thread and searched, but didn't see it.
I am just in the process of signing up for a Caxtonfx card, via Topcashback and have a quick question:

Topcashback give different cash back rates, depending on initial load on the card. However, in going through the registration process for the card, it asks for an initial top-up / deposit of £10+ to order the card. Does anyone know if this is the point at which I have to load sufficient funds to achieve the limit for cashback, or will this be the money I load once the card arrives. I had hoped to order the card with £10 and then load holiday spending money closer to the date of travel, as it is currently in savings accounts and earning interest, albeit only small amounts. It is rather confusing on the Caxton website, as sometimes they refer to this initial payment as 'a deposit', and as 'a top-up' or 'load' at other times.

Just to say, before anyone advises that this is not the best card to take / use, I have Clarity and Revolute cards too; this is just my back-up as I am doing lots of travelling this year.

Thank you in anticipation.

DCDonaldson

I have a sister-in-law coming to visit from South Africa. She will be spending a few days in the UK after travelling around Europe. We are giving her some spending money for her trip. The most secure way of doing this is to provide her with a prepaid travel card in Euros, which she can use while travelling and hopefully also in the UK when she visits us after gambolling across Europe.

Does anybody know of a card supplier that will permit the card to be issued in someone else's name? I had thought of getting a card in my name, but that would create issues if she is asked for any identification when making a purchase in Europe.

Any suggestions or advice would be most appreciated.

eDicky

DCDonaldson wrote: »

Does anybody know of a card supplier that will permit the card to be issued in someone else's name?

No, it doesn't exist.

If she has any kind of verifiable address in UK she can apply for a Loot prepaid account, or an address anywhere in Europe a Revolut account.

A TransferWise Borderless Account may accept a South African applicant, I'm not sure.

I've never known ID being required for a card payment in Europe.

firsttimetraveller17

Hello. I am going travelling from west to east across America and I am looking for the best travel card to get. Has anyone had any experience using Revolut in America and would you recommend it?

gettingtheresometime

firsttimetraveller17 wrote: »

Hello. I am going travelling from west to east across America and I am looking for the best travel card to get. Has anyone had any experience using Revolut in America and would you recommend it?

I've used mine in Canada, Australia & New Zealand with no problems at all - I say no problems, it got refused in Canada twice but then I remembered I'd frozen the card on the app just in case I lost it!


Once unfrozen it worked like a dream.

firsttimetraveller17

Perfect, thank you! That was the final confirmation I needed. I will go ahead and order the travel card

eDicky

I recommend that you study the Revolut FAQs and fair usage policy, to help avoid any mistakes or surprises during use.

USA (and other) card terminals often need the type of card to be selected, 'Credit Card' usually needs to be chosen for Revolut.

There's sometimes a complication with American restaurants who take payment twice, then refund one charge later.

Any card can sometimes fail or be lost etc, so always have backup, even if it's your regular debit card. A good option is https://loot.io/

susycat0

Hi



We are going to thailand at the end of this month and were wanting to get a prepaid credit card to load up so we do not have to carry to much cash. I have tried to understand all the ins and outs but really cannot get my head around it all. I know it would be cheaper to use a credit card but I like to budget and to know exactly what I have to spend. Can anybody recommend which card is best for thailand. Thankyou

AlSto

susycat0 wrote: »

Hi



We are going to thailand at the end of this month and were wanting to get a prepaid credit card to load up so we do not have to carry to much cash. I have tried to understand all the ins and outs but really cannot get my head around it all. I know it would be cheaper to use a credit card but I like to budget and to know exactly what I have to spend. Can anybody recommend which card is best for thailand. Thankyou

CC allows to to withdraw over the bank counter, therefore avoiding the 220 baht(£5.15) ATM fee each time.
https://www.starlingbank.com/travel/ might work in the same way for you. Either way, that would be my debit card recommendation.
You should have some cash(£50 notes are best) to change at the airport (BKK) to again avoid the ATM fee.But go down to Level B to do the exchange. The exchanges at arrival and departure levels are to be avoided.