Prepaid Travel Cards guide

eDicky

But you don't actually need those currencies until you transact/withdraw.

Keep your money in pounds until you spend or withdraw, with fee-free cards that convert to any currency at the best rates - Starling Bank, Metro Bank (for Europe), Monzo, Loot.io, Revolut - don't rely on only one.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-travel-cards/

JimHav

First time user!
A few days ago I read an article on the MSE website about holiday money / cards and elected to register for the Revolute card which was fairly straight forward however I ended up by being charged £4.99 for the cost of the physical card whereas the article stated that this would be free should the application be process via the MSE website. Obviously this is not correct and my ‘new’ account opening transfer balance has been reduced and I am not too happy about this affair! Has anyone else experienced this issue?

eDicky

JimHav wrote: »

Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Welcome to the forum, look back a few posts for the answer.

El_Aguila_Calva

JimHav wrote: »

First time user!
A few days ago I read an article on the MSE website about holiday money / cards and elected to register for the Revolute card which was fairly straight forward however I ended up by being charged £4.99 for the cost of the physical card whereas the article stated that this would be free should the application be process via the MSE website. Obviously this is not correct and my !!!8216;new!!!8217; account opening transfer balance has been reduced and I am not too happy about this affair! Has anyone else experienced this issue?

eDicky wrote: »

Welcome to the forum, look back a few posts for the answer.

I experienced the same issue with Revolut yesterday. Got to the delivery stage, and decided to pause while I tried to contact them, via the Live Chat suggested above. But then found that wasn't an option until after I'd completed the order, so a bit of a catch-22.
Anyway, finished the order then started a Live Chat (only had 20 minutes to wait). They wanted a link to the MSE page and/or a screen print of the MSE offer. So I provided both, and they said "just checking, back in a minute". That minute turned out to be another 20, but they then refunded the £4.99 delivery fee.
I told them that my wife was also intending to order a card, and wondered whether she would get the same issue as I had, or whether something had gone wrong during my application. They thought it likely that the same thing would happen. So there's a bit of a flaw in the process somewhere.

daitomo

Took my FairFX card to Argentina this month. Advice in two well-known travel guides suggested that prepaid cards are the best for withdrawing money in South America. The first ATM (Santander) I used would only let me withdraw a maximum of £90. For this they wanted a fee of 275 pesos = £9, =10% !
I tried the ATMs at 3 other banks and it was the same deal at each one, a low maximum withdrawal limit and a very high fee. Luckily, I had dollars in cash which were exchanged at a very competitive rate everywhere I travelled. Otherwise, it would have been a very costly holiday with half my time spent finding ATMs to withdraw cash.

System

leedspete wrote: »

Which is the best prepaid card to use abroad please

Hi, I use FairFX as the overall rates seem to be better than similar cards. I've used it all over the world with no problems. I have a referral link which will save you the initial £9.95 application fee if you decide to use them.

The link is on Twitter, username is @itskevinlincoln

Regards,

Kev

dj1471

Kev7905 wrote: »

Hi, I use FairFX as the overall rates seem to be better than similar cards.

They're not. Spam reported.

Pedrobandito

Just wondering if my Starling and Monzo cards were still a good option for travelling abroad? Am heading to Australia in a month or so.


TIA

Gloomendoom

Pedrobandito wrote: »

Just wondering if my Starling and Monzo cards were still a good option for travelling abroad? Am heading to Australia in a month or so.


TIA

Starling more so than Monzo. I ditched my Monzo account when they introduced the tight restrictions on travel cash.

Obviously, if you have both, take both. The Monzo would be a good backup card. Consider getting a travel credit card too, if you haven't got one.

barnishroader

Hi,

My family and I are for Spain in 2 weeks, our first holiday abroad, and I've only just heard about these cards.

It sounds like a good idea getting one but I noticed on most of the recommendations on the main site, there were lead times of up to 10 working days.

As we leave on 17th that means 10 working days would exceed that date so I'm thinking I would be at risk ordering one now.

Are they likely to take that long?

I don't really know much about them so was going to go for the Revolut one as it seems to be the highest recommendation.

I take it i just load money on it and then when in Spain i can just use it like an ordinary debit card?