Prepaid Travel Cards guide

eDicky

Drew210385 wrote: »

After reading 17 pages of discussion on the topic, there is so much conflicting information on these cards,

There's some nonsense here and there, but the basic advice is not so conflicting.

Use suitable fee-free plastic for expenses, purchases and cash withdrawals. Some cash can be withdrawn from an ATM on arrival.

Buying foreign cash from an exchange bureau involves unnecessary expense, and exchanging any surplus back to pounds adds even more cost.

Do not rely on a single source of funds. Always have backup available, even if that includes your regular bank debit or credit cards that will cost something to use, or cash.

Piccola

Hi does anyone know of a prepaid travel card for a teenager, my son is off to Austria and I can't find one that would allow me to load with pounds and convert to euros that I can then give him to use? I have tried contacting the main ones and they say they would not allow a minor to use them.

eDicky

Piccola wrote: »

Hi does anyone know of a prepaid travel card for a teenager, my son is off to Austria and I can't find one that would allow me to load with pounds and convert to euros that I can then give him to use? I have tried contacting the main ones and they say they would not allow a minor to use them.

FairFX offer a 'family and friends' card, additional to the main (your) card.

jimbo93

I live in Portugal, bank with Lloyds offshore I am not resident in the UK and am having difficulty getting pre paid travel card for an upcoming RTW trip. Has anyone any ideas for one I can load sterling and use worldwide through ATM's. This resident thing is annoying. I saw Premierfx but am not sure. My emails have not be answered by the Company. Help if possible lowest cost travel for cash via ATM. My Lloyds credit and debit cards are those from hell on charges.

eDicky

jimbo93 wrote: »

I live in Portugal, bank with Lloyds offshore I am not resident in the UK and am having difficulty getting pre paid travel card for an upcoming RTW trip. Has anyone any ideas for one I can load sterling and use worldwide through ATM's. This resident thing is annoying. I saw Premierfx but am not sure. My emails have not be answered by the Company. Help if possible lowest cost travel for cash via ATM. My Lloyds credit and debit cards are those from hell on charges.

If you use a smartphone (Android or iPhone), Revolut is your solution. If not, try Kalixa Pay.

eDicky

eDicky wrote: »

If you use a smartphone (Android or iPhone), Revolut is your solution. If not, try Kalixa Pay.

Sorry, Kalixa Pay is only for residents of the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Italy and Netherlands. Revolut appears to have no such restrictions.

jimbo93

I have a Samsung Galaxy s3 mini that runs 4.1.2 and Revolut is only supported by 4.4 KitKat. Another dead end. Has anybody got any other ideas as I am thinking now to try and change my offshore bank from Lloyds to someone who do not charge extorionate charges. I seriously need some advice but this UK resident address is completely wrong as everything I do for my banking is internet based. Please help.

NiftyDigits

jimbo93 wrote: »

I have a Samsung Galaxy s3 mini that runs 4.1.2 and Revolut is only supported by 4.4 KitKat. Another dead end. Has anybody got any other ideas as I am thinking now to try and change my offshore bank from Lloyds to someone who do not charge extorionate charges. I seriously need some advice but this UK resident address is completely wrong as everything I do for my banking is internet based. Please help.

Buy a new phone?

On a slightly different note, you can borrow a family member's phone to set up an account, but using your phone number. They won't have access as long as you log out of their phone.

Of course you can 'root' your phone and install KitKit, but that seems an unlikely option

mrshmj

Hi I am new to these prepay travel cards. As there is no Revolut app for windows phones I understand from reading on here that it will be between Kalixa, Fairfax and Caxton. However some things still are not clear to me:

- Are transactions deducted instantly from your balance?
- Can you switch from sterling to Euros and back again like revolut can?
- Does it stay in sterling and convert to euros at point of sale? Or when you upload sterling does it convert to euros at that time?
-Do any of them charge you if you do not use the card for a long time?



Any further info appreciated thanks

eDicky

- Are transactions deducted instantly from your balance? - Yes. (Maybe pending for a while but your balance is reduced immediately.)

- Can you switch from sterling to Euros and back again like revolut can? - No.

- Does it stay in sterling and convert to euros at point of sale? - Yes for Kalixa, (also for FairFX and CaxtonFX sterling cards).

Or when you upload sterling does it convert to euros at that time? - Yes for FairFX and CaxtonFX euro (and dollar) cards.

-Do any of them charge you if you do not use the card for a long time? - No (not 100% sure about Caxton).