Prepaid Travel Cards guide

NiftyDigits

Anthorn wrote: »

Oh right. But that's a current account not a card which Lambosx asked for.

It's a 'basic' account, which most everyone can obtain. No possibility to withdraw more than what is on the card.
Better than a prepaid card.

NiftyDigits

Anthorn wrote: »

Not all that generous: It's only £4.75p if you don't load £700 and no other fees at all. Unless £4.75p is significant to you.

So what's the alternative to ICE then?

See above....

lambosx150

Hi everyone,
Ive taken advice from you which has been freely given and made my own assumptions on what I need to do.

I then see some of you verbally have a go at each other. Please don't as you are all better than that.

edicky, anthorn and nifty have helped me decide on what I need to do and without your help I would have been lost.

Now Italy has done what it has I'm just looking at exchange rates to load my card that's the FX one.

Still looking for a atm card I can withdraw on.

Thanks guys for your help

eDicky

Anthorn wrote: »

Not all that generous: It's only £4.75p if you don't load £700 and no other fees at all. Unless £4.75p is significant to you.

So what's the alternative to ICE then?

'Generously' was my attempt at sarcasm. Does Soldo charge for ATM withdrawals?

lambosx150 wrote: »

Still looking for a atm card I can withdraw on.

Well, Revolut is still not available so you could try your original choice of WeSwap. And/or Monzo, Virgin Money Essential (£1.50 per withdrawal, max £250). You can withdraw with your FairFX for a modest fee, and use the others for fee-free purchases. It's not clear how much cash you think you need, when a card can be used for nearly everything there. Or just take crisp English fifties to exchange for cash...

Anthorn

eDicky wrote: »

Does Soldo charge for ATM withdrawals?

You don't know? 50p for UK ATMs, £1 for EU ATMs and £2 elsewhere.

I used Soldo today to pay CNY111.80 (That's Chinese Yuan to you and me). The Chinese retailer's (In PRC of all places) conversion was £12.76p plus £1 plus 2.99% . I opted to pay in CNY and Soldo's conversion was £12.86p with no fee.

And my point is that there could be a difference in exchange rates in different prepaid cards but the difference in relatively small amounts of holiday money is not a lot. Where the bigger difference comes in is with fees.

lambosx150

I see a lot of cards have been removed from the Prepaid Travel Card post.

A couple added including Monzo, and today Revolut emailed to set up an account.

This is a strange world. Think I will go with Revolut to have the ability to withdraw cash from ATM's and the small charge of £5 to have the plastic card.

Anthorn

lambosx150 wrote: »

I see a lot of cards have been removed from the Prepaid Travel Card post.

A couple added including Monzo, and today Revolut emailed to set up an account.

This is a strange world. Think I will go with Revolut to have the ability to withdraw cash from ATM's and the small charge of £5 to have the plastic card.

Debatable whether or not you can get a Revolut card and Revolut is silent on this. Reports are that there is a waiting list until Revolut gets its license to issue its own cards but no-one really knows which countries that applies to.

Note that with Revolut ATM withdrawals up to £200 per month are free, thereafter 2% fee.

Another card which might interest you if you expect to pay fees is Even. £50 a year up front and no other fees, interbank FX rates, choice of black or white cards.
https://www.evencard.com

eDicky

lambosx150 wrote: »

I see a lot of cards have been removed from the Prepaid Travel Card post.

A couple added including Monzo, and today Revolut emailed to set up an account.

This is a strange world. Think I will go with Revolut to have the ability to withdraw cash from ATM's and the small charge of £5 to have the plastic card.

I see that Revolut has reappeared in the MSE Prepaid Travel Cards advice article, although it has not been updated with the reduced monthly free ATM withdrawal limit of £200. There is no £5 charge for the card, is there?

lambosx150

Hi edicky,

yes £5 for the plastic card to withdraw/purchase with and the Dollar monthly limit is $200.
Not very good me thinks.
I see the £ against $ is dropping thanks to the FED upping interest rates.

graham47

Planning a trip to Australia early 2017.
I have a Halifax Clarity CC ( which I pay off in full) and a Santander CC, which I believe also has no foreign transaction fee.

I'd appreciate advice about whether to also take a travel currency card ( like FairFX) to use for cash withdrawals ?

I will be spending 2 days in Dubai on the return leg but thought I'd just take cash to cover that ?

Lastly, if you recommend a currency card, will the fact I shall also be visiting the US later 2017 affect which version of the card I should apply for.