Prepaid Travel Cards guide

WAYT

Juicy_fruit wrote: »

Hi

Apologies if a repeat post but we're due to visit Hawaii (Oahu) in 3 weeks time and we want to get a couple of pre paid cards. I'm thinking of getting one Visa and one MasterCard but seem to be having difficulty finding a Visa travel money card. Can anyone recommend/suggest one?

Thanks in advance

https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/platinum-travel-credit-card

If you apply now you may get it in time. But I cannot imagine there will be an issue with just having Mastercards.
If you were travelling throughout South America, then perhaps.

admiral_traveller

Hi there,
I have a Monzo pre-paid travel card and am looking to book some flights with Eurowings. The flight costs and payments are in euros and I wondered if it was wise to use my Monzo travel card to pay for these flights as it will give me the best exchange rate.
However, I am worried about the security of doing so - should I be??! The Monzo card doesn't have my name on it - would that cause a problem?
My other alternative is to use my normal Barclaycard and accept the not so good exchange rate but have the protection of using a credit card ..

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks

eDicky

admiral_traveller wrote: »

Hi there,
I have a Monzo pre-paid travel card and am looking to book some flights with Eurowings. The flight costs and payments are in euros and I wondered if it was wise to use my Monzo travel card to pay for these flights as it will give me the best exchange rate.
However, I am worried about the security of doing so - should I be??! The Monzo card doesn't have my name on it - would that cause a problem?
My other alternative is to use my normal Barclaycard and accept the not so good exchange rate but have the protection of using a credit card ..

No problem to use your Monzo for the flight purchase in euros, the lack of your name on the plastic is not relevant. Beware that their system may try to bill you in pounds at a unfavorable rate when it detects UK card details entered, if so look for an option to opt out. You will lack S75 protection but a chargeback is possible in case of failure to supply, but that's unlikely.

Pedrobandito

Am off to Vegas this week and taking my Monzo & Starling cards. I haven't used them abroad before so what do I need to do when spending on them or getting cash out to make sure I get the best rate?


Thanks and sorry for being an idiot

heatherw_01

Pedrobandito wrote: »

Am off to Vegas this week and taking my Monzo & Starling cards. I haven't used them abroad before so what do I need to do when spending on them or getting cash out to make sure I get the best rate?


Thanks and sorry for being an idiot

Haven't used Starling, but with monzo if you are using a device that used the magstrip and not chip and pin then you need to activate the magstrip in the app which lasts 24 hours

Pedrobandito

Thanks, didn't know about that but have had a look through the app and found this option so I know where it is now if I need it.

taylaz41_2

Hello all,

My partner and I are having a break from work life and going backpacking for 6+months in January 2018. We've been researching into whats the best way to spend/withdraw cash whilst we're out but we've hit a bit of a stumbling block with whats the best to take.

FYI - I don't want to use my debit card to withdraw/spend

I was thinking of either;
1. Using prepaid travel cards, we've got a Revolut card already but also thinking of using Monzo & FairFX (realise we need to act quickly if we want to use a Monzo card)

OR

2. Go for the 'specialised' credit card (Barclays or Halifax) and just set up a direct debit to repay our outgoings each month. We are going backpacking so the max credit limit (which I believe is around £1200) should be fine per month.

Does anyone have any recommendations of which one we should go for? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

eDicky

taylaz41 wrote: »

Does anyone have any recommendations of which one we should go for?

Relying on only one card for such a trip would be a serious mistake, any card can fail, be lost or stolen, or be declined for some reason occasionally. Take the Revolut, Monzo and/or Starling Bank, and a specialist credit card or two. Pay by card whenever possible.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi all

If you're looking to get a Monzo prepaid card if you apply via the link in our guide by Tuesday you can skip the queue. There's full info in the guide:

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

Pedrobandito

Help, am I supposed to choose to pay in £ or $ when the option comes up on my Monzo & Starling