Best Prepaid Travel Card for our Circumstances?

charlie_uk_yes

Hello All!

I have read the MSE guide to prepaid travel cards, however I wanted to get some advise on what the best card to get would be for our circumstances as we are still unsure which one to choose!

We are backpacking through Thailand,Malaysia and Cambodia for 4 weeks in total, then heading over to Vietnam to settle for approximately a year.

What do card do you think we should get? I have no issue in withdrawing higher amounts in each country if it brings the cost down, although not too much for security purposes.

Thanks!

FunTime

Best are credit cards:

Halifax Clarity
Creation Everyday

Next;

Virgin Essential Basic account with Visa debit card

For Prepaid:

Revolut


Don't depend on one card

worried_jim

all day long-

https://revolut.com/

FunTime

Revolut offers a modified rate for Thailand. Couple that with the ATM withdrawal charge of £4.50 and the monthly withdrawal limit of £500 before another 2% charge kicks in and it becomes relatively poor value.
They don't list a Vietnamese Dong rate.Does it then revert to the Mastercard rate? We don't know.

So a prepaid card is not the ideal solution for this trip. My choices are in order of preference.

jackieblack

worried_jim wrote: »

all day long-

https://revolut.com/

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Whatever works for you

charlie_uk_yes

FunTime wrote: »

Revolut offers a modified rate for Thailand. Couple that with the ATM withdrawal charge of £4.50 and the monthly withdrawal limit of £500 before another 2% charge kicks in and it becomes relatively poor value.
They don't list a Vietnamese Dong rate.Does it then revert to the Mastercard rate? We don't know.

So a prepaid card is not the ideal solution for this trip. My choices are in order of preference.

Hi there, thanks for your reply. You mention the revolt card attracts £4.50 ATM fees? According to the MSE Prepaid Travel blog, ATM withdrawals are free up to £500/month?

PeacefulWaters

charlie_uk_yes wrote: »

Hi there, thanks for your reply. You mention the revolt card attracts £4.50 ATM fees? According to the MSE Prepaid Travel blog, ATM withdrawals are free up to £500/month?

ATMs in Thailand charge a fee. For all cards.

Withdraw inside a bank branch or track down a Citibank ATM,

FunTime

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

ATMs in Thailand charge a fee. For all cards.

Withdraw inside a bank branch or track down a Citibank ATM,

May not work with Revolut. Hence the recommendation for the CCs.

Citibank and/or Bank of China ATM might work. But of course only in Bangkok.....and Rayong. Perhaps six ATMs in the whole of the country.

FunTime

charlie_uk_yes wrote: »

Hi there, thanks for your reply. You mention the revolt card attracts £4.50 ATM fees? According to the MSE Prepaid Travel blog, ATM withdrawals are free up to £500/month?

With Revolut in Thailand: First you lose 2% on the exchange rate and then all of the other charges I noted.
Not a good option.

charlie_uk_yes

FunTime wrote: »

With Revolut in Thailand: First you lose 2% on the exchange rate and then all of the other charges I noted.
Not a good option.

So with all that said and done, wouldn't it just be cheaper to make larger and less frequent withdrawals using my UK current account card or would that be even worse than the revolut!?

FunTime

charlie_uk_yes wrote: »

So with all that said and done, wouldn't it just be cheaper to make larger and less frequent withdrawals using my UK current account card or would that be even worse than the revolut!?

I don't usually tell people of my mind reading abilities....so in order to keep them secret, perhaps you should tell to which account you refer.


Once again...go for one of the options mentioned. Revolut as perhaps a backup.
If you have problem getting a CC, the Virgin basic account as aforementioned.