Safest way to spend money in USA

2hearts

Hi,

We are travelling to Disney/Orlando in January, and our struggling to decide on the best way to take money.

We don't want to take too much cash for obvious reasons, but had been planning on using travellers cheques as we found them so convenient previously. Having seen Martins advice over the conversion cost we have been rethinking that. We don't have any of the CC's that Martin recommends.

We have also seen some horror stories about people's cards being cloned in America.

I was wondering what people's thoughts/experiences had been, if we used Apple Pay, but linked it to a starling bank card and only transferred money over from our normal bank account as required?

Thanks.

EssexExile

Do travelers' checks still exist? Haven't used them in decades.

Edit: Sorry, that wasn't very helpful, I just take whatever credit cards I have. Yes the USA is amongst the worst countries in the world for credit card fraud, but I've been going since the 70s & never had a problem. Just take a few in case you have any problems.

Backbiter

I used a Fairfx prepaid multi-currency mastercard in the US and Canada this summer. It has a 1.5% conversion fee, compared with 2.75% for Barclaycard. It's very simple to top up online. I took a few hundred dollars in cash as well, but paid for most things with the card.
There's a link on this site to get it free and with a free £20 when you load it with £500:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-travel-cards

PeacefulWaters

Plastic is king.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/travel-credit-cards

eDicky

You seem to have discovered Starling Bank, so you can start with that if you don't have time to get a 'travel' credit card, and forget about obsolete travelers cheques. By using the security controls for the card in the Starling app you can defeat any possible fraudulent use even if you card does ever get cloned, so your money there is pretty safe. Any transactions are shown on the app immediately, or as soon you have connectivity. Zero fees for anything and your money stays as pounds until spent, so no leftover dollars.

A Loot prepaid account would be a good backup, in addition to your regular cards - also no FX markup or fees (except £1 per ATM withdrawal after the first two per month free), and the card can be 'paused' when not in use:

https://loot.io/

iltisman

I don't see any difference in going on holiday in the UK and the USA. A mix of cards and cash works fine. I usually take enough cash to survive in case all the UK banks go TU like they nearly did on that monday in 2008.