Pre paid card and SIM card

marc.knuckle

Hi guys

Next year we will be traveling to the Florida.

I've got myself a credit card but would like to use this as a back up while using a pre paid card mainly.

Someone mentioned the post office card as an option.

We don't plant to travel abroad for a few years afterwards so the US is the only requirement for now.

Any suggestions for the best/cheapest would be appreciated.

Secondly, giffgaff don't have an agreement in the US so calls texts and data come from credit, so it's expensive. Even the giffgaff agent recommended getting a local SIM. Is this right or could a different UK SIM work well? Any ideas what options they would have locally in Florida?

Cheers, Marc

eDicky

Avoid the Post Office card, it's one of the worst options, also anything from a supermarket or travel agent. Keep your money in pounds until spending, with a Starling Bank account on your phone. If your credit card is fee free for overseas use that too, even if not it's unlikely to cost you more than any prepaid card.

The Three network 'Go Roam' service (including with PAYG) allows service in USA at no extra cost, unless you need to call or be called from US numbers, when a local SIM would be best.

EveryWhere

https://www.starlingbank.com/travel/ as aforementioned

https://tandem.co.uk/credit-cards for deposits/petrol etc Fee free for foreign purchases.

Your credit card may charge up to 3% on every transaction if it isn't fee free for use abroad.

marc.knuckle

Cheers guys, we just found Asda money card. Seems good, any thoughts?

EveryWhere

marc.knuckle wrote: »

Cheers guys, we just found Asda money card. Seems good, any thoughts?

No. Aren't you taking note of what you are being told? If you want to buy US$ in advance, try https://www.revolut.com

marc.knuckle

First of all, no need to be rude. Didn't ask for that. Am i not able to add my own findings since my original post? So i have to do exactly as I'm told?

No i don't want to take us dollars.

marc.knuckle

I've just done some research on trustpilot for Starling and the most recent ones are all stating they have been freezing people's accounts for a variety of reasons. Bit worrying when I'm just starting out looking into this. The majority were delays in verification but also other reasons.

NoodleDoodleMan

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/us-roaming/

EveryWhere

marc.knuckle wrote: »

First of all, no need to be rude. Didn't ask for that. Am i not able to add my own findings since my original post? So i have to do exactly as I'm told?

No i don't want to take us dollars.

If you are confident in your own findings then no need to ask. If you don't have confidence in what you are told, then do whatever you want. No need to keep asking, as you'll just get the same answer.
If you didn't want to take US$, then why are you asking about the ASDA Money card?
No one likes their time to be wasted.

eDicky

marc.knuckle wrote: »

Cheers guys, we just found Asda money card. Seems good, any thoughts?

As I already mentioned, avoid anything from PO, supermarket or travel agent

marc.knuckle wrote: »

First of all, no need to be rude.

Concise advice can sometimes feel abrupt, especially when it needs repeating.

Starling Bank don't freeze accounts without good reason. I've been using mine worldwide since they began two years ago, no problems whatsoever. Similarly Tandem, Monzo and others. Choose at least two and look no further.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5649551/anyone-tried-starling-bank

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

marc.knuckle

EveryWhere wrote: »

If you are confident in your own findings then no need to ask. If you don't have confidence in what you are told, then do whatever you want. No need to keep asking, as you'll just get the same answer.
If you didn't want to take US$, then why are you asking about the ASDA Money card?
No one likes their time to be wasted.

This is the rude bit 'Aren't you taking note of what you are being told?' I'm not a school child been scolded, I simply wasn't sure how 'don't take US' was connected to 'don't get anything from a supermarket'. My mistake, that's the whole reason I'm asking for help as I'm new to this. Have some respect and patience with people.

The freezing account thing seem to be recently as most of the latest reviews suggested this was happening. Maybe they'd changed something regarding their identification process?