Pre-paid travel card for USA

MagdaMoo

Hi there, I am travelling to US in a couple of months with a group of friends and family, and we think it would be good to have a 'kitty' on a pre-paid travel card for food & drink, etc. Any particular one that people would recommend for the US? Thanks!

NoodleDoodleMan

Worth a read through.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6380705/best-credit-card-to-take-to-florida#latest

eskbanker

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Worth a read through.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6380705/best-credit-card-to-take-to-florida#latest

That thread is all about credit cards, but since OP is looking for info about prepaid cards for shared use, https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-travel-cards/ is likely to be more pertinent....

400ixl

Personally the last thing I would be using a Pre-paid card for is food in restaurants. The reason being that when you pay on a card, due to the tipping system in the US they can actually hold an amount over the billed amount to wait for reconciliation of tips.

On most occasions this will be confirmed in a few days and the amount over released. However seen far too many reports of that taking a week or more on some of these cards (have had it myself before I stopped using them). This can mean you have an amount of money locked that cannot be spent and is not released until the holiday is potentially over.

NoodleDoodleMan

eskbanker said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Worth a read through.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6380705/best-credit-card-to-take-to-florida#latest

That thread is all about credit cards, but since OP is looking for info about prepaid cards for shared use, https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-travel-cards/ is likely to be more pertinent....

I realised that - but a suitable credit card is worth considering, that's why I flagged it up.

gettingtheresometime

400ixl said:

Personally the last thing I would be using a Pre-paid card for is food in restaurants. The reason being that when you pay on a card, due to the tipping system in the US they can actually hold an amount over the billed amount to wait for reconciliation of tips.

On most occasions this will be confirmed in a few days and the amount over released. However seen far too many reports of that taking a week or more on some of these cards (have had it myself before I stopped using them). This can mean you have an amount of money locked that cannot be spent and is not released until the holiday is potentially over.

Admittedly my experience is limited to pre-Covid american travel, but I never experienced this.

In my experience it had been the case that the bill amount had been taken but the tip amount hadn't but the last couple of times I used my revolut card, the initial amount debited was subsequently altered so that it included the tip. That in itself can cause problems but money is easily added to the card as needed

Whilst having a credit card is all well & good, I think the OP is trying to think of a way of storing money so that the group can equally contribute to a central pot which is then used for group meals out rather than trying to settle up once they get back home - which has the added benefit of being able to budget.