Travelex pre-paid card

RPKS

I've always traveled a lot internationally and I've avoided using travel cards because I haven't seen any clear advantages in them.  Before I retired I also used to work for suppliers to the foreign exchange sector, so I also understand how the FX market works.  Last month I went to Switzerland and decided to get a Travelex pre-paid travel debit card at Heathrow - putting my money behind practical market research.  The sales argument from the assistant at the counter was that the card meant that I didn't end up paying transaction fees to other debit/credit card providers.  I've now gone through all of my card transactions with Amex, Barclaycard/MasterCard and Travelex over the four-day trip.  I didn't need to use cash at any time - all transactions were card transactions.  The total cost per transaction was almost identical across all three providers, with each of their FX rates changing slightly each day in line with the FX market.  There appear to be two main differences between a pre-paid travel debit card and using normal credit cards:

 - with a pre-paid card all the charges are taken from your deposit up front, meaning that you are taking a gamble that the exchange rate won't move in your favour while you're away travelling

 - pre-paid travel cards don't offer you the additional benefits per transaction that credit cards can offer, eg Amex can give Avios, Barclaycard can give Avios, etc.

Could anyone tell me if I am missing something important here, please?

eskbanker

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/ explains that some credit and debit cards are better than others for non-sterling transactions, so the best option will be to use one of the cards with no exchange premium - if you simply compare expensive credit/debit cards with prepaid cards you're missing the cheaper option.