Travel credit cards

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  • eDicky
    eDicky Posts: 6,547
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    stevenpc wrote: »
    has anyone preloaded this card before going away as would like to do that and use it to withdraw cash ??
    'Preloading' will surely be against their T&Cs. If it happens by chance occasionally there is unlikely to be a problem, but if you are obviously doing it deliberately for that purpose then they are likely to object and return the funds. The daily interest you are (presumably) trying to avoid is so insignificant that it is not worth the risk, especially if you pay off the withdrawn amounts as soon as possible after they appear on your account.
    Evolution, not revolution
  • Orville
    Orville Posts: 1,900
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    edited 13 March 2016 at 3:10PM
    I use the FairFx Euro Card. They do one for America but I haven't used it yet. You get better then high street conversion rates. If you input 02kdvies they waive the £9.95 signup fee too. You can check your balance via your mobile and top up as and when you need to while you are actually abroad. I have just used this in France with no problems at all.
  • stevenpc
    stevenpc Posts: 139
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    eDicky wrote: »
    'Preloading' will surely be against their T&Cs. If it happens by chance occasionally there is unlikely to be a problem, but if you are obviously doing it deliberately for that purpose then they are likely to object and return the funds. The daily interest you are (presumably) trying to avoid is so insignificant that it is not worth the risk, especially if you pay off the withdrawn amounts as soon as possible after they appear on your account.

    Internet where i stay is very unreliable and not keen on using internet cafs
    I only use pay as u go on my phone and dont use it for data ive also just registerd and orderd a card from revolut so have several options along with the cards from hell.
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 20,277
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    Orville wrote: »
    I use the FairFx Euro Card. They do one for America but I havent used it yet. You get better then high street conversion rates. If you input 02kdvies you get the card for free too. You can check your balance via your mobile and top up as and when you need to while you are actually abroad. I have just used this in France with no problems at all, i withdrew euros, they did charge €1.50 i think it was. Restaurants were fine along with the shops too. A great card that hasn't let me down yet.
    Just checked their current rate - it's rubbish - 1.3047 for EUR, the current Mastercard rate is 1.353851. And they charge extra for ATM withdrawals!

    Far better value to use one of the cards in the MSE article.
  • Just used the creation card around Australia for 4 weeks. No problems what so ever. Exchange rates was great. Paid the value off when home.
    The only mistake i made was withdrawing the money from a Westpac ATM. They charged a fee seperate to my transaction. Used at Commonwealth Bank and ANZ bank ATM's no charge what so ever. A good travel card.
  • Orville
    Orville Posts: 1,900
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    edited 18 January 2016 at 6:04PM
    zagfles wrote: »
    Just checked their current rate - it's rubbish - 1.3047 for EUR, the current Mastercard rate is 1.353851. And they charge extra for ATM withdrawals!

    Far better value to use one of the cards in the MSE article.

    Exchange rates go up and down. When I used mine it was at E1.40. That was by far the best I could find for a front loaded card at the time. Forgive me if I am mistaken but the ones in this article are all credit cards aren't they..?

    For me that wouldn't be an option either as my rating is poor. The fairfx gave me everything I needed at the time without getting credit again.They may charge extra for ATM withdrawls as you say, but the ones in the article i think charge interest from when you withdraw, so while it may not be an immediate charge if you don't clear it straight away you could very well end up paying more couldn't you?.
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 20,277
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    Orville wrote: »
    Exchange rates go up and down. When I used mine it was at E1.40.
    Then the Mastercard rate was probably 1.45 at the time. Let's check now. Fairfx is 1.2837. Mastercard is 1.313945. See a pattern?
    That was by far the best I could find for a front loaded card at the time.
    Well you didn't look very hard. Kalixa, Revolut give much better rates.
    Forgive me if I am mistaken but the ones in this article are all credit cards aren't they..?
    Err...yes the clue is in the title of this thread! But there are better pre-pay cards than Fairfx
    For me that wouldn't be an option either as my rating is poor. The fairfx gave me everything I needed at the time without getting credit again.They may charge extra for ATM withdrawls as you say, but the ones in the article i think charge interest from when you withdraw, so while it may not be an immediate charge if you don't clear it straight away you could very well end up paying more couldn't you?.
    Well you clear it straight away then, don't you? Or what I do, as soon as I get back off holiday. Obviously if you have the money to be able to load a pre-pay card, you have the money to pay a credit card off straight away. The interest is trivial, far less than the markup hidden in the rate of like of fairfx.
  • Orville
    Orville Posts: 1,900
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    zagfles wrote: »
    Then the Mastercard rate was probably 1.45 at the time. Let's check now. Fairfx is 1.2837. Mastercard is 1.313945. See a pattern? Well you didn't look very hard. Kalixa, Revolut give much better rates. Err...yes the clue is in the title of this thread! But there are better pre-pay cards than Fairfx Well you clear it straight away then, don't you? Or what I do, as soon as I get back off holiday. Obviously if you have the money to be able to load a pre-pay card, you have the money to pay a credit card off straight away. The interest is trivial, far less than the markup hidden in the rate of like of fairfx.

    I looked at both of them but having read reviews on trust pilot I decided to go for the Fair fx.

    You're correct the clue is in the title of the thread. Well done a brownie point for you :T

    You might clear it straight away but you are presuming everyone would. I doubt somehow that would be the case. Like i said which you seem to have forgotten I have a poor credit history and the last thing I would want to do is go down the credit route.

    You presume again. Who said I had the money to load it in one go..? I loaded mine over a period of time waiting till it got a round the E1.40 mark each time i did as I didn't have the cash up front.

    Very easy to mouth off these things but everyone's circumstances are different. Master cards rate is better yeah and if people want to go and get another credit card fair dues. I do wonder though if you don't pay it back in full etc and over a period of time how much more expensive they would be.
  • Gloomendoom
    Gloomendoom Posts: 16,550
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    I would hazard a guess that if somebody has bothered to get a Clarity credit card (or similar) specifically to save themselves money on foreign currency withdrawals, they are going to be on the ball when it comes to paying off the balance promptly.

    I know I am, and the interest amounts to pennies, even for long periods away.
  • Orville
    Orville Posts: 1,900
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    I would hazard a guess that if somebody has bothered to get a Clarity credit card (or similar) specifically to save themselves money on foreign currency withdrawals, they are going to be on the ball when it comes to paying off the balance promptly.

    I know I am, and the interest amounts to pennies, even for long periods away.

    Yes I don't deny that. I don't deny it's a better rate too :-).
    A lot of people are on the ball when it comes to paying balances out, yet some still for whatever reason don't.

    I am not saying my way is the better way or most money saving. It was the right way for me. :-) I knew how much I had in there and when it was spent it was spent. If i wanted more, i could get it instantly by topping my card up. Just a question. On those cards if you hit your limit i take it there is no way of topping up should you get into trouble..? You would have to use your bank card i guess which can be very expensive. Also how is the limit set..? I take it credit checks are done..? I think I read on one of them that the worse your credit history is the more they charge you?. So in a way I would be panellised for using one of the cards.

    Like I said, front loaded is better for me.

    Am off now. Enjoy your evening :-)
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