Prepay travel cards - any recommendations?
Discussion
My other half has told me Im a dinosaur taking large amounts of cash on holiday and I need to get a prepaid card. I've been googling for an hour and am none the wiser about which is best. Fees seem to be hidden in the small print and impossible to work out and there seem to be lots of limitations on use.
Can anyone recommend a card ? I expect to have to pay some kind of fees to use it just looking for any advice or experiences that can point me in the right direction.
I will be travelling to spain and using euros.
Cheers
Can anyone recommend a card ? I expect to have to pay some kind of fees to use it just looking for any advice or experiences that can point me in the right direction.
I will be travelling to spain and using euros.
Cheers
Edited by Dodsy on Monday 12th June 13:06
I've used transfer wise (wise).
It's a pre-pay card which you load up with GBP and convert (via an app) to any currency, which you can easily convert back. You don't have to convert it in the app, but it reduces fees further.
I found the exchange rates and fees to beat any other form of convenient conversion, and although I've only used for Europe and USA, I suspect it's similar worldwide. I understand it's because you're effectively sending the money between the banks it holds worldwide, so you get the same X-rate the bank gets sending money to itself.
You also get a physical card sent to you for chip and pin
It's a pre-pay card which you load up with GBP and convert (via an app) to any currency, which you can easily convert back. You don't have to convert it in the app, but it reduces fees further.
I found the exchange rates and fees to beat any other form of convenient conversion, and although I've only used for Europe and USA, I suspect it's similar worldwide. I understand it's because you're effectively sending the money between the banks it holds worldwide, so you get the same X-rate the bank gets sending money to itself.
You also get a physical card sent to you for chip and pin
Any reason why pre-paid? Several credit cards give fee free spending abroad. Halifax Clarity is well liked and fee free, you'll get the bank bulk rate of exchange. Also no fees for cash withdrawls, just interest on cash from when you withdraw. We mostly just spend using the card and do a cash withdrawal for the odd occassion only cash will do.
For debit cards, chase or monzo. There is also revolut if you do want the pre-paid feature.
For debit cards, chase or monzo. There is also revolut if you do want the pre-paid feature.
goingonholiday said:
Any reason why pre-paid? Several credit cards give fee free spending abroad. Halifax Clarity is well liked and fee free, you'll get the bank bulk rate of exchange. Also no fees for cash withdrawls, just interest on cash from when you withdraw. We mostly just spend using the card and do a cash withdrawal for the odd occassion only cash will do.
For debit cards, chase or monzo. There is also revolut if you do want the pre-paid feature.
I've had cards stolen before even though I am very very careful with them , prepay looks like a good way to limit my exposure. Its amazing how quickly someone can rack up massive charges on a card within moments of stealing it!. For debit cards, chase or monzo. There is also revolut if you do want the pre-paid feature.
Ive always managed to recover the money eventually but it can be a painful and time consuming process and having a card total separate from my normal bank accounts and credit cards seems sensible - and as my other half says better than carrying piles of cash around.
revolut works well for me , can load whatever you want for the day from your phone , instant top ups or withdraw back to your bank
if you are worried about it being lost or left in the room etc you can freeze it until needed again
spend at actual bank rate , not some rip off exchange for cash rate
if you are worried about it being lost or left in the room etc you can freeze it until needed again
spend at actual bank rate , not some rip off exchange for cash rate
steveo3002 said:
revolut works well for me , can load whatever you want for the day from your phone , instant top ups or withdraw back to your bank
if you are worried about it being lost or left in the room etc you can freeze it until needed again
spend at actual bank rate , not some rip off exchange for cash rate
100% if you are worried about it being lost or left in the room etc you can freeze it until needed again
spend at actual bank rate , not some rip off exchange for cash rate
Revolut is ace
One more vote for Halifax Clarity from me (although I think a few others cards do similar things now).
I found with the pre-pay cards you had to keep topping them up otherwise you'd either have loads of cash on them which would be lost if stolen or have a load left on it at the end and pay big fees to convert it back to Sterling.
I found with the pre-pay cards you had to keep topping them up otherwise you'd either have loads of cash on them which would be lost if stolen or have a load left on it at the end and pay big fees to convert it back to Sterling.
superpp said:
as others have said a Clarity Card is great, also consider a Chase debit card which you can preload and also receive some cashback.
both offer the best bank conversion rates and Chase has free (subject to local fees) ATM withdrawals.
This combo is exactly what we did last month. It was excellent.both offer the best bank conversion rates and Chase has free (subject to local fees) ATM withdrawals.
B9 said:
I've used transfer wise (wise).
It's a pre-pay card which you load up with GBP and convert (via an app) to any currency, which you can easily convert back. You don't have to convert it in the app, but it reduces fees further.
I found the exchange rates and fees to beat any other form of convenient conversion, and although I've only used for Europe and USA, I suspect it's similar worldwide. I understand it's because you're effectively sending the money between the banks it holds worldwide, so you get the same X-rate the bank gets sending money to itself.
You also get a physical card sent to you for chip and pin
Been using Wise for the last year whilst living in Romania and it’s been faultless; low fees and easy to maintain. You can also open other currency accounts without issue and start using them straight away. Would definitely recommend if you travel a lot. It's a pre-pay card which you load up with GBP and convert (via an app) to any currency, which you can easily convert back. You don't have to convert it in the app, but it reduces fees further.
I found the exchange rates and fees to beat any other form of convenient conversion, and although I've only used for Europe and USA, I suspect it's similar worldwide. I understand it's because you're effectively sending the money between the banks it holds worldwide, so you get the same X-rate the bank gets sending money to itself.
You also get a physical card sent to you for chip and pin
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