Advice re which card to use; Travellers or Debit

[annz53]

Departure is so close now
Popped along to our bank to tell them not to block any international purchases from the countries we are planning to visit and was introduced to the "Travellers Card". Apparently you deposit your money onto this card in whatever currency you require; works almost like the old Traveller's cheques (really showing my age now )
My question is ~ has anyone used this card and would you recommend it??
The bank says we will be saving, on fees I think, if we go the Traveller Card way but one lady at work used it and found that it took 3days to reload funds while they were away which is far too long when you are travelling.
Once again, thanks in advance, for all your valuable info and tips

 

[mindy32]

We have used Travelex cards when travelling in the past and found them great. I'm unsure of the fees normally associated with them as hubby is defence and defence members get different rates.

I found it great to just take that one card (well one each for hubby and I), and now all of our spending money was on it. We didn't have to think about exchange rates etc we knew exactly how much we had in US dollars to spend from the start. We did end up using another card in the last week of our trip as we splurged a little, it was easier to simply use our normal accounts for the last little bit than reload so I wasn't concerned about wait times etc.

The only thing to bare in mind is that these cards won't count as a credit card if you're hiring a car etc so you will still need an actual credit card for bonds etc. we actually didn't even have a cc with us, only our travelex one and a debit card and the rental company wouldn't accept this so luckily our friend was with us to do it on her credit card!

 

[bswift]

I've used the Commbank travel money cards for all my trips, I don't recall ever having a problem with the wait time for loading funds. On Australia business days it takes 24 hours I believe.

I don't know necessarily if they do save you money on the fees but I prefer having a card that is totally separate from the rest of my banking. My dad has had his card hacked/skimmed before when travelling in the US. My card was hacked earlier in the year and Commbank picked it up and refunded the money to me.

 

[bswift]

Oh one problem I did have with it was that some stores were a bit wary of it. I guess because I'm in my 20s, the shop assistants would often ask to see ID to match the name on the card. Mine just says "Valued Cardholder" because I got it at my branch so obviously there was no name to match. If you order online, they do print your name on it.

I also used it for hotel bonds/deposit without too much trouble, just took a couple days for the charges to reverse. Some places let you use cash for the bonds as well.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The travel card is a very convenient way to change money into the destination currency when the exchange rate suits you. If you watch the exchange rate and change when you think the rate is in your favour, you could benefit from any currency movements. Of course, it could also work against you if the currency goes up and you locked in the cash at a lower rate. I tend to change money over a long period of time rather than changing it all at once. The travel card allows me to hedge at a personal level.

We always take a combination of travel card, cash and credit card options with us when we travel.

On a different note, the banks do block credit card charges against certain stores. I know from personal experience that even when you tell the banks you're travelling and they note it in the system, when you go to stores such as Macy's etc, the transaction will be automatically blocked. Something to be aware of.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

PIO your note re Macy's - we haven't ever had that happen to us with our cards? Maybe it depends on the bank but good to be aware of.

We find travel cards very useful and our DD used one solely while travelling in Asia with a CC as a back-up only. You can load with any type of currency or multiple currencies beforehand locking in exchange rates as PIO said. Lots of places have them not just banks. Some charge fees when adding currencies, some don't. Some are easier to load on the go than others or money goes in faster when you transfer. If you google travel cards there are several Aus websites such as Canstar that compares them all and explains about them that you also might find helpful.

 

[losfp]

On our 2012 trip we used CBA travel money cards - they are basically a mastercard that is preloaded with currency. Didn't have many problems at all. We had our own credit cards as backup - some places don't allow prepaid cards as security as mentioned.

What I might do next time is see if I can get one that's a Visa. All of our credit cards were Mastercards and one morning at DCA the entire MAstercard system went down for a couple of hours. Would be good to have both (or even an Amex) just to be safe.

 

[PrincessInOz]

PIO your note re Macy's - we haven't ever had that happen to us with our cards? Maybe it depends on the bank but good to be aware of.

We find travel cards very useful and our DD used one solely while travelling in Asia with a CC as a back-up only. You can load with any type of currency or multiple currencies beforehand locking in exchange rates as PIO said. Lots of places have them not just banks. Some charge fees when adding currencies, some don't. Some are easier to load on the go than others or money goes in faster when you transfer. If you google travel cards there are several Aus websites such as Canstar that compares them all and explains about them that you also might find helpful.

I'm with CommBank. I was shopping in Macy's in October last year and when I got to the cash register, the message they got was "call bank". I was literally emptying out my wallet for pennies in order to pay for my purchases. I hope I'm not oversharing too much info here....but the total for that transaction was in the $400 bracket. Maybe there is also a trigger based on amount??

When I called CommBank and ask them why they blocked it when I had told the bank I was travelling, they said that their systems automatically blocked for stores. Whilst I'm happy that there is that restriction, it was very frustrating as I literally had to get down to the last 5 cents in my purse! Thankfully, the staff at Macy's were very understanding.

 

[Luisa]

It must be something about Macy's and how they process their transactions, I work for Westpac and have seen quite a lot of Macy's transactions blocked - even on cards with travel notes.

 

[Aussiefamof5]

Departure is so close now
Popped along to our bank to tell them not to block any international purchases from the countries we are planning to visit and was introduced to the "Travellers Card". Apparently you deposit your money onto this card in whatever currency you require; works almost like the old Traveller's cheques (really showing my age now )
My question is ~ has anyone used this card and would you recommend it??
The bank says we will be saving, on fees I think, if we go the Traveller Card way but one lady at work used it and found that it took 3days to reload funds while they were away which is far too long when you are travelling.
Once again, thanks in advance, for all your valuable info and tips

Like others we used a combination of cash and travel cards. Our velocity card took 48 business hours to load minimal international ATM fees and use as a credit card, whilst getting flyer points bonus!!

The nab card loads immediately with access to funds in 3 hours, with no international ATM fees.

Just look for cards that are recognised worldwide and if your visiting different countries I would suggest a multi currency card so you can pre load the currency for the country your visiting.

Hope you have a great trip

 

[aussiemumma101]

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[elphaba91]

We are going to be using the Australia Post Load & Go Travel cards. My travel agent aunt says that this is what she advises all her clients to do now. I like that it allows me to lock in a decent rate (although that could work against me if it goes up, of course). I did have some trouble when I tried to load more money on it yesterday, however - a page from my bank popped up and I couldn't get their verification to work - so I will have to make sure that's sorted before I go. We will take other debit and credit cards and a little bit of cash too, just in case, although our hotels are all paid in full so it would just be food and souvenirs to worry about.

 

[losfp]

To add to my previous post... Definitely don't go over with only one option. Take a variety of options just in case. On our 2012 trip, we took the CBA prepaid cards I mentioned - one account, but they supply two cards just in case. Also I had my credit card and savings card, and my wife had her credit card and savings card. We mostly used the travel cards, but had to use the CCs every now and then for deposits/security.

Better than our honeymoon in 2007. The day before we flew out, my wife had fraud charges on her credit card and because it is linked to her savings account, the whole lot got frozen. Luckily they let her take cash out and she drove to my work and we took that $7000 down the street to deposit in my account. We did 4 weeks in Canada and Alaska with only my credit card. Now THAT is stress.

 

[aussietravellers]

I was in the US for four months last year and I used the NAB traveller card and had very few problems. There were a couple of atm's that I found I couldn't draw cash out of (Target near Disneyland was one), but didn't ever have problems using it in a store and I pretty much used it daily at many many places and even online.

I also used the velocity card. I found that the money into the Velocity card was in a day before the NAB card. But I didn't have any problem drawing money or using it. And I earned SO many FF points, it was fantastic!

We had our cards skimmed whilst out one day in LA (I heard the beeps as we walked past so we went into a cafe and watched and sure enough that's what they were doing. As soon as we got back to our apartment, I cancelled the NAB card (as that was the only one I had with us) and started using the second (backup) card that they give you. It was very simple to cancel the first card and the second (backup) card was working without a problem.

So for travelling anywhere (not just the US). E-pickpocketing is a big thing now. A majority of the time you won't even know it happens as they just skim the chip that's in the cards. So my advise, is to always have all of your cards (even the ones from home that you don't use and are sitting in your purse), in one of the RFID blockers (you passport too if you carry that on your person). You can get them at any luggage store, bag store, myer, DJ's etc. Or if you have one of those pacsafe wallets or handbags, they usually have RFID blockers in them too.

 

[Kristin5]

We used the load & go card last year, and were very happy with it, so will use it again on the next trip. They had a pretty good exchange rate too.

But we also take cash and our normal credit card.

 

[miss.potatohead]

I lived in the US for 6 months last year and used the Commonwealth Bank travel money card with little issues. Your first deposit/transfer of money incurs no fee so if possible try to put as much money as possible on the card in your first transaction. Otherwise it's a small fee, dependent on the amount of money you upload capped at $15 (I think).

The only issues I encountered was that it was blocked when I had a CA$1 transaction for a something online. I immediately received an email from netbank saying it had been blocked and to call them to sort it out. Except I was in the US with no clue how to call an Aussie 1800 type number (thank goodness a friend had plenty of skype call credit). You get two cards so I kept one in a secure spot in case anything happened to the primary card. It also took a few days for a rather large hold to be released back to the card from my hotel in Vegas - 5 business days I believe. If using it for a hotel, it may be smart to ask if they charge any incidental holds and if they do, ask if you can deposit cash, or even an Aussie credit card (it'll be refunded if you don't damage the room!).

You do lose like $2 per transaction from the CBA when taking money out of an ATM + whatever fee the ATM charges for not being a member of the bank. I was out about $5 per withdrawal so it's better to use the card for purchases if you can avoid cash. I usually took a few hundred out every few months and just kept it safe to avoid too many additional charges!

 

[Luisa]

The following is what I have been told and how we are going about our cash handling within US.... I have been told to be wary of the load times with the travel cards, some I have been told can take up to 72 hours, so imagine it is a Thursday, your low on cash and transfer it over, the wait becomes longer to include the weekend....your money is in a limbo transfer land and not in either account for you to access it... So we have vetoed the travel cards and are just going to open 2 Westpac bank accounts, reasons being - Bank of America is affiliated with Westpac and if we have a problem with our card/account, we can call into the Bank of America branch and it will get sorted, much easier than having to call around..there are no bank fees as it is technically a Westpac branch, only the currency conversion fee. When we get a balance at the ATM in USA it will be in US currency, so we know exactly how much cash we have. America is not up with Debit Cards and often refuse them, you can not use them for a security deposit in a hotel or to hire a car. You have to have a credit card, we have gotten a CC especially for the hotel, some stores will even refuse the debit card.... we are not going to worry about chasing a good rate of exchange, it will drive me insane and ruin my holiday.. We have been told to get 2 accounts and split our cash between them, incase we misplace a card, we will still have access to cash till we can get to the bank.. On the cash front - We have been warned that some American stores can and do refuse $100 notes from customers, so be sure to carry small notes and not $100 notes..... The money part is what scares me the most with travelling over there, I would hate to be stranded so far from home with no access to cash, hence why we have chosen to go with the Westpac cards....hope I have helped you some what, this is what I have been told and read on the net.....

Please, please don't go thinking Westpac is affiliated with BoA! We're not, it's just that the two banks are part of a 'global alliance' of banks that don't charge overseas ATM fees. If you go in to a BoA branch with a card problem there is nothing they can do to help you and vice versa if you're a BoA customer in Australia. I always suggest people take a mix of cards and currency and the travel cards are great addition too. I'll have to check but I'm pretty sure if you're transferring via bpay to the Westpac global card from a Westpac account it's faster than 72hrs (which is a guideline time, I know my payments to Optus are in next day). Make sure you get a 'Banking guide to overseas travel' brochure from your branch and grab one on the global currency card and check it out. I hope I don't sound rude, but it seems you've got some not quite right advice and it might be best to talk to your branch and read the actual info for yourself rather than rely on what you read on the net or hear second hand.

 

[aussiemumma101]

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[LivingforDisney]

Call me old fashioned but what the heck.
First time I went to the states I got the travel card , hated it!!
Last two times, I just took cash & travellers cheques!!!
Also took one credit card.
Loved it, had no probs at all cashing the travellers cheques in WDW.
We just left it all in the hotel room safes.
This is my plans for next year too.

 

[Luisa]

no you don't sound rude, thank you for setting me straight, i am thankful for the information.. i had gotten this information from my local westpac bank, travel agent and from travel sites...thought they were giving me the right info.. how to organise my money over there has been my main fear and what cards to use, thought i had it sorted with westpac accounts...guess they just wanted my accounts, as i don't bank with them, so it would have been 4 new accounts for them........might just stuff all my money in my bra...

It sounds like they just got it a bit twisted My personal preference when travelling is to take a little cash, my debit MasterCard and my travel card which I love (I use it for online shopping from the US too). I just use my cards/accounts the same as I do here, just need to factor in the extra fees but I don't think of it as being any different than spending at home. Just go with whatever you're comfortable using and, most importantly, have a fun trip!