fairfx card

[milomummy]

I can't have one delivered to my parent's address as the card that pays for it (i.e mine) has to be registered to the same address as where it will be delivered. Grrrrrrrrrr.
They emailed to day but it seemed like a standard email sent out, as if they hadn't understood my point of being a British citizen and having British banking and my address, albeit a BFPO being in the UK. Oh well, back to the drawing board.....tumtetum.

 

[UKDEB]

Does it work like a credit card inasmuch as any authorisation registered against it (say when checking into a hotel) takes ages to run off? (The problem is always that the amount of the actual bill is never the same as the authorisation amount, so there is no "match" and the credit card companies keep the authorisations live for ever to cover themselves - it's a big bugbear of mine). The idea of this card appeals to me, but it would be pretty pointless if you loaded it with cash and then weren't able to access half of it until weeks after your holiday.

 

[Snowy-girls]

I can't have one delivered to my parent's address as the card that pays for it (i.e mine) has to be registered to the same address as where it will be delivered. Grrrrrrrrrr.
They emailed to day but it seemed like a standard email sent out, as if they hadn't understood my point of being a British citizen and having British banking and my address, albeit a BFPO being in the UK. Oh well, back to the drawing board.....tumtetum.

Thats a shame,but yes it makes sense that you can't have it delivered to a different address.When i have had emails from them they have been personal not box standard,maybe try again it would be worth it to get a card.Good Luck.x.

 

[Snowy-girls]

Does it work like a credit card inasmuch as any authorisation registered against it (say when checking into a hotel) takes ages to run off? (The problem is always that the amount of the actual bill is never the same as the authorisation amount, so there is no "match" and the credit card companies keep the authorisations live for ever to cover themselves - it's a big bugbear of mine). The idea of this card appeals to me, but it would be pretty pointless if you loaded it with cash and then weren't able to access half of it until weeks after your holiday.

Hi Deb,
I can't help you with your question,but would like to know the answer myself.David(wickesy)is the 'MAN' for this question.x.

 

[DCLMan]

Does it work like a credit card inasmuch as any authorisation registered against it (say when checking into a hotel) takes ages to run off? (The problem is always that the amount of the actual bill is never the same as the authorisation amount, so there is no "match" and the credit card companies keep the authorisations live for ever to cover themselves - it's a big bugbear of mine). The idea of this card appeals to me, but it would be pretty pointless if you loaded it with cash and then weren't able to access half of it until weeks after your holiday.

I would use a standard credit card to cover the authorisation amount thus leaving my fairfx "free" and then pay the balance on the fairfx card.

 

[UKDEB]

So would I, DCLMan, but I can see this being a (potentially quite large scale) problem for anyone without alternate means of paying. Anyone who doesn't own a credit card and who normally relies on cash and travellers' cheques could run into trouble. When you pay by card in restaurants, an authorisation is processed pre-tip and then the payment itself post-tip. Again, you run into the "no match" issue and those restaurant bills soon rack up! These days, we always pay the tip in cash, so it wouldn't be a biggie for us, but I'd still like to know the answer to the question.

 

[orangetiggs]

we always when staying in a disney hotel put travellers cheques on our room so that we can charge back to the room. I only got the fairfx card to pay for our disney wedding as the rate is far better than what we are getting transferring money to our $ account in florida

 

[Snowy-girls]

Would i be right in saying that people who don't own a credit card,and use this card in a restaurant+pay for the tip with cash would'nt have this problem that you're mentioning could happen?Also using the card to purchase say stuffed toys in a Park Shop would'nt have this trouble.Sorry Deb i am getting a bit confused as i don't own a credit card,so don't understand how they work-so not sure what you mean.Thanks Deb.x.

 

[orangetiggs]

i think its only on places like hotel or car hire where they take an imprint and normally charge it but it doesnt actually come off your balance but you cant actually spend it

if you buy things in shops it should be fine

 

[UKDEB]

Paying in a shop wouldn't be an issue, Michelle. The problem I can foresee is when using it anywhere where an advance authorisation is sought prior to processing of the actual payment. An authorisation is a temporary freezing of a given amount of credit pending the actual payment being processed. In the case of a hotel it enables them to provide charging privileges on your room key for the duration of your stay, knowing that they are guaranteed payment at the end. This is only an issue when the amounts differ. That's always going to be the case if you leave credit card details at a hotel (in Disney they authorise in round amounts of $500 - $1500 for a deluxe, $1000 for a moderate, and $500 for a value). When you check out, the amount you've actually spent is charged to the card. When they process the payment, the hotel is supposed to link it to the authorisation, but they never do. If the amount was exactly the same as the authorisation amount, the card issuer would automatically match it up and it would cancel out. When it doesn't, they can't be sure that they're not going to get hit with another payment for the amount of the authorisation (at least that's what they claim, but having worked in the banking sector for 29 years, I can tell you that's bunkum), so they leave the authorisation amount outstanding for several weeks. These days, we never leave credit card details. Dh always has his wallet with him, so it's just as easy to pay by credit card as it is with a room key. We'd never really thought about it until we did a month-long road trip checking in and out of hotels every few days. At $1500 a pop we reached a point where nearly all our available credit was tied up in outstanding authorisations, so now it's a matter of principle. It's galling enough when it's just credit, but if it was my own cash on a pre-paid card, I wouldn't be at all happy.

You're right in thinking that restaurant bills wouldn't be an issue as long as you pay the tip in cash.

 

[wickesy]

Hi Deb,
I can't help you with your question,but would like to know the answer myself.David(wickesy)is the 'MAN' for this question.x.

Sorry Michelle, I have to let you down on this one. Somebody PM'd me last night asking about exactly this point and I don't actually know the answer. I would imagine that as it is being used as a Mastercard Debbie is right and you would end up with a fair portion of your money being tied up during your holiday.

I don't think these types of cards are really designed to be used in that way, they are really cash and, to an extent, travellers cheque substitutes in as much as you don't have to worry about carrying large amounts of cash with you and you don't have to worry about whether where you are accepts, or will give change for, travellers cheques.

 

[Snowy-girls]

Thanks Deb for explaining,so as long as i pay for the tips in cash+use my card for the meal only-there won't be 2 different amounts in authorisation on my card-being tied up-they will then both match and that is that(i don't know the lingo ).x.

 

[Snowy-girls]

Sorry Michelle, I have to let you down on this one. Somebody PM'd me last night asking about exactly this point and I don't actually know the answer. I would imagine that as it is being used as a Mastercard Debbie is right and you would end up with a fair portion of your money being tied up during your holiday.

I don't think these types of cards are really designed to be used in that way, they are really cash and, to an extent, travellers cheque substitutes in as much as you don't have to worry about carrying large amounts of cash with you and you don't have to worry about whether where you are accepts, or will give change for, travellers cheques.

David as always a great help-thank you for pm-ing me.x.