FairFX cards

[Muscateer]

I have been hearing about these cards and seems they are quite well used in America. Do many of you use these while on holiday? Am I right in thinking you load money on to it before you go? Can you take cash out from any atm or are these cards for only using in shops, restaurants etc.? Normally I just take dollars, use atms and anything expensive just stick on my credit card and pay off when I get home. Would I get a better rate using a FairFX card?

TIA

 

[Muscateer]

Oops sorry meant to post on planning

 

[Netty]

you use it like a credit card, in shops and at atms. load it up before you go
you will get charged for withdrawing money from atms though. I have one and check the balance on it whilst over there, i havent used it at an atm as i usually take some dollars as well. more info here
http://www.fairfx.com/wizard/start/card

 

[Sapper383]

I used FAIRFX for our last trip. We had a card which we put about £1000 on and then bought dollars from them as well. They have one of the best exchange rates you will find anywhere on the interweb.

 

[orangetiggs]

i have beenusing this card since i paid for our disney wedding in 2008, we have used it in florida and mexico with no problems

we top up before we go and sometimes while we are out there as we take our laptop to go online

it does charge you to withdraw from a atm but we normally get a large amount out so we dont do lots of small withdrawals

never had a problem with anyone accepting it as its accepted anywhere mastercard is

 

[VailaTigger]

Used mine with no problems at all last April.

Pre-load before you go at a good rate, I also added some to it while I was there, you only get charged for ATM withdrawals, so as a previous poster said, take out the largest amount you can each time, and you'll cut down on the charges.

Will be using ours again next September!

Also bought currency from them at a good rate, and everything was painless.

Edit - have been told in the past not to use it as your card which you leave an imprint of at reception as you check into your resort - use a normal card for that, as I've heard it might 'ring-fence' some of the funds on your FairFX card, and you wouldn't get access to it.

 

[wayneg]

Check out fees involved https://www.fairfx.com/whatitcosts
If you are happy with those then most people seem happy with their service.

Personally I prefer to use a credit card (full interbank rate & no fees for foreign transactions) I never withdraw cash just use credit card for everything.

 

[Muscateer]

Thanks for replying everyone just need to decide will I or won't I

 

[wilma-bride]

We have used a Fairfx card for our last few trips. It is so convenient as the money is already loaded before you go. As long as you keep an eye on your spending/balance, it is fine. We never use it to withdraw cash so no fees for us. It makes it loads easier when we travel with the Longstaffs too as we just put money on the card and use it to pay for our meals - no arguing/fussing over splitting the bill. We just load a certain amount per day per adult/child and off we go

 

[jtlover]

It is our preferred method of payment in orlando.

We check our balance at Starbucks online every so often so we know what we have spent and what we have left. We also load money onto our card when we get paid whilst we are away on holiday

I have never used an atm in orlando = I take some dollars with us as well as the card.

As we stay on site we tend to buy everything in Disney with the room card and then pay at the end with the Fairfx card. We then us the fairfx card when we go shopping off site.

We love it

 

[Netty]

don't forget they have to be renewed every 3 yrs.. ours is due this July

 

[wilma-bride]

don't forget they have to be renewed every 3 yrs.. ours is due this July

Actually, Netty, according to the card terms and conditions, it is only valid for 2 years (extract below):

Your Prepaid Card will be valid for 2 years. You may apply, on our website, for a renewal up to 2 months before expiry of the Prepaid Card. This renewal will run for a further two years and your balance will be transferred to the new card.

Having said that, we have had our card for way more than 2 years and I haven't had to renew it I will have to check and see when it expires.

 

[orangetiggs]

oh us too! i got mine in 2008?!?

 

[wilma-bride]

oh us too! i got mine in 2008?!?

I cannot find anywhere on the website where you can apply to renew it and, as far as I'm concerned, mine still says it's active so I'm not too worried at the moment. I might send them an Email or call them, though, as I would hate for it to not work at a crucial point

 

[orangetiggs]

yes i just logged in and mine says active, just going to check the expiry date on my card

 

[Netty]

Ooops! I'm sure i read somewhere that it was 3 years - my head is always full of useless information

 

[wickesy]

I cannot find anywhere on the website where you can apply to renew it and, as far as I'm concerned, mine still says it's active so I'm not too worried at the moment. I might send them an Email or call them, though, as I would hate for it to not work at a crucial point

Once it's due for renewal Joh you'll get an e-mail reminder and there'll be a link in your account to apply for a new card.

 

[wilma-bride]

Ooops! I'm sure i read somewhere that it was 3 years - my head is always full of useless information

I apologise Netty because, despite what it says on the website, I have just checked my card and it was issued in 05/09 and expires in, you guessed it, 05/12. So it is valid for 3 years - not so useless hun

Once it's due for renewal Joh you'll get an e-mail reminder and there'll be a link in your account to apply for a new card.

Thanks David

 

[wickesy]

I apologise Netty because, despite what it says on the website, I have just checked my card and it was issued in 05/09 and expires in, you guessed it, 05/12. So it is valid for 3 years - not so useless hun

You were kind of right - my original card was valid for 3 years but the renewal card I got last month is only valid for 2 years.

 

[Muscateer]

Decided to go ahead and register for card. Thanks for all your input