pre-loaded card

[gracieclaire]

Has anyone used one of those cards in dlp that you pre-load with money before you go away and if so have you had any issues with it and is there any you would recommend?

 

[Serenlas]

I used a Fair FX card and had no trouble paying with it anywhere last March. The only downside is that the waiter takes you away from the table to use the card machine, which wasn't brilliant as it meant leaving my 4 and 6 year olds unattended at the table, but it was very quick

 

[adr2.8i]

i have just got one of the fairfx cards for my trip in june.
i loaded it up earlier this week as the euro is quite strong at the moment.
and if you go through the martin lewis site (the guy off gmtv), you get £5 free to put on the card.

 

[jothp]

I looked into getting one but decided against it in the end because of the charges. Some of them charge you if you withdraw cash from an ATM but you can use it to pay free of charge which is great. What really put me off though is that they all seem to charge you quite a lot to take money off the card and put it back into your bank account if you have money left. If you have been using it as a debit card there is unlikely to be a nice round amount left which you could withdraw at a cash point free. A lot also seem to start charging a monthly fee if you don't use it for a certain period of time. I don't know when we would go back again so I would either need to pay the fee to get the money back so I could cancel the card or risk forgetting about it and being charged a monthly fee.

Also to load one of these you would have to use your debit card and I didn't realise until recently but a lot of debit cards will charge you a fee for any transaction to buy currency (often unless you use their own currency service ) I now withdraw cash - I worked out I would be better off buying on the high street and getting a lesser rate than buying online at a higher rate and paying my banks fee.

 

[gracieclaire]

Thank you everyone for the reply's. I made a post the other day worried about my debit card being refused as i have 8 ap's to buy and i was wondering if this would be a better way of doing it

 

[meryll83]

I've only used them for $ so far, but intend to get a € card with FairFX before we go to DLP - whilst I believe there may be a small charge to retrieve any leftover funds, we have always just left our funds to roll over to our next holiday and there's no monthly fee.

Not sure if there are ATM fees, as we always take a combination of card and cash so never need to withdraw from the card. Also have never been charged for purchasing from a debit card, I think it is when you use a credit card for currency that charges start to incur...

 

[A Small World]

Thank you everyone for the reply's. I made a post the other day worried about my debit card being refused as i have 8 ap's to buy and i was wondering if this would be a better way of doing it

I think your debit card should be Ok as long as you inform the bank beforehand that you are going abroad - give them dates and country travelling to.
If you call in to tell them you can also warn them that there will be a large payment to DLP at the start of the holiday (for the APs)

 

[jothp]

I've only used them for $ so far, but intend to get a € card with FairFX before we go to DLP - whilst I believe there may be a small charge to retrieve any leftover funds, we have always just left our funds to roll over to our next holiday and there's no monthly fee.

Not sure if there are ATM fees, as we always take a combination of card and cash so never need to withdraw from the card.

Just looked it up, fairfx charge £10 to refund any leftover money - as you say that is not a problem if you can leave the currency on the card for another trip. Be aware though that fairfx cards expire after two years and they charge £9.95 to renew unless you top up with at least £300 worth of currency at the same time. If you are going and using the card regularly it is obviously not a problem but we are not sure when we will be going next so would possibly either have to pay to get a small amount of money back or pay to renew down the line. Some of the other cards last longer or have smaller fees to get a refund but charge £1 - £2 per month once the card hasn't been used for 12 months or more. For some people these cards work out really well but I just wanted to make the OP aware of some of the terms and conditions so they can make an informed choice.

Also have never been charged for purchasing from a debit card, I think it is when you use a credit card for currency that charges start to incur...

I thought it was only credit cards that charged too because getting currency is like getting cash, however I was looking at rates on the Sainsburys website and it came up with a warning that debit and credit cards may charge so I looked up the terms on the barclays site where it says:

'Obtaining foreign currency or travellers cheques anywhere other than a Barclays branch or via Barclays Travel Line 2% (minimum £1.50, maximum £4.50)'

I think it is appaling that they can do this and refuse to pay which is why I withdrew cash and bought that way.

 

[tennisfan]

Just looked it up, fairfx charge £10 to refund any leftover money - as you say that is not a problem if you can leave the currency on the card for another trip. Be aware though that fairfx cards expire after two years and they charge £9.95 to renew unless you top up with at least £300 worth of currency at the same time. If you are going and using the card regularly it is obviously not a problem but we are not sure when we will be going next so would possibly either have to pay to get a small amount of money back or pay to renew down the line. Some of the other cards last longer or have smaller fees to get a refund but charge £1 - £2 per month once the card hasn't been used for 12 months or more. For some people these cards work out really well but I just wanted to make the OP aware of some of the terms and conditions so they can make an informed choice.

I thought it was only credit cards that charged too because getting currency is like getting cash, however I was looking at rates on the Sainsburys website and it came up with a warning that debit and credit cards may charge so I looked up the terms on the barclays site where it says:

'Obtaining foreign currency or travellers cheques anywhere other than a Barclays branch or via Barclays Travel Line 2% (minimum £1.50, maximum £4.50)'

I think it is appaling that they can do this and refuse to pay which is why I withdrew cash and bought that way.

Debit & nearly all credits cards charge a commission to use abroad, its not a fee all that it is that they will give you a lower exchange rate for your purchases as they have charged the commission for the transaction, as they are charged by the vendor to process the sale.

You will pay a fee to draw cash out of an ATM abroad, as that ATM/Bank are the ones to add the charge.

You can get commission fee credit & debit cards to use abroad. Post Office & Nationwide credit cards are a couple, plus you get business exchange rate which is better then tourist rate.

If you are talking about getting foreign currency in the UK & using debit cards, the banks class it as a cash advance. HSBC debit cards are one of a very few that don't charge the customer.

 

[jothp]

Debit & nearly all credits cards charge a commission to use abroad, its not a fee all that it is that they will give you a lower exchange rate for your purchases as they have charged the commission for the transaction, as they are charged by the vendor to process the sale.

You will pay a fee to draw cash out of an ATM abroad, as that ATM/Bank are the ones to add the charge.

You can get commission fee credit & debit cards to use abroad. Post Office & Nationwide credit cards are a couple, plus you get business exchange rate which is better then tourist rate.

If you are talking about getting foreign currency in the UK & using debit cards, the banks class it as a cash advance. HSBC debit cards are one of a very few that don't charge the customer.

Sorry yes it was getting currency in the UK I was talking about. I can see why credit cards would charge as most do charge for cash but I think it is ridiculous for debit cards to be able to get away with it when the money is there in my account waiting to be spent. I also wonder how many people don't realise the charge is there and think it only applies to credit cards?

I don't have a fee free credit card which would obviously be the cheapest way to spend abroad because as you point out you do get a better exchange rate. However using a card with a fee works out about the same as buying cash: When you buy cash the exchange rate you get is a few % lower than the business rate, when you pay with a card with fees you get the business exchange rate but then pay a % fee.