Pre-Paid Currency Card Question

[MeganAndOwen]

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about how we might take our spending money on our trip later this year. This would be for food, souvenirs, tips etc.

We don't have credit cards but we are wondering if the post office pre-paid currency card (or a similar card) can be tied to your room account/MagicBand once you arrive at Disney? These types of card are supposed to be able to be used anywhere you can use a Mastercard, does this type of scenario come under that heading?

Or would our better option just to be to take everything in cash and then store what we aren't planning on using that day in the safe?

What do you all think? Thanks in advance.

Megan

 

[wilma-bride]

You can use the currency card to charge against your room but be aware that they will put a hold against the card for a set amount, which will effectively reduce the balance by that amount (even if you weren't going to spend that much). As a complete aside (and I know everybody has different reasons for why they don't have credit cards) personally I would never travel to the US without a credit card for emergencies. Medical costs can mount up very quickly and some of them are not covered immediately by insurance (depending on your policy). For example, I had a friend who had an accident while on a Disney cruise. She had to pay the medical bills for while they were still on the ship, which amounted to a few thousand (and later claim them back from her insurance), as they did not have an arrangement whereby the insurance company would settle direct. Unless you have that kind of money readily available, it really is advisable to have a credit card which can be used in such an event.

I would be wary of taking excessive amounts of cash also, since most insurance policies only cover a token amount of cash.

 

[P800aul]

Hi

And when you get one the best ones to use abroad are Halifax or Post Office as both give good rates and don't charge a transaction fee.

Regards

Paul

 

[bex7583]

i have a pre paid one as i can be prone to overspending!! i do also have a post office credit card for usa holidays only i dont keep it in my purse the rest of the year to avoid temptation to use it it usually gives one of the best exchange rates

i also use it during planning if any tickets etc need paying in dollars

im not sure if you can link to hotel room but i do remember we used the pre paid one in disney alot even smaller souvenier and snack carts accepted it

 

[MeganAndOwen]

You can use the currency card to charge against your room but be aware that they will put a hold against the card for a set amount, which will effectively reduce the balance by that amount (even if you weren't going to spend that much). As a complete aside (and I know everybody has different reasons for why they don't have credit cards) personally I would never travel to the US without a credit card for emergencies. Medical costs can mount up very quickly and some of them are not covered immediately by insurance (depending on your policy). For example, I had a friend who had an accident while on a Disney cruise. She had to pay the medical bills for while they were still on the ship, which amounted to a few thousand (and later claim them back from her insurance), as they did not have an arrangement whereby the insurance company would settle direct. Unless you have that kind of money readily available, it really is advisable to have a credit card which can be used in such an event.

I would be wary of taking excessive amounts of cash also, since most insurance policies only cover a token amount of cash.

Thanks for the tips! I do have my own reasons for not having a credit card but if it transpires we can't tie a prepaid card to the room account then I will likely reconsider. Something I hadn't given too much consideration to was medical insurance and how that might work out in an emergency, thanks for pointing that out. I definitely do share your thoughts that I'd be way of taking large amounts of cash.

Hi

And when you get one the best ones to use abroad are Halifax or Post Office as both give good rates and don't charge a transaction fee.

Regards

Paul

Thanks for this Paul. When you say the best ones to use, do you mean credit cards or prepaid travel cards?

i have a pre paid one as i can be prone to overspending!! i do also have a post office credit card for usa holidays only i dont keep it in my purse the rest of the year to avoid temptation to use it it usually gives one of the best exchange rates

i also use it during planning if any tickets etc need paying in dollars

im not sure if you can link to hotel room but i do remember we used the pre paid one in disney alot even smaller souvenier and snack carts accepted it

Thanks! Perhaps we will look into both then, and kind of just keep the credit card as a back up or to be tied to the room if it transpires that we can't link a prepaid to the room.

 

[wilma-bride]

You can definitely link the prepaid card to the room. However, as I said above, they will charge a certain amount against it when you do that, which will reduce the balance. The amount they 'charge' will depend on where you are staying - differs at value, moderates and deluxes.

 

[MeganAndOwen]

You can definitely link the prepaid card to the room. However, as I said above, they will charge a certain amount against it when you do that, which will reduce the balance. The amount they 'charge' will depend on where you are staying - differs at value, moderates and deluxes.

Oh sorry so you did! I guess I can inquire with them what the hold amount would be. We'll be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

 

[wilma-bride]

Oh sorry so you did! I guess I can inquire with them what the hold amount would be. We'll be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

That's probably the best thing to do. I would seriously consider getting a credit card (like the Halifax Clarity or Post Office suggested above) for emergencies. You don't have to use it on a regular (or other) basis. I have a card that I use only for $$$ transactions as I get a better rate than the standard tourist rate and no conversion fee.

 

[MeganAndOwen]

That's probably the best thing to do. I would seriously consider getting a credit card (like the Halifax Clarity or Post Office suggested above) for emergencies. You don't have to use it on a regular (or other) basis. I have a card that I use only for $$$ transactions as I get a better rate than the standard tourist rate and no conversion fee.

I bank with Halifax so it will be straight forward enough to ask them about the Clarity card, and I can look into the post office credit card option as well. Useful to have some reference points, thanks.

 

[Shazzie B]

Just to be clear when you use any card at a hotel they 'ring fence' a certain amount it could be several hundred dollars, which if you have that amount on your pre-paid card is fine. But remember that after you settle your bill, which could only be a small amount, the amount that they 'ring fence' may not clear for a week or so, which means you could be left with a large amount of dollars left on your card that your card company then charge you to transfer back to £s (hope that makes sense).

We put a credit card down at the hotel and pay it off before we hit the 'charge' amount using our pre-paid card. That way we don't end up with too much left on the pre-paid card. If you don't want to use a Credit Card at all then use your pre-paid card to pay as you go, it'll be accepted at all places where cards are.

 

[scottishgirl87]

I don't think I can add much more to what's been said, especially by Wilma-Bride. However, the old credit card situation always comes up. We now have a Halifax Clarity purely for the holiday (and it has came in handy already a couple of times when booking things in $$$), but I have visited the US several times before without any form of credit card so it can be done. Do you have a back-up plan? I always knew that I had my parents at home who would have bailed me out of any sticky situations money-wise.

It may have changed but I've checked into many hotels where I simply haven't had any card linked to my account. Obviously with MagicBand now it's a lesser option but don't get a credit card if you don't want to. It's taken me to the age of 28 to finally get my first one as I've never needed one before. If you do decide against it just make sure you have a couple of options - last time we had a pre-paid card (FairFX), a debit card that at the time had fee-free international spending (no longer exists unfortunately), our regular debit cards incase of emergency (horrible charges but would have used if needed) and a small amount of cash each.

 

[P800aul]

Thanks for this Paul. When you say the best ones to use, do you mean credit cards or prepaid travel cards?

Thanks! Perhaps we will look into both then, and kind of just keep the credit card as a back up or to be tied to the room if it transpires that we can't link a prepaid to the room.

Both are credit cards we've had both the PO and Halifax in our time, the Halifax is the best as far as I can see their exchange rate is better than the Post Office which can of course add up and as I said neither of then charge a transaction fee (some will charge £1.50 each time you use it) If you where to buy currency from the cheapest today Debenhams is at $1.44 to the £1 however if you used a Halifax Clarity card you would exchange at $1.48 https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/index.html. Never used prepaid cards so can't compare, you might with the information above.

Hope this helps

Regards

Paul

 

[chmurf]

You can definitely link the prepaid card to the room. However, as I said above, they will charge a certain amount against it when you do that, which will reduce the balance. The amount they 'charge' will depend on where you are staying - differs at value, moderates and deluxes.

the limit used to be $500 for values, $1000 for mods, and $1500 for deluxes/dvc

but since august 2015, Disney has raised those limits

as of today, you get a $1500 limit at values and moderates, and $2000 at deluxes/dvc

@OP
if the full limit is awarded, then the prepaid credit card would be charged (held) for that amount at check in, pending that this amount is available on the card at that time.
credit card records will show a $1500 or $2000 transaction, and balance will be lowered accordingly

as previously said, any amount remaining will be "refunded" (released) to the card after check out (might take from a couple of days to a week)


It used to be possible to ask for a lower limit upon check in, IDK if it's still the case.

 

[P800aul]

@OP
if the full limit is awarded, then the prepaid credit card would be charged (held) for that amount at check in, pending that this amount is available on the card at that time.
credit card records will show a $1500 or $2000 transaction, and balance will be lowered accordingly

as previously said, any amount remaining will be "refunded" (released) to the card after check out (might take from a couple of days to a week)

Hi

Out of interest it's a pre-authorisation hold right?

Regards

Paul

 

[wilma-bride]

Hi

Out of interest it's a pre-authorisation hold right?

Regards

Paul

Yes, it is a pre-authorisation hold but it will affect the available balance on debit cards particularly (which is essentially what the pre-paid cards are)

 

[P800aul]

Yes, it is a pre-authorisation hold but it will affect the available balance on debit cards particularly (which is essentially what the pre-paid cards are)

The reason I ask (while in a different country) I've had car hire companies in Spain take the full amount for a excess deposit off my card and 'refund' it back after I returned the it. Clearly not great!

Regards

Paul

 

[chmurf]

The reason I ask (while in a different country) I've had car hire companies in Spain take the full amount for a excess deposit off my card and 'refund' it back after I returned the it. Clearly not great!

on a prepaid credit card, that's how it basically works, since the funds are no longer available to you, and the balance shows as if the funds had been taken.
so that's basically the same thing

for regular credit cards, there is no hold, just the card swipe.

 

[Jon84]

@OP
if the full limit is awarded, then the prepaid credit card would be charged (held) for that amount at check in, pending that this amount is available on the card at that time.
credit card records will show a $1500 or $2000 transaction, and balance will be lowered accordingly

as previously said, any amount remaining will be "refunded" (released) to the card after check out (might take from a couple of days to a week)

Good to note that it won't actually show as a transaction. Because it's a Pre-Auth, it's a pending payment, so the guest will not see anything on their transaction list on their Online banking/Card App. It just adjusts your available funds.

Once a Pre-Auth is removed, you'd never know it was ever there

 

[MeganAndOwen]

Thank you everyone for your tips and info, it's much appreciated! It seems the consensus is go with a credit card. We may look into this and evaluate the options but we may just use the prepaid as we go along instead of tying it to the room. We shall see. Thanks for all of the info, it's very useful!

 

[tinkerpea]

We're one of the odd ones that take pretty much all our spending money in cash,
And yes I'm talking about $3000 we also take our bank card and have a cc for emergencies, ( literally never touch it) the cash goes In the safe. And I check the safe each night,
We then use our magic bands for charging and pay off the bill in cash every two days.
I put any daily amount that I don't spend into an envelope and that is what we will blow the last few days, on any big/ expensive items we've seen through out the trip. It's worked well for us every time, I enjoy having cash on holiday,and I feel far more in control of our budget this way.
Obviously it's not for everyone.