Prepaid currency card

[jonkatony]

Has anybody used a prepaid currency card to pay for the holiday booked through US Disney.
As I go into sainsbury's to get my lunch most days it could be a easy way to top up the card to pay for the holiday.
Are there any pit falls?

 

[2Tiggies]

It depends on the type of currency card. They all have advantages; some have more drawbacks than others if you dont' use them a certain way.

I like my FairFX card and have used one for about 5 years now with no issues, and swift responses whenever I've needed information, help or had a query with them. I am also happy that I can top up online and link it to PayPal for US$ purchases without incurring fees.

Not so much drawbacks, but things to be aware of are not to use a pre paid card as security for a rental car, hotel room etc as it is not a debit or credit card and if there are not funds in there the merchant won't be paid so a hold is usually placed on it, even if you aren't going to be spending that amount of money. Better to place a 'regular card' down and then opt to pay the debt with the FairFX

Cash Passports work pretty much the same way, but be aware of the inactivity fee. Some of them charge you a fee if you don't use it for a certain period of time and many folk have thought they had xx in their card for their next holiday only to discover it had been eaten up in fees they hadn't paid attention to.

Travelex does a good card too and there is another one, the name of which escapes me right now.

 

[ankersandrew]

Ive had a prepay card from the money shop for about 4 years. when they first came out and we were in Vegas we kinda got a few strange looks as it doesnt have your name on it.

Now ive got a new one as my old one expired it has my name on it and last year in Vegas nobody even questioned it.

Already loaded it for my disney trip later this year and already used it on the disney site to pay for Memory Maker and also Universals site for there Photo pass thing.

I cant say enough about the money shop as they will give you the dollars on the card what it says in the shop, not like the one we got told about in the Co op which tracks way below the normal shop exchange rate.

Also the money shop doesnt charge you for it if you load a £50 amount on it first time.

 

[jonkatony]

Thanks for your replies

 

[Hipster Meg]

We used a Fairfx euro card at Disneyland Paris with no problems last year and we'll be getting one again for Florida. Moneysavingexpert has a good guide to them here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money and if you use the links in the article Fairfx waves the £10 new customer fee. Once we've booked we plan on getting a dollar card and topping up it every now and again, that way it's not a huge shock to the bank balance unlike making one big currency exchange.