Currency Card opinions please
#1
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Location: Lincs, UK
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Currency Card opinions please
Hey all,
After the week we have had and the fiasco with Crown, we are working on getting our currency sorted ready for next week.
I have been into some travel agents and they are all offering one of the above cards.
Has anyone on here used them and what are your opinions? Are they easier to use than Travellers Cheques etc, would you recommend them?
From what i understand, you put your money on the card prior to leaving the UK and then you just use the card like a Visa or Mastercard to pay for things. Is this about right?
Any thoughts? Should i just stick to what we know with travellers cheques given that we have already lost one lot of holiday money?
Thanks
After the week we have had and the fiasco with Crown, we are working on getting our currency sorted ready for next week.
I have been into some travel agents and they are all offering one of the above cards.
Has anyone on here used them and what are your opinions? Are they easier to use than Travellers Cheques etc, would you recommend them?
From what i understand, you put your money on the card prior to leaving the UK and then you just use the card like a Visa or Mastercard to pay for things. Is this about right?
Any thoughts? Should i just stick to what we know with travellers cheques given that we have already lost one lot of holiday money?
Thanks
#2
Banned
Joined: Oct 2008
Location: the GTA
Posts: 3,824
Re: Currency Card opinions please
I have never heard of it but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it.. If it was me and I knew nothing about them I would just load up my Visa or MasterCard.
#3
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Re: Currency Card opinions please
Does that not cost you a fortune in fees? That's why we are not using our current cards, the fees are ridiculous!
#4
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 12,830
Re: Currency Card opinions please
My Amex gives me better FX than I get from the bank even with the 1% FX surcharge. They also give me 2% cash back at the end of the year.
Why not transfer your funds to a local bank and get a card in local currency? There are many more Fx houses around, just because one goes down does not mean they all will. If the company behind the 'Currency Card' goes down, you've still lost the funds.
#5
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Re: Currency Card opinions please
The card would have the total in CAD converted at the time of purchase. We don't have any accounts in Canada and we are only going over for a week, so seems a lot of hassle just for that.
We only used Crown because they offered a higher rate, not because we had loads to transfer or anything - you live and learn eh?!
Thanks
We only used Crown because they offered a higher rate, not because we had loads to transfer or anything - you live and learn eh?!
Thanks
#6
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 12,830
Re: Currency Card opinions please
The card would have the total in CAD converted at the time of purchase. We don't have any accounts in Canada and we are only going over for a week, so seems a lot of hassle just for that.
We only used Crown because they offered a higher rate, not because we had loads to transfer or anything - you live and learn eh?!
Thanks
We only used Crown because they offered a higher rate, not because we had loads to transfer or anything - you live and learn eh?!
Thanks
#7
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Joined: Mar 2010
Location: france /england
Posts: 7
Re: Currency Card opinions please
Hi we used one from Travelex in the summer when we landed and it was great, it was pre loaded with Canadian dollars and saved having to take the passport out all of the time, just worked like a debit card - was fine.
#8
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Re: Currency Card opinions please
Thanks, these are the people that would be supplying our card so it's good to hear some good feedback.