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Prepaid Travel Money Cards
Reloadable cards from Visa, American Express, and the
UK's Post Office replace traveler's checks.
ABOVE: With a prepaid travel cash card, you're likely to
whacked with two fees (a transaction charge and a "conversion fee") every time you
withdraw money from an ATM overseas.
By
Durant Imboden
Prepaid debit cards are
popular with travelers as modern-day replacements for traveler's checks.
Safety is the main appeal of a prepaid travel cash card: If your
card is lost or stolen, the card company will issue a new card or refund
the unused balance.
However, you'll pay a premium for this reassurance,
especially if you use the cards to obtain foreign currency--and you'll still
need to carry a credit card for occasions when the prepaid card can't be used
(e.g., to secure car-rental or hotel reservations).
Visa prepaid cards
In
the U.S., Visa the best-known prepaid travel cards are issued by
Visa and its partners.
Fees vary from vendor to vendor, but you could pay
anywhere from US $6.95 to $12.95 just to get the card, plus fees for checking
your balance, withdrawing money from ATMs, etc.
You may even be charged a
monthly fee until you've exhausted the balance of your account.
Prepaid amounts vary from vendor to vendor. (Some vendors have minimums as low as $25 and maximum
loads of $5,000 or $10,000.)
Normally, you can reload the card at the vendor's Web
site or by calling a toll-free number, with reload fees that can range from
several dollars to $15.
Using a prepaid Visa card is like using a credit or bank debit card,
and you can withdraw money from any ATM that displays the Visa logo.
American Express Serve
Another card, the
American Express Serve, is similar to Visa's prepaid cards.
The last time we checked, three different types of prepaid debit
cards were available, so compare the options carefully (and match them to your
needs) if you're tempted to spring for an Amex prepaid card.
A prepaid card for UK residents
If you live in Britain, you might want to investigate the
Post Office Travel Money Card. The
card can be loaded with a variety of currencies, and the fees are clearly explained on
the Post Office's Web site.
Traveling abroad? Read this warning:
If you withdraw
cash or make purchases in a currency other than the one on a prepaid travel
card, you're likely to be hit with an eye-popping conversion fee
in addition to the ATM transaction fee.
You may even get clobbered with the
fee if you make a purchase in your own currency outside your country's
borders (for
example, if you're an American paying in dollars on a U.S. cruise ship in international waters).
Should you buy a prepaid traveler's cash card?
It depends. As a rule, we'd say "No." It makes far more sense to carry a
standard ATM card with a credit card as backup. If you want additional peace of
mind, buy a few traveler's checks and keep them in a neck wallet or money belt.
Need more money advice? See the articles below.
About the author:
 Durant Imboden
is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European
cities and transportation.
After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and
Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors in
2001. The
site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The
Washington Post.
For more information, see
About
Europe for Visitors,
press clippings, and
reader
testimonials.
Top photo copyright ©Jennifer Trenchard.
| 
"Best
of the Web" - Washington Post
