Usa (1 Viewer)

[MichelleRyall]

Not actually mh related, general holiday advice. Money in the States......Halifax clarity credit card or pre paid travelex or Fairfx ??

 

[lorger]

We spent just over 3 weeks in the states end of April and took about $1500 in cas and used the Halifax card for everything else with no issues and ended up with a better exchange rate, so just paid it off and no charges. We didn't use it for ATM's though as just made sure the cash we took lasted and just paid everything on card until we got near the end of the holiday and made sure we used up the cash.

 

[DiggerJon]

I seriously wonder if you can preload your Clarity card with credit and use it in ATMs to get cash thereby avoiding interest on the cash withdrawals. With interest rates on savings so low at the moment and credit card interest so high - why not?

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[lorger]

I seriously wonder if you can preload your Clarity card with credit and use it in ATMs to get cash thereby avoiding interest on the cash withdrawals. With interest rates on savings so low at the moment and credit card interest so high - why not?

I actually phoned and asked them this very question and I was told no, although I did wonder what would happen if you just overpaid your bill by say £500. I was also told on the phone that you could withdraw cash then go online that day and pay it off then you just get charge for that days interest which would be next to nothing.

 

[Spidey]

We took cash, fx card and the Halifax one. Preferred using using cash or the Halifax card. The fx card could easily have more taken off it by a restaurant.

 

[Larrynwin]

We took cash, Caxton Dollar and UK debit and credit cards as back up.
In a month each of the cards was declined on the odd occasion in spite of more than adequate funds available.

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[Spidey]

Also add that it is best to take more than one credit card. We have a tesco one as well and if your card is declined for security check and their offices are shut then thats to bad! Tesco said tough basically so i never rely on them while abroad.

 

[GeebeeJaybee]

In the US you can easily use travellers cheques too. Unlike most of Europe all shops and restaurants will accept travelers cheques as cash and give you change if you have ID. No need to find banks to change them.

Jen

 

[Babyell]

DO NOT GET THE PREPAID CARDS!!! We Went to florida in Feb this year. We thought it was safer after being convinced by travel agent to take the prepaid card rather than money. She told us it was covered and if it was lost we would get a replacement within 24 hours. The card has a pin like UK cards but you will very rarely use it as they almost always swipe it and you sign, some places don't even ask you or sign! In restaurants they take your card to settle bill as you would here but they photographing/writing down the card number, even if your present it takes them two seconds as it's usually done hidden under the till. They only need the number and 3 digit code on back as the cards do not require ID as your name isn't on the front. We had $400 dollars stolen off ours this way and it would have been more if we hadn't been near the end of out holiday and card almost empty. They tried to take $800 but there wasn't enough. Card company make you prove exactly where you were when it was stolen (luckily we knew as that's how we knew when card was 0 balance!). We got money back after several weeks, countless emails and evidence but whilst we were in America they didn't want to know, it made remainder of an expensive holiday depressing and anxious to get home to sort it out. Not nice if you rely in it to be your main supply of cash. In hind sight we probably would have been safer with cash in the safe!

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[MichelleRyall]

Wow, that's a varied selection of responses. Looks like cash in the safe and if we get desperate then our good old British credit and debit card.

 

[GeebeeJaybee]

We go to the us twice a year as we own a villa there that we rent out. We always take a mix of cash and travelers cheques. As I said earlier the travelers cheques are accepted as cash but covered in case of loss or theft.

Jen

 

[MichelleRyall]

I didn't realise you could still get travellers cheques. They worked very well last time we were in Florida.

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[GeebeeJaybee]

I didn't realise you could still get travellers cheques. They worked very well last time we were in Florida.

Yeah they will try to talk you into a card but they still do them.

Love Florida, hence the villa, but only going once this year due to MH purchase!

Jen