thomas cook prepayment card (1 Viewer)

[greyman1]

while in thomas cook the other day i was offered their euro prepayment card . it actually sounded quite usefull .stick some euros on it , it can then be used in the same way and same places as a normal "master card " up to the amount on the card. i think its 2 euros to make a cash withdrawl but the card is insured and they will get a replacement to you if required . when you return you can either top it up for your next trip or cash it in at the branch where you got it from at no charge . im sure there are other cards out there that do the same thing and maybee even offer a slightly better rate but i thought the convenience of them being in most high streets might make them worth a try. anyone had one ? did you have any problems with it ? regards garry

 

[hilldweller]

CaxtonFX card can be topped up by mobile phone.

But see recent thread on Halifax Clarity card - seems to have all the cost advantages without you giving them your money to use.

 

[ramsthom]

Thomas Cook Euro Card

Hi Garry. I used the Thomas Cook euro card in France and Spain over a 6 week period this year. The card was used mainly in supermarkets and fuel stops without any problem. At campsites it worked ok although some sites had a minimum amount that could be paid by card. At fuel stops it worked ok either pay at pump or booth. If you register the card before you go you can access the balance using the internet. Also they will text you when the balance goes below 100 euros. Im not sure if it can be used on toll roads but we dont use them anyway. We took roughly 50/50 card and cash. Hope this helps.

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[Steve_UK]

I just use a Nationwide credit card (and the Post Office do a similar one), where there is no transaction charge and the exchange rate is at the standard bank rate and not some "tourist" rate.

Couldn't be simpler! Also gives an additional year's warranty on household goods bought on it in the UK. Guess what I only ever use it for!

Just ensure that you pay off the entire balance every time - easiest by setting up an automatic direct debit with the card issuer.

:thumb:

 

[Chris]

I would stick to banks rather than potentially iffy travel agents myself.:thumb:

 

[Steve101uk]

I used Caxton Fx in France with no problems.

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[chaser]

Has anyone looked at the Ice card on money supermarket can't see a fault in it , thinking of getting one, but maybe someone knows better , at the moment it is 1.14 with no charges at all that I can see and also 1,percent back on all purchases.

 

[DiggerJon]

ICE card

Stuck in Salamanca with a wrong PIN number, ICE were brilliant in getting me access to my pre paid money and I had no problems at all in Spain and Morocco using it at a most favourable exchange rate. Highly recommended!

 

[callumwa]

As posted previously on this thread......
Broken Link Removed

Just use a Halifax Clarity......... No fees, no commissions, good interbank rate....
No need to worry;
Did I put enough cash on it
Did I top up it at a "good" rate, hope it won't improve now.....
Will it get accepted at unmanned fuel stations late at night or on a Sunday...
If I have an unexpected "crisis" is there enough on the FX/Caxton card to cover it.

Halifax Clarity for us, worked now in 8 countries over the last 5 weeks (and many more over 2 years) including unmanned fuel stations.

Just looked at today's (19th Aug) Caxton € rate = 1.1460, Interbank rate = 1.1745
A difference of €0.0285 or approximately or almost 2.5%

Just checked my Clarity statement online, on fuel purchases in Spain on the 14th this month they applied a rate of 1.1645, the actual Interbank rate at the time was 1.1647, pretty close methinks...

So with Clarity, you do get a better rate, so could save approx £50 on a £2000 spend....... and no worries about preloading, being accepted at tolls and unmanned fuel stations, topping up whilst travelling, etc etc.

I pay it off in full each month, so I have not had to part with a penny yet for our tour, which started a month ago, so it's like an interest free loan, unlike prepay where they have your cash in their account before you spend it....:thumb::thumb:

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[mid4did]

I used the thomas cook card this year,worked fine in shops,re-fuelling and the 2 times we used tolls.Also no good the one time we tried it at a barrier controlled aire.
It did for some reason get rejected at a fuel staion once and once again at a shop.Online checks show enough cash is in there.
This was the first time we,d used one so I,ll probably use onother card next time but the convenience was as expected saves all the shrapnel building up when using cash all the time.