Pre-paid cash cards

No personal experience but what I have seen of comments by others is that they are one of , if not the most expensive way to get money and have issues with being accepted by merchants in foreign countries, (i.e. not the USA.)

Be sure to read ALL the fine print of what you are considering using to be sure there are no surprises.

It's an expensive solution in search of a problem. There are already proven products - ATM cards linked to a checking account and zero foreign exchange fee credit cards - that can take care of all purchases. I would stick with those two options.

You don't say where you are from, so just to let you know my answer is for US citizens. Canada is a bit different with their banking laws so if you are from there, the pre paid card options available in Canada might work.

The standard Pre Paid Visa or MasterCard or AmEx card will only work in the US. This limitation was put in place to minimize money laundering and terrorist funding. This means you must buy one that is designed for travel. AAA sells one option, others are available from the Exchange Booths in the airports. Those are loaded with fees for anything and everything you do with it that can quickly overtake a standard debit card fees easily. People I have traveled with have had nothing but bad luck with those travel pre paid cards anyway and several were left borrowing cash from me since their card would not work to draw cash from an ATM.

Talk with your bank to see what the ATM/Debit card fees will be for foreign transactions. They may have lower cost options available even if they do charge fees. If you have enough time before your trip, consider opening an account just for your travel needs at a bank offering zero fee debit like Capital One 360 or Charles Schwab with low minimum balance requirements. Put just what you need for your trip in the account and draw it out as needed without worrying about cost.

Thanks for the input, i'm from the US, I have one credit card with no transaction fee, and my bank charges a 3% fee to use an atm, Was just looking to avoid carrying alot of cash.

I would either live with the ATM charges by your bank or set up an additional checking account with lower fees, such as a Capital One 360 account with debit card. That's what I finally did myself, not liking the rates that Chase charged me.

We used our debit card for cash while in Paris. When we got to our hotel, we found an ATM at a bank near the hotel. Used our debit card and took out a good amount of cash. Walked the block back to our hotel and used the safe to store most of the cash. Then when we would go back out for the day/evening, we would just take the amount of cash that we thought we would need for that day with us. That way with the exception of initially taking the money out, we never carried around a large amount with us. It was tucked away in the safe.

If you have a second credit card bring it along (and do the foreign travel notification) even if it has FX fees. It's good to have a back up card(s) in case something goes wrong. An example would be your primary card gets lost or compromised and the bank freezes the card.

On a domestic trip my credit card was compromised and the bank locked it. Bank's fraud detect worked. I found out when the card was denied. Card company kept the card active but I would have had to call for approval with each purchase. Card was canceled after I returned home and they sent a replacement.