Have you had negative experince with prepaid cards with euro's?
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2787 posts
I haven't, but then I would never buy one since the exchange rate you get costs too much money. I prefer to use an ATM machine with a debit card at whatever airport I land in.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
I agree with Charlie - no prepaid cards. Open a special checking account, if you must, so that only your travel funds are available, then just make withdrawals from an ATM wherever you are. Just make sure that you notify your bank that you are traveling.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
There may be times when prepaid cards make sense. Because of the high costs associated with the cards, however, make sure to explore your options (most here use their debit card at ATMs in Europe) before choosing prepaid cards.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19272 posts
I just looked up Travelex Cash Passport prepaid card. I don't think it has fees to use it, but that hardly matters. Their exchange rate to load a card today is €1000 for $1527.88, $1.52788/Euro. Oanda interbank rate, what your ATM withdrawal will be based on is $1.4179. That's an exchange rate discount of 7.76% vs the 1.4% I pay using my local bank's ATM card. Put another way, €1000 with a Travelex card would cost me $1527.88. With my bank's card, assuming 3 transactions, the same €1000 would cost $1438.08.