Preloaded Visa Cards in Europe

Why not open a separate account and get a card for that one? That way you can monitor the balance, transfer money money into it, if needed, etc.

We use a Triple A preloaded ATM Trave Money card when we go overseas. There is a few bucks charge to get it started and you can load it up to $10,000.00. There's a very small transaction fee. We put a bunch of money in it the month before we leave. Its served us well in Britain, Europe, and Philippines. Next month we will re refreshening it for the next trip. It is necessary to use it, or put money in the account at least every six months to keep it d plus it needs to be restarted every few years. There has never been an ATM overseas that has refused it, and there seems to be no daily limit. In the Philippines we took out the equivalent of $900 using five repeated withdrawls. Many banks and credit unions have similar programs as a matter of fact we may move to our credit union's next year.

There is no reason to incur the fees, inconvenience, and higher exchange rates for a prepaid card. All you have to do is open a regular checking account at a credit union and use the regular ATM debit card that comes with the account. I have one local credit union card that charges absolutely nothing (they eat the 1% fee), and another that charges 1%, but no per-use fee. Ally Bank online also offers 1% transactions with refunds of any foreign ATM fees that might be charged (though you probably won't see any). My credit union also offers the prepaid cards the previous poster refers to. I once asked them what the advantage was to use that over my regular ATM card. After hemming and hawing around, they finally said that there is none, really. It's a source of income for them to charge the setup fee, load fee, and whatever else. Basically, they offer it to people who don't know any better. Use a regular ATM card attached to an account with only the travel funds in it.

"Can I purchase a prepaid, preloaded Visa card in the United States that is usable in Europe." Yes, you can. It's called a Visa TravelMoney card. You can find all the details here: http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/prepaid/visa_travel_money.html

Nancy, Your explanation is the first one I've understood. We say thanks to you. Next week we will be closing our small Triple A Travel Money account and getting a debit card at our credit union. The only difference I can see is that our credit union has a $400.00 daily limit. The Triple A card has no limit as far as our experience tells us. Thank you, again.

Nancy does explain that well. I will add that there is one reason, and one reason only to get a prepaid, preloaded card. Some people cannot get a checking account because they have screwed up their financial life. I will reserve judgement on whether someone who has bounced many checks should really be taking a trip to Europe... I think some parents want to send young teens on school trips over with a prepaid. Wouldn't these be harder to resolve problems for than with a card from your own bank? Even if you don't want your kid to have an account yet, you could open a separate account in your name and let the kid take the debit card. Don't link it to your main accounts, or sign up for overdraft protection, and your account won't be drained if it's stolen.

Monte, if the daily limit of your credit union is lower than makes you comfortable, they will probably raise your limit for the duration of your trip if you ask. That's one of the benefits of credit unions over banks (especially big banks) - they are independent and can make those adjustments easier. And Karen, I know some people who are unable to get checking accounts and you're right, the prepaid card is their only option. One other advantage of a regular debit card, as Steve mentioned, is the ability for someone at home to monitor its usage or to add money to the account in an emergency.

I have specific experience that shows that not only is it my bank that sets the daily limit, but the also sets the time interval. In 2004 I had a brand new ATM card for my local bank. I had not yet used it, so that morning, before heading to the airport, I made a nominal withdrawal, $40 I believe, so I could buy my bus ticket and have some cash when I got home. When I got to Frankfurt, I tried to use that card to withdraw the daily max for that card, $500 equiv in Euro, and it was denied. I tried a second card, again for $500, and it was denied. The third ATM card gave me $500- in Euro. Now, I wasn't too worried because I had €200 from the last trip with me. When I got home I did some checking. The local bank had denied the transaction because their day goes from 4 AM to 4AM. Although it was after midnight in Denver, it was still in the same day as my $40 withdrawal so I was exceeding my $500 limit. The second bank had lowered my daily limit to $300 since my last trip (and not told me). The last bank still had my $500 limit. So, first bank, $500 daily limit, day goes from 4 AM to 4 AM. Second bank, $300 daily limit, 3rd bank, $500 daily limit. The bank sets the limit and the "day" is not always midnight to midnight.

Nancy, I'll ask when we go see the credit union nest weekk Thanks thrice.

In my experience it is usually the ATM system, not your bank or CU that imposes the daily limit.

There are two limits: The daily (I've never bothered to figure out whether this is 24 hours, or midnight to midnight on your home time) limit that your home bank etc. sets. The per-withdrawal limit that the bank owning the ATM sets. You can usually circumvent the second by making multiple withdrawals.

NANCY, We stopped at our credit union this morning to discuss a debit card attached to our checking acount. BINGO. They even had little slips for us to indicate when we wanted the over $400.00 daily limit extended to $1000.00. All so simple, and I had to indicate what countries we would be in; Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Poland Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and Netherlands. The clerk had to go in the back room to get an ok. That wasn't a problem because my membership number is so low the employees all say "Hi" when I walk in. Thanks again. Your help has been a blessing. I participate in the One Bag, One World blog and there is a woman there who posesses the same gift that you do of simplifying information so I can understand it. Her specialty is electronics. Having worked in a field that is predonimately women I learned a long time ago to listen. And boy, does it pay off.

Monte, I'm so glad it worked out for you! The ATMs you encounter may have lower limits than $1000, but you can just do multiple transactions to get what you need (or go to another ATM). Have a great time!

@Monte - sounds like a great trip. When will you be in Bulgaria? And can you post a link for that blog?

We'll be in Bulgaria abut Sept. 12-15. Then north to Dobruja, Romania. One Bag, One World or OBOWs is :http://onebagger.squarespace.com/ Then there's onebagger.com too Both of these will lead you down the path of no return of one bag light weight packing and travelling. We will be gone forty-six days with convertible carry-ons that weigh less than twenty pounds. Each has a shoulder bag too. Our last trip travelling like this was forty-one days around western Europe and Scotland.

@Monte - we'll just miss in Bulgaria - I'm signed up for the RS tour that starts Sep 17. Rest of the trip is Baltics and Balkans on my own. I totally don't need converting to traveling light! My big bag usually weighs in at 10 kilos, and my last trip was for six months.