Fairfx - $1.99 at the moment

[raph_b]

For anyone interested!

 

[jackieleanne]

Thanks just topped mine up now needed to do it as dbf decided to just put money on mine rather than buy his own i had been waiting for the rate to go back up.

 

[Netty]

Is this like the cards you can get at travel agents? the ones where you put money on instead of taking travellers cheques??

 

[jackieleanne]

Yeah those are the ones and fairfx has one of the best rates. The only charge is withdrawing money at cash machines like all of them do. If you top up more than £500 or via moneysupermarket/matalan card you dont have to pay a fee for the card.

 

[happyj]

 

[Snowy-girls]

For anyone interested!

Cheers -you beat me to it -just topped mine up some more .x.

Is this like the cards you can get at travel agents? the ones where you put money on instead of taking travellers cheques??

Jeanette-if you go onto there website you purchase the card on there(not at a travel agents).But yes you top it up on the net-and you get the rate at the day you do so.Any other questions just ask.x.

 

[Netty]

Yeah those are the ones and fairfx has one of the best rates. The only charge is withdrawing money at cash machines like all of them do. If you top up more than £500 or via moneysupermarket/matalan card you dont have to pay a fee for the card.

But can you use it in the shops like a debit card?sorry for sounding fick!! I havent really looked into these cards as we usually take TC's and cash.

 

[happyj]

Hi jackie
see we will be there at the same time
where are you staying
Janet

 

[bazzanoid]

Is this like the cards you can get at travel agents? the ones where you put money on instead of taking travellers cheques??

Yes and no... the ones at the travel agents are Amex cards, and you buy the $ on it there and then.

With the fairfx card, the best way to think of it is a mobile phone top up - you have the card registered to you directly and top up when needed - since it carries the Mastercard logo you can use it virtually everywhere in the states. But the main advantage is their exchange rate is up there with the best available, so you can jump on the rate when it's good and top up the card with $. Works exactly like a credit card, but needs to have the cash on it to start with.

http://www.fairfx.com/travelcards

 

[Snowy-girls]

But can you use it in the shops like a debit card?sorry for sounding fick!! I havent really looked into these cards as we usually take TC's and cash.

Netty,it's a Mastercard+you can use it wherever a place accepts Mastercard-which is alot.Restaurants,gift shops.BUT when eating at a restaurant only pay the amount BEFORE tip,tip using $$$.There are no charges for using it,only if you need to draw money out at a cash machine then it is $2.x.

 

[Snowy-girls]

If you top up more than £500 or via moneysupermarket/matalan card you dont have to pay a fee for the card.

-otherwise it would be a £9-95 charge.Also you don't need to have a Matalan card-just go on there website+click o the advert for the free card+it takes you to the Fairfx site-with the card fee deducted.x.

 

[Netty]

Yes and no... the ones at the travel agents are Amex cards, and you buy the $ on it there and then.

With the fairfx card, the best way to think of it is a mobile phone top up - you have the card registered to you directly and top up when needed - since it carries the Mastercard logo you can use it virtually everywhere in the states. But the main advantage is their exchange rate is up there with the best available, so you can jump on the rate when it's good and top up the card with $. Works exactly like a credit card, but needs to have the cash on it to start with.

http://www.fairfx.com/travelcards

Netty,it's a Mastercard+you can use it wherever a place accepts Mastercard-which is alot.Restaurants,gift shops.BUT when eating at a restaurant only pay the amount BEFORE tip,tip using $$$.There are no charges for using it,only if you need to draw money out at a cash machine then it is $2.x.

Thanks guys for the info!! looks like i'll be getting one!!

 

[bazzanoid]

BUT when eating at a restaurant only pay the amount BEFORE tip,tip using $$$

Any particular reason?

 

[wideeyes]

I got get passed the contiune button when trying to buy one?

 

[Snowy-girls]

Jeanette-the card lasts 3 years-if you wish to renew it then you can do so+any money remaining on there will be transferred to the new card.If when you come home you have money left on it-and you want it back then they will charge you.They also charge you for a lost or stollen card-but you do get back what was on the card.
If we have money left on the card when we return next year-were just going to leave it on there for the next trip-don't see the point of cashing it in.We are also taking dollars as well,just no more Travellers Cheques from now on.x.

 

[Snowy-girls]

Any particular reason?

This is not from my mouth-as i don't know the exact answer-but there could be a chance of when you have your card swiped the first time+they then bring it over to you+you then add the tip on top of that-they then swipe your card agian-so there are 2 different amounts pending on the card-which means it could be leaving you with a lesser amount on your card for you to spend-until the latter one cancels the other out-sorry does that make sense-i find it hard to explain some things .So some others have said that if you pay the tip in $$ then your card will just have the same figure as the first when swiped again and it will cancel out the other amount.
This has'nt been confirmed by anyone and i can't seem to find this info out for deffinate myself-it just seems to be an idea that could happen.x.

 

[Snowy-girls]

I got get passed the contiune button when trying to buy one?

It could be that so many people are topping up there cards or buying new ones .It took me a whole day to apply for one .Some of the pages do take a little while to load.Try again and don't forget that if you will be getting under £500 then go thru the link on the Matalan site.x.

 

[Snowy-girls]

Its just hit $2 .x.

 

[bazzanoid]

This is not from my mouth-as i don't know the exact answer-but there could be a chance of when you have your card swiped the first time+they then bring it over to you+you then add the tip on top of that-they then swipe your card agian-so there are 2 different amounts pending on the card-which means it could be leaving you with a lesser amount on your card for you to spend-until the latter one cancels the other out-sorry does that make sense-i find it hard to explain some things .So some others have said that if you pay the tip in $$ then your card will just have the same figure as the first when swiped again and it will cancel out the other amount.
This has'nt been confirmed by anyone and i can't seem to find this info out for deffinate myself-it just seems to be an idea that could happen.x.

Ah yes always possible - they may "pre-auth" the card, so it puts a shadow of the $ amount on there. If you pay a tip on the card, it will be a different amount, so the shadow will stay for anything up to 7 days, depending on when the restaurant does their card reconciliations, blocking that amount off your account. If you pay in cash or the tip is already added on the initial bill (some cheeky *insert expletive* do that), in which case you wouldn't have a problem.

If the final amount is equal to the initial amount, you also won't have a problem as it just 'releases' the shadow as the actual debit.



(worked in retail ops for 6 years)

 

[Snowy-girls]

Ah yes always possible - they may "pre-auth" the card, so it puts a shadow of the $ amount on there. If you pay a tip on the card, it will be a different amount, so the shadow will stay for anything up to 7 days, depending on when the restaurant does their card reconciliations, blocking that amount off your account. If you pay in cash or the tip is already added on the initial bill (some cheeky *insert expletive* do that), in which case you wouldn't have a problem.

If the final amount is equal to the initial amount, you also won't have a problem as it just 'releases' the shadow as the actual debit.



(worked in retail ops for 6 years)

There you go,how easy did you make it sound compared to me+in less words-told you i was no good at explaining things .x.