inyeresting debate on the topic. It sure has made me look at what we are using. Choice which is the leading independent consumer body in Australia reviewed the 3 kinds of cards -pre paid, debit and credit.The Choice award winner was GE Money 28 for best travel card however this has now been rescinded due to changes as from 1 jan -charges to be made.The card I have Commonwealth travel money card was the runner up. They will be doing a new survey/research soon.
http://www.choice.com.au/~/media/Ima...Vs_Credit.ashx

Haven't read every word here, so forgive me if I repeat, but whatever you decide to do rmgood, don't fall into the DCC trap.

I've seen this a lot in Australia (and elsewhere) - we're American expats, so we routinely use our US credit card the world over. Believe me, the merchants aren't doing you a favor when they 'offer' this service.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifest...1f9_story.html

Enjoy the Antipodes!

Good link northie. As you see, the only 'Pro' they name is locking in the fees which is good if rates go against you in the meantime. Of course they have forgotten to mention that they could also go in your favour. I'd call that a 'neutral', not a 'pro' you can count on. Their con is as they say 'high cost' with which I am obviously in agreement.

The GE Money 28 is I believe a version of the 28 Degrees card. As I understand it, the change only affects cash advances taken on the credit card. Of course a credit card should never be used to withdraw cash from an ATM. But they do not appear to be changing anything else. Read here:
http://www.28degreescard.com.au/cash-advance-fee.html

For use in ATMs, your best bet seems to be a Citibank debit card. Read here: http://www.finder.com.au/travel-money#debit-cards
No transaction fees or currency coversion fees but limited to their partner banks. That's not really a major limitation though in most places.

You might still want to do some more checking on this to see if your Commonwealth card is as good a deal.

The key I find is having several cards with different pluses to each. One for purchases, hotels, etc.; one for ATMs; another perhaps for car rentals that provide you with free rental car insurance when you use them to rent. You might lose 3% on currency conversion in that last case but save hundreds in rental car insurance.

Yes Melnq8, Dynamic Currency Conversion is indeed a trap. ALWAYS go with the local currency. DCC is becoming more common everywhere.

What happens if you lose a pre loaded card? is the money gone? Presumably the PIN would make it less attractive to a thief, but for a careless traveller I can't see much of an advantage over cash.

No it's not gone eliz. You phone and report it lost, they cancel it and issue a new card. Unless you have put the PIN number on the back of the card or something which would allow someone to use it, you lose nothing. It is definitely preferable to carrying any signifigant amount of cash.

Again, if you cannot get normal credit cards and debit cards for some reason, they are an alternative that anyone can get rather than carry cash.

If you must use one, also check for 'inactivity' charges. For example, you return home with some money still on one and 'save' it for next time. They charge you a fee every month that you do not use the card, thus eating away the money left on the card.

If you return home and withdraw the money left on the card, they charge you another fee for doing that as well as adding the exchange loading again to transfer the funds back from the currency you bought to your home currency. They get you every way you turn.

Northie, another thought. I know many people have pre-loaded their 28 Degrees Mastercard credit card for the specific purpose of using it to withdraw from ATMs. As it is pre-loaded, they do not trigger the 'cash advance' aspect you find when you use any credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. ie. the immediate charging of interest from day one.

That people have been doing that may be part of the reason why they are now charging 3% on cash advances. Credit card issuers normally frown on people having a credit balance on their cards. You might want to call and talk to someone to see what they say about that.

If you use your 28 card for purchases, hotel payment, restaurants, etc. there should be no 3% added. That leaves only ATMs to deal with using a good debit card like the Citibank one. If that's too much hassle for one vacation then you could look at a prepaid JUST for cash which will be a much smaller amount than ALL your vacation spending. See what I mean?

I would not open a Citibank account just to use their card. Other options for Australians are having accounts with a bank that has relationships with foreign banks eg westtpac has arrangements with Bank of America, Barclays , Deutche bank and others which means no withdrawal fees

Just to clarify:

No withdrawal fee does NOT mean no exchange loading northie. It just means they don't ding you $5 (or whatever) for each time you use an ATM. They may still be adding 3%(or whatever) on to the exchange rate.

I operate a Citibank Plus Transaction account. It is a debit account, held in Australian dollars, linked to Visa.

No account keeping fees.
No foreign exchange fees.
No fees for withdrawals from ATMs in Italy.

Exchange rate for AUD to Euro is interbank less about 1.1 %

By comparison, the ANZ rate is interbank less about 3.3%, and has both ATM fees and conversion fees.