Prepaid Credit Cards?

[KHANtr]

Hey fellow pilgrims.
I have just arrived to BCN yesterday and i was hoping to get one of correos prepaid card not wanting to hustle the extra charges from my own bank. But as of today u found out that in order to get a prepaid card from the post office you gotta be a citizen of EU member countries or should be able to supply a domestic adress in Spain. Unfortunately i am not and now i am stuck without options and i would hate to carry too much money with me all along the way.
Now my question is if is there any other prepaid card suppliers to tourists or should I consider buying travel cheques? I know Caxia bank has such a program but I don't know if they have the same rules with correos.
Any advice is a good advice. Thanks in advance

 

[ivar]

I think these rules are set up to try to avoid money laundering... They need to know who you are with address and all. I would guess you will find the same with La Caixa (but I am not sure). Not sure what other alternatives you would have... travelers checks are not much used in Spain anymore so you might find the fees high, but it might be worth looking into.

Good luck! ..and Buen camino!
Ivar

 

[ranthr]

How about EØS members, Ivar?

 

[C clearly]

not wanting to hustle the extra charges from my own bank.

My bank charges $5 per withdrawal. On a 5 week trip, with weekly withdrawals of about 400 Euros each time, that will cost me only $25. For me, that is a reasonable cost for the convenience.

Yes, it is possible to lose some or all of the 400 Euros cash I carry after each withdrawal. That's why I have most of it in a very secure spot and only one day's cash more accessible and vulnerable to loss. I am curious if the pre-paid card gets lost, have you lost the entire value remaining, which would be considerably higher?

 

[ivar]

How about EØS members, Ivar?

In the case of La Caixa (the bank) I think you need to be a customer of the bank... you can become one, but you need to have a Spanish address and passport to become one.. I wonder if this could be an option:
https://www.paypal-prepaid.com/account/index.m
(Not sure if it is available in all countries)

 

[ranthr]

Hey fellow pilgrims.
I have just arrived to BCN yesterday and i was hoping to get one of correos prepaid card not wanting to hustle the extra charges from my own bank. But as of today u found out that in order to get a prepaid card from the post office you gotta be a citizen of EU member countries or should be able to supply a domestic adress in Spain. Unfortunately i am not and now i am stuck without options and i would hate to carry too much money with me all along the way.
Now my question is if is there any other prepaid card suppliers to tourists or should I consider buying travel cheques? I know Caxia bank has such a program but I don't know if they have the same rules with correos.
Any advice is a good advice. Thanks in advance

KHANtr, I think you will have trouble finding a place to change travel cheques. If you do bring them, takes cheques of high value since you will probably pay the same fee either high or low.

 

[billmclaughlin]

I just reconciled myself to carrying at least a week's worth of cash. Always kept most of it securely wrapped with my passport, which I guard resolutely and am never without. I never thought about using a card except for an occasional hotel break and my weekly withdrawal. On the Camino cash is king.

 

[november_moon]

Yes, cash is king. I just used the ATM to get cash with my debit card - routinely took out 250-300 euro per transaction, which lasts quite a while. I kept the cash in my wallet, which was always on me, so I wasn't worried about theft. My bank charges a nominal fee for foreign transactions, which is fine - doesn't add up to much if you aren't taking small amounts out of the ATM. Chances are, the bank fees associated with using your debit card at the ATM are less than with a prepaid card anyway.

 

[Saint Mike II]

I use a combination of Debit Card - which is loaded with Euros (or any other currency I choose); I also have my home bank MC Debit & Credit cards as back ups. I think the fees are around $3 to $5 depending upon whether I use a major bank ATM or a private ATM.

 

[Kanga]

For an address is Spain I use the street address of the hotel of my final night's stay in Madrid, before flying home (this is one I always pre-book). I used this without problem to get a prepaid telephone SIM card. It might also work for other things.
But I agree that cash is king on the camino so I withdraw money every few days from ATM by using a travel money card from home, preloaded with Euros, or my ordinary bank debit card.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

travelers checks are not much used in Spain anymore

I could not even find a bank that would cash them when I last tried several years ago. Go with an ATM if you can. There is more than one network, so a rejection at one bank may not mean rejection at another.

 

[IngridF]

Hi, in preparation for my Camino last year (remember I was in Portugal/Spain for 3 months), I got a Marriott Awards Visa Credit Card. At the time (not sure now) it was the only Canadian Credit Card option without transaction charges. I prepaid the card. I also carried a larger amount of Euros left over from my last Camino. Whenever possible, I used the credit card to pay and kept the cash when there was no other option. I carried a second credit card, just in case.

Whenever I did use my credit card I was careful to be charged in Euros... this way you are charged the rate of the exchange, not an arbitrary exchange rate used by the vendor.

Also, my advise is, to contact any of the credit card companies in advance to let them know you are travelling out of country. I forgot in 2012 with one and they shut me down at a time I needed to purchase airline tickets. Had to call them to unlock.

It all worked out beautifully and will do that again whenever I travel out of country.

Buen Camino.

 

[trecile]

This is definitely something that should be sorted out before traveling. I use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees, and I have set up a Charles Schwab checking account that refunds me all ATM fees anywhere in the world. I use this account exclusively for travel, so that if that card is lost or stolen it can't be used to access my primary accounts.

 

[skipronin]

While a credit card will be useful in the big cities, it will not be in the small villages and towns where cash is king. And do not wait until you are out of money to go to an ATM. I remember one instance on a Sunday where all the ATM'S were empty in a small city.