Worth a 2nd look

[Gallivanting Souls]

Here's 2 problems many of us might have:

My husband and I refuse to get a credit card (other than our bank atm visa logoed card). And next, air fair costs almost as much if not more than the cruse making it hard for larger families (ours = 6). I found something that deserves a 2nd look and thought I'd share it. (might not be new to all...)

It's called the American Express Travelers Check Card. Do a search or ask at your bank. It works anywere AX is accepted. You start out with a minium of $300- and it is reloadable and not connected to your bank account. There is a fee, and could differ depending on were you get it. The one I saw was under $15-. You can also load it with foreign currency.

 

As for the 2nd part, airfair. If you buy the American Express Travelers check card now, you are eligable for a free companion air ticket! I'm going to look into it more. This might just be what makes the difference between my four boys comming on the cruise or just me and the hubby!

Have any comments or experience with this, let me know.

[LHT28]

Be aware the AMEX is not excepted everywhere like visa & MC.

 

You can do the same with any cc...just preload with the amount of money you may want to spend or just bank the money so you can pay it off when you return.

Gives you a credit rating!:)

 

We put money on our card then book our cruise and pay it off the next day or so ...we get visa points and a good credit rating. ;)

Besure to notifiy your cc holder if you are travelling out of the country so they do not freeze the account though!

[CaptData]

the problem with the card you want to get is not all cruiselines will accept them. Also you have a limit and if exceed, the whole amount is not accepted. Ex you have the card with $500.00 on it allowed. Your bill comes to $500.10 you can not just add the 10 cents so you run into a problem. The card is rejected outright. It is better and safer to use a CC. Put x amount on your card then enjoy, you have a buffer with a cc.

[Gallivanting Souls]

Although I did request thoughts on the matter of the AmX prepaid card, I did not expect that I would be litterly flamed here :(

It's nice that all of you have big credit limits and all those special cards that give you "perks". But have you not realized how much debt most of (middle America) is in? I guess in my post I should have said we choose not to have a credit card, not refuse.

Enough said. On to the next topic if I decide to stay.

[KruznKel]

Wow that was really harsh.. It is your choice not to use credit unlike mr/mrs money that has them all.. so don't let that post keep you away from these boards.. I myself don't have a CC either and I do not like having one.. so I choose not to have one.. but for booking our cruise and hotel and airfare we did you the SO's CC .. they come in handy for somethings... you can always request a specific limit on the CC so that anything that is spent is money that you have put away to pay with...and you get to gain the interest however much that will be until the CC bill comes in !! But as mentioned previous before moneybags posted.. AMEX is not accepted everywhere.. VISA or MC is the best to have.. just an option for you to check into..

[Baxter]

I agree...the above poster was harsh, but not wrong. We carry an AMEX and a Visa (for those time where AMEX is not accepted). The AMEX card must be paid off every month, and they bang you with 30% interest just to make sure. And we collect airline points with it. We don't like to travel with cash, and traveller's cheques are a bit of a hassle. And we haven't paid for airfare in years. No balance on the Visa either.

 

Much of middle America is in debt because they live beyond their means. Obviously you don't have that mentality. So you probably could benefit from a credit card with no worries.

[dsclark]

By saying you "refused" to get a credit card, you are saying that it is an option that you don't want.

The name of this board is "money saving tips". Refusing to get a credit card will not save $!

Now, if you lack the credit to get a credit card, then cruising (or most any vacation for that matter) isn't even something you should be considering.

Yes, it is true that:

 

"Much of middle America is in debt because they live beyond their means".

 

These people should scrimp, save, work extra jobs, etc to get within their means. That is just common sense.

I don't consider myself "Mr. Money". I went years without a vacation, did my share of moonlighting, etc. Now, I have invested what I have saved, my only debt is mortgage and student loans (I recently got my masters), and we salt away a lot of $ into our 401's..

[marion10]

It's very difficult- if not impossible to rent a car without a credit card (not a debit card). I also like the extra protection a credit card gives you in case of dsiputes or if an airline goes out of business. We have no consumer debt except our mortgage- we don't carry balances on our cards- but they are very useful for travel.

[megr1125]

I don't think people were flaming you. Those prepaid travel funds cards are a good idea BUT you have to remember....they are declined if the amount is over the prepaid limit on the card. I am a retail manager...we get these things every day! The merchant has to call the bank to verify the amount on the card since 9 times out of 10 the customer does not know how much is on it.

 

Then we must change the amount of the purchase to equal the amount on the card. Then the customer must pay the balance. Honestly they are a PITA unless they have a PIN number and work like a debit card.

 

The deal you found seems ok on the surface. Just be aware that depending solely on this prepaid travel funds card may be a mess. I stronly sugest getting regular travelers checks as well. We are just trying to point out the hang ups with these.

 

I don't like using a CC either. I use my debit card for most things (like payments for the cruise a little at a time) and carry travelers checks for purchases. We use the credit card for hotels, etc but sometimes we will put leftover travelers checks toward the balance on check out.

[Nitemare]

Just so folks know, there was another reply in this thread which WAS a flame of the original poster. Looks like the hosts deleted it! ;)

[KruznKel]

Good on the hosts!!!! They are watching you LOL :)

[pbinn]

Thanks..i was wondering what i missed!!! I give you kudos for not havingcredit cards..kind of wish i didnt. Good for you. Have a great vacation no matter what you decide to do.

[MizzCard]

It's worth purchasing the AmEx card with the $300 minimum. She can turn around and use it to book her airfare and still gets to fly a companion free. ... in actuallity, the companion flies for less than $15. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Any balance can be used for hotel, etc...and if memory serves me correctly, it's only a one time charge. I think the OP is on to something here.

[judytata11]

That companion flies free deal isn't what it sounds like! You must buy higher fares to be able to use it. I had a couple of them but found them more expensive to use than getting flights at a discount.

[Jane110]

Just so folks know, there was another reply in this thread which WAS a flame of the original poster. Looks like the hosts deleted it! ;)

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, thanks for mentioning that.

 

I couldnt understand why the OP was so upset. I thought the posts were giving him objective and excellent information.

 

Thanks.

[05mak05]

I've done a search and come up empty. I've also called our bank and they are not familair with this card. If you have a link for online application, do you mind posting it? This card sounds like a great solution to traveling in Europe.

[Gallivanting Souls]

I've done a search and come up empty. I've also called our bank and they are not familair with this card. If you have a link for online application, do you mind posting it? This card sounds like a great solution to traveling in Europe.

 

http://home.americanexpress.com/home/mt_personal.shtml

 

---> travel ---> travelers cheque card

Hope this helps!

[amapola]

I absolutely respect the OP's decision not to have CCs, but wanted to share my own experience with them for a little different perspective.

 

We have one Visa and one AmEx. Neither one has an annual fee, but we pay $15/year for the bank's reward program. We use the Visa for absolutely everything we buy (including groceries, gas, restaurants, anything that can be charged), and we pay it in full each month. No interest paid to the bank, no debt carried. We use the AmEx mostly for Costco, because they don't take Visa. We also have the Costco executive membership, which pays for itself and gives us a nice bonus on top, so that's a double dip right there :) . Our bank also gives us points for internet banking, our IRAs, etc.

The result? Every year we get several plane tickets for free (or for the $15 annual fee, to be accurate). We don't live beyond our means, and our means aren't particularly large either :D . We spend the same amount we'd spend using cash, but wise use of our CCs really pays us back! We have an impeccable credit rating, too, which helps get lower rates on mortgages and such.