I have a Thomas Cook pre paid credit card and it worls fine for car hire and hotels. The only thing is not to let them do a swipe for extras... tell the reception you'll pay as you go along. Otherwise the amount they pre lodge stays in the system for up to 5 days and you can't get access to it.
In the UK its easy, I just use my Co Op debit card, never any issues at all.
I had & still have a cashplus pre-pay card. i once booked a hotel and they did a pre auth. no probs i thought. on checking out they then charged my card; however the pre auth used up more or less the balance i had on the card and was not released for 10 days, causing me to have to borrow money from a friend unti the pre-auth was released.
I never got to the bottom of if it was the card type or the hotel; both organisations were very helpful in termms of sympathetic words, but both where powerless or unable to get the pre-auth released until it eventually released, again approx 10 days later
Last payment made April 2012
Certificate received 1st Nov 2012
Same here, I used the cashplus card in the USA and the amount was locked but I paid in cash. Took a week or more to tidy itself up.
Last Payment - November 2011 - Completion Certificate received 2 weeks after last payment, Removed from Insolvency Register within 4 weeks after last payment.
If it is specifically a Visa branded card and you are looking at the prepaid option, to my knowledge only Virgin use this (o2 did) and they provide a card which is personalised with your name on.
I have just spoken to Virgin and can confirm that all accounts have the same account number and sort code, and when loading the card by salary or bank transfer, you must ensure that those numbers are given, along with your unique reference number. If it isnt cited, then the monies go in to a suspense account and can be loaded once you call in. Maximum balance available at any one time is £3,500.
With regards to using prepaid cards at Hotels and for Car Hire other forum members are near enough there so I will just re-iterate.
Prepaid cards can be used with Hotels and yes they will place a pre authorisation on. Ensure you have enough funds to cover this pre auth and also and also the hotel cost. Pre Auths can take up to 10 days to drop off as hotel systems need to clear when check out is completed and no other charges are outstanding. The way of getting this hurried up is usually by contacting the hotel, or even getting them to send a fax to the prepaid issuer.
Car rental is the same concept however not all firms accept prepaid cards. One firm is Hertz. It is sometimes good to pay beforehand (whether direct or through a travel broker) so that the actual rental cost is out of the way and only the pre auth is put on. They will sometimes tell you how much this is.
Whichever card you select, it is worthwhile calling them before you travel and state you need it for car hire and hotels and also that you are travelling - i didnt do this with my barclays account and when I was abroad recently, i couldnt use it!
I hope this helps.
best,
Managing Director of ClearCash Limited, a general purpose and reloadable prepaid MasterCard facility. Campaigner for the unbanked sector believing that no one should be financially excluded. "Intelligent Money Management"
