Avios launches multi-currency prepaid travel card

You can now earn Avios by using a new prepaid card from the rewards scheme on your travels.

Travel rewards scheme Avios has launched a prepaid card called the Multi-currency Cash Passport, which allows you to collect Avios points for every pound you load onto the card.

It's a MasterCard and you can load up to seven currencies onto the card at any one time: Pounds sterling, Euros, US dollars, Australian dollars, Canadian dollars, New Zealand dollars and South African Rand.

How the Avios prepaid card works

You can apply for your card online for free. Once it arrives, you can then load money onto your card via your debit or credit card, although you may be charged for using your credit card by your card provider.

If you’re going to a specific destination, it’s definitely best to choose to load the local currency onto the card. If you just load it with pounds sterling, you’ll be charged a currency transfer fee for every transaction, which is a really high 5.75%. The minimum load is £50 and the maximum balance you can have on one card across all currencies at one time is £5,000.

You can use the card for card transactions, just like a debit card, for free. However, you’ll be charged a fee for withdrawing money from ATMs and for withdrawing money over the counter at a bank. So not so great if you want to carry some local cash around with you.

If there isn’t enough money on your card in the local currency to pay for any purchases, the card automatically hunts though the other currencies and will use any money on them to cover it. Again, you'll be charged the currency transfer fee of 5.75% for this. If there is no other money on the card, you’ll be charged a shortfall fee.

You’ll also be charged a £6 fee for cashing out any remaining money on the card, for example if you’re closing your account. And there’s an inactivity fee of £2 a month if you don’t use your card for over a year.

These fees are countered to some extent by the ability to earn Avios when you load money. However, you will need to load £9,000 onto the card to earn enough Avios for a return UK/Western European flight, although you'll also have to pay a £35 charge.

So unless you’re going to be paying directly with the card a lot and not using ATMs, the Avios you earn is not likely to outweigh the fees you’ll be paying.

How it compares

Here’s how the Avios Cash Passport compares to its multi-currency rivals.

Card	Currencies available	Top-up/loading fee	ATM withdrawal fee	Other notable fees	Additional benefits
ICE International Travellers Cashcard	Sterling	1.85% (2.85% from 12th May)	None	Card purchase fee of £4.75 for cards with initial load of less than £700 (from 12th May)	None
FairFX Anywhere	Sterling	1.4%	£1	Transaction fee (1.4%), non-currency exchange rate fee (1.4%), card purchase fee of £9.95 with initial loads of less than £500, redemption fee	None
Caxton FX Global Traveller	Sterling	None	None	Non-currency exchange rate fee (2.75%), redemption fee	None
Travelex Cash Passport Globe	Sterling	2.49%	2.49%	Purchase fee (£9.99), redemption fee (phone only)	None
Kalixa Pay	Sterling	None	£2.25	Purchase fee (£6.95), inactivity fee	None
My Travel Cash Multi-currency Card	Sterling	None	None	Delivery fee (for cards with initial loads under £800); non-currency exchange rate fee (2.99%), inactivity fee, dormancy fee, redemption fee	1% cashback on purchases
Travelex Multi-currency Cash Passport	GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, CAD, NZD, ZAR	None	£0	Non-currency exchange rate fee (5.75%), inactivity fee, possible redemption fee	None
Avios Multi-currency Cash Passport	GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, CAD, NZD, ZAR	None	Varies by country	Non-currency exchange rate fee (5.75%), inactivity fee, redemption fee	One Avios for every £1 loaded onto card

Alternatives to prepaid cards

I'll confess now that I'm not a huge fan of prepaid cards, which for me are overly complicated and often riddled with extra fees, as the table above demonstrates. I prefer to use a fee-free credit card on my travels. Given you often need to carry one anyway if you're going to do things like hire a car or pay a security deposit for something, I'd rather carry one card than two. A credit card also gives me protection if I spend more than £100 on something.

The Post Office Platinum card doesn't charge a fee for overseas transactions or for spending with overseas companies from home. It has a representative APR (the annual cost of interest and charges) of at least 17.8%.

The Halifax Clarity card also doesn't charge any fees and has a representative APR of only 12.9%.

If your credit rating isn't perfect, you too have a couple of options: the aqua Advance MasterCard and the Capital One Classic Extra card. Be aware that both have very high interest charges if you don't pay off your balance in full each month.

You can read more on the fee-free credit card options out there in The best credit cards to use on your travels.

If you prefer a debit card, your options are much more limited, as there is now only one building society offering fee-free card use outside Europe. That's Norwich & Peterborough Building Society's Gold Classic account, which is fee free for both withdrawals and transactions. However, to avoid a £5 monthly fee you have to pay in at least £500 a month into the account (which you could of course then withdraw straight after) or maintain a balance of £5,000.

If you're only travelling in Europe and you live near a branch, then Metro Bank's current account is fee free on the continent. For more, have a read of The best debit cards to use on your travels.

Compare credit cards for using abroad

More on travel:

The best credit cards to use on your travels

The best debit cards to use on your travels

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How to get free flights and cabin upgrades