FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Using Credit Card to Buy Money Order - Would This Work
Old Jul 3, 2010 | 4:43 pm
  #46  
84fiero
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Join Date: May 2009
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AAA Visa TravelMoney Card?

Not quite a money, order - seems like it might work though the fees are a bit steep, unless you really need to hit a spending threshold. But FWIW:

http://discover.aaa.com/Travel/VisaTravelMoneyCard

There is a $14.95 initial purchase fee. It can be funded with a credit card. The TravelMoney card can be used for ATM withdrawal up to $1,000/day with a $1.50 fee.

Terms and conditions: https://www.aaa.myprepaidbalance.com...andCTravel.pdf

There is a note regarding cash advance fees on your credit card if used to fund the Travelmoney card: "Your credit card should not charge you a Cash Advance fee" (italics mine) Well, "should not" isn't the same as "will not"...and I'm not sure they could guarantee it won't go through as CA, anywa - doesn't your credit card issuer determine how they treat a given transaction, regardless of how the seller thinks it will be treated?

The T&Cs mention a fee of "up to $30" when funding with a credit card online or via telephone (note that if I'm reading it correctly, the online/phone option is only open to AAA members). I logged in and initiated a dummy order and it listed the following fees for funding online w/ CC:

"When you fund your account and pay travel card fees by credit or debit card there will be a Quick Deposit fee based on the following schedule.

$100-$500 = $10 fee
$501-$1,000 = $20 fee
$1,001-$1,500 = $30 fee"

In the T&Cs it states you will not be charged a fee if reloading at a participating AAA branch. However it's not clear if most AAA branches even accepts credit cards as a funding source or if you'd need to go online for that option.

I did find an older post about this, from 2005. Looks like at the time AAA was noting in the T&Cs that funding the card with a CC may cause it to go through as a CA:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...ancel-now.html
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