I've recently got the BA Pre-Paid MasterCard to avoid ridiculous charges imposed by AMEX when I am in the states next week, for three weeks, and for further travel throughout the rest of this year. I can just put cash onto it, and put that into the currency I need (USD/Euro) without incurring any charges - up until the 6 month point where is becomes £2.99pcm. Its probably a bit of a sweeping statement to say this really only appeals to people with "poor credit" ratings - I'd suggest it probably appeals to people, like myself, who have the cash to put onto the card, and can earn some additional avois whilst abroad, in an effort to avoid card fees when away for an extended period (sadly my current account & credit card both charge fees)

However, the amusing part is.....this morning, the functionality to "top up" the card vanished from the BA Exec Club App; then the functionality to even see your virtual card vanished full stop; and then, in true, glorious BA IT style, the Exec Club App is now not letting me (and others, according to twitter) log in full stop - the credentials are shared with the BA web page & the standard BA App which I have no issue logging in and out of - this doesn't bode well for being abroad, when you may want to see your balance, or top up the card. I called through, and the agent told me they have it logged as an urgent incident - she even tried logging in herself and she told me she was seeing the same thing.

They have 24hrs to get it fixed, as I need to know its working before I go away next week or I'll cancel this card, and open a Chase account, which currently offers no fees for use abroad - I don't want to be at the mercy of whatever is going on in the background with the various systems not working.