Anybody bought the Post Office Travel Money Card?
 

There was considerable correspondence about the American Express Travellers Cheque card a while ago. On the face of it, the Post Office Travel Money Card issued by Bank of Ireland looks a reasonable alternative:

- available in £, € and $
- £10 to purchase
- load £250 to £5,000 equivalent, reload from £50 equivalent and up
- maximum balance £5,000 equivalent
- FX fees on purchase: 0% in € or $, 1.5% in £ :confused:
- Visa ATM withdrawals up to £500 equivalent at £2 each

It's available from Post Offices with foreign currency facilities. What's not clear from the website http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/p...diaId=26800661 is whether it can be purchased with a credit card and whether it will be regarded as a purchase rather than a cash advance - the point being that paying with the right card would earn BA or other miles - also what % is added for use other than in denominated currencies.

Has anybody been through the hoop and can advise?

If it was treated as a cash advance then you are sunk - 1.5% fee from your credit card issuer, 1.5% fee from the PO, £10 card fee and £2 per withdrawal. Its not going to be attractive at that rate, unless you really need to boost your Amex spending to get to the £10k.

I'm 99% sure it would treated as cash, it is after all a cash instrument like a travellers cheque. Also, there are better pre-paid credit cards out there, you just need to search for them.

Exccept that the Amex card treats the initial deposit as a PURCHASE and has no loading fee:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=398458

which is why it was (indeed, still is) a fantastic way of laundering £3,000 if you are worried about not hitting your £10k Amex spend. It is not even such a bad deal if you only want the miles, especially if you have a supercharged miles earning card like the BMI Platinum one (2 miles per £1).

Fascinating. Thanks for bringing this to my attention ^

I checked this out a few months back - noticed the advertisements whilst standing in a queue in the Canary Wharf Post Office. Helpful lady on the phone confirmed credit card would be charged as a cash advance :(

BTW if you think T4's bad you should see the CW Post Office on a lunchtime!

Thanks, folks - especially BA97 whose info is the clincher.