Mastercard Gift Card for Travel: Benefits and Drawbacks

Gift cards are a flexible and easy way to convert cash into a non-reloadable card that is usable just about anywhere. They are a popular gift among consumers of all ages and backgrounds, and let people enjoy all sorts of retailers. There are also prepaid gift cards from Mastercard and Visa, which are usable just about anywhere. Of those two, Mastercard gift cards are the best gift cards for international travel, but there are benefits and drawbacks of using them abroad, which we will discuss in this article.

Mastercard gift cards are usable anywhere Mastercard is accepted, and, when they are purchased on Mastercard’s website, are accepted abroad. Regardless of whether you are heading to Paris, Cairo, Tokyo, or anywhere else, Mastercard gift cards for international travel are a great way to keep a reliable source of payment on hand. Mastercard gift cards abroad are excellent, but there are various pros and cons to keep in mind before you start your trip. There are international Mastercard gift cards, but not all prepaid Mastercards are rated for use out of the country. Purchasing a gift card directly from Mastercard’s website is a good way to secure a gift card that you can use internationally. Carrying converted cash can cause unwanted stress, and exchanging currency is always troublesome.

This article will discuss everything you need to know about the benefits of drawbacks of Mastercard gift cards for travel. You can purchase a Mastercard gift card today at Gift Card Granny!

Mastercard Gift Cards for Travel: Benefits and Drawbacks

Mastercard gift cards are a great option for international travel because they let you carry around significant amounts of money in one card without giving it access to your financial accounts. There are numerous ways to get money abroad, like traveler’s checks, local currency, credit cards, and prepaid cards. In this section, we will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of Mastercard gift cards for travel, as well as a brief discussion of other payment options and their strengths.

Benefits of Using Mastercard Gift Cards for Travel

Mastercard gift cards are an excellent way to carry funds abroad. This section will cover the advantages of using Mastercard gift cards for international travel.

Flexibility

The best boon of using Mastercard gift cards for travel expenses is how similar it is to spending money at stores. Most retailers accept Mastercard gift cards, letting you use this card wherever you go. There is little to no risk of being at a retailer that doesn’t accept a Mastercard gift card, leaving you in the lurch. We do recommend, however, keeping cash on hand when moving around internationally in case you run into a place that is cash-only.

Budgetary Preparations

Mastercard gift cards for travel expenses let you purchase multiple cards prior to your trip that are meant for different purchases. Depending on your trip, you may find that the $500 upper limit on Mastercard gift cards is not enough for your potential purchases. If this is the case, you can buy multiple Mastercard gift cards for various categories of expenses, including food, drink, clothing, and entertainment.

Virtual or Plastic

Mastercard offers virtual or plastic gift cards for purchase. The virtual gift cards are sent immediately to your email address, and the plastic cards are shipped. Plastic gift cards are more fun to receive, and it is easy to add the card to their wallet and use it at the appropriate time.

The case for virtual gift cards has gone up with the use of Apple and Google Pay. It is super easy to add a prepaid gift card to your phone’s wallet and scan it at a register. The danger of losing the physical card — and the money it had — is gone when it is added to your phone’s wallet, but it means you have to keep extra track of your cell phone.

Check Balance with Mastercard Gift Cards

Your Mastercard gift card is not reloadable, making it very important to track your balance as you travel. Running out of funds at any point of the trip would be, unfortunate, to say the list. You don’t want to find yourself in an unpleasant situation at a restaurant or cafe without the funds to pay your bill, so keeping track of your balance before every excursion goes a very long way.

It is essential to have reliable sources of cash when you travel. Transactions in another country can cause undue stress without the proper preparation, and checking your balance is a great step to avoid that. Keeping a Mastercard gift card for vacation on hand is a great way to keep a reliable source of payment at your side.

You can check your Mastercard gift card balance right here. Make sure to have your card information handy, as you will need to enter the 16-digit card number, expiration date, and the 3-digit security code located on the back of the card. Once entered, your available balance will pop up along with your transaction history. A Mastercard gift card balance check may also be performed over the phone, but international travel can impact your ability to make a phone call, which is why we recommend using an online balance check tool.

No Transaction Fees

This is a big one! There are no transaction fees when using Mastercard gift cards for travel expenses. Once your card is purchased and activated, you are good to spend it as-is as if it were cash with no hidden fees at the register.

A lot of planning goes into a successful vacation! Think about the benefits and drawbacks of Mastercard gift cards for travel before deciding whether or not they are the right option for your next trip.

Drawbacks of Using Mastercard Gift Cards for Travel

Prepaid Mastercard gift cards are excellent payment options, but they should not be the only source of currency you have on hand. This section will denote the drawbacks of Mastercard gift cards for international use, and how to work around them.

Fees

While Mastercard gift cards for international travel do not accrue transaction fees, there are purchase and activation fees on the cards. These fees are only a few dollars per card, but it does add up and makes Mastercard gift cards less efficient than using cash if you can find a low transaction fee as you get the local currency. A dormancy fee also kicks in after one year of inactivity. This rarely comes into play, as most people who have had a prepaid gift card for over a year have misplaced it or aren’t going to use it.

Splitting Purchases

Splitting purchases is the unfortunate fate of any prepaid gift card. In order to fully use the balance of the card, you must ring up a purchase that’s greater than the amount and split the bill with another form of payment. Many retailers have procedures in place to make this easy, but the extra steps are enough to keep people from using any change on their Mastercard gift card.

Online Purchases

Mastercard gift cards are not good at making online purchases because you usually cannot split an online purchase with another payment method. This means you cannot purchase anything online with a Mastercard gift card if the purchase exceeds your balance. This is ameliorated somewhat with the idea that the majority of your purchases abroad with a Mastercard gift card will be in-store, but it is important to keep in mind.

Mastercard gift cards for vacations are an excellent way to keep money on hand without having a credit card on your person.

Prepaid Travel Mastercard

Alongside Mastercard gift cards for travel, there is a Prepaid Travel Mastercard option. This is a fantastic way to travel. When you get one of these cards, you can load an amount of money onto it, but the big difference between this card and a Mastercard gift card is that you can reload it. You can reuse these cards again after you run low on funds, and it solves the security problem of taking a credit or debit card on your trip. If you lose this card, you lose all the funds contained in it, but only you can add more funds.

This is our favorite method for monetary payments when traveling abroad. The main risk with a prepaid travel Mastercard, which is the same as Mastercard gift cards for international travel, is that you try to make a purchase that exceeds the amount left on the card. The purchase gets declined, leaving you in an awkward situation. We recommend keeping at least one other payment method on hand should this happen, but you can check your prepaid travel Mastercard at any time to ensure it has enough and add more if you need.

With a prepaid travel Mastercard, you can explore your vacation destination with the security of knowing that you have a reliable payment method that is accepted at any business that accepts Mastercard debit cards, such as hotels, restaurants, resorts, entertainment venues, ATMs, and much more.

What’s your favorite place to travel? Take a Mastercard gift card for international purchases next time for some added security!