Hi Chris, thanks for that.

I have found some cheap flights with Ryanair for next month, which amazingly have been the same prices for quite a few weeks

The total amount is £299 for 4 return flights to Tenerife, with 2 15kg hold luggage and online check in.

Does this mean if i use the prepaid mastercard i will only need to load £289 for the flights as £10 has already been loaded on to the card?

Im going to go to Phones4u tomorrow morning to get the card, then i will book the flights.

Hi yummymummy,

The money sounds about right unless of course Ryanair have changed any of the flight costs.

When you get the card you will need to phone a 0844 number to activate it before it can be used - however, I'm not sure if this activation process is only to get the PIN or if it also allows you to use it online etc etc.

When you get the card instore you should be asked to give them for a 4 digit number, this will be your 'security code' and needed when you phone to activate the card - if you do not supply this or they dont ask you will not be able to activate the card.

I wasnt asked for this 4 digit number when I picked my card up instore and had to phone their customer services for this to be setup.

The activation process is all computerised and you need to input your account number (bottom left number on the front of the card), certain numbers from your security code and the last 4 numbers of that long number thats always along the middle of the card.

When you have done this your PIN number will be said so quickly that you may not be expecting it - be warned and listen for it - there wasn't an option to hear the PIN number again !

I hope all goes well, I've not used the card yet and do not know of anyone else who has used one so hopefully everything will be ok. I'm sure there are many watching this thread who will be interested to hear how you or anyone else gets on and if the Escape card is ok to use for booking flights or of course if there are other cards that get a thumbs up.

I would be keen to hear anyones experiences - we could be using these for sometime to come.

Regards, Chris

Hi Chris, many thanks for the tips I will make sure when i go in Phones4u tomorrow i ask them if they are going to ask for my 4 digit pin, so i dont have to go through the hassle of phoning their customer service line.

I will be booking the flights tomorrow morning after i have sorted out getting the card, so i will let you all know how i have got on regarding booking flights.

So is it free of charge to load cash on to the card if i go in to Phones4u store and ask to load around £300 in cash?

Thanks again,

Nicola

EDIT......... I have just read the reply again, and i seem to got mixed up with the security code and the pin number. So when i go in to Phones4u tomorrow they should ask me to give them a 4 digit security code, and then when i get home i should phone the 0844 number to activate my card.
Then i give them the security code, and they say the pin number pretty fast?

I'm told its free to load cash but haven't got that far yet !

From memory when activating the card you are asked for 2 of the numbers from your 4 number security code. All this is done by pressing the various number keys on your phone rather than talking to someone.

Correct re numbers !: YOU provide numbers from the Security number and THEY give you your PIN number at the end of the activation phone call.

I hope all goes well and would ask that if anyone else has already used an Escape card to share their thoughts with the rest of us.

Regards, Chris

Just had a horrible thought regarding using a non embossed Escape card ie not having your name printed onto it.

When you book flights online they always ask for the type of card you are using, the card number, the 3 digit security number on the back of the card and the NAME on the front of the card. Mine is currently nameless and therefore may not work but it is assigned to me - so maybe it will work.

Anyone any thoughts if the name not being on the card is that important ? or could it just be another security check that maybe not that important (well here's hoping). Or do you just input the name that the card is registered to ?

Chris

update: just gone through the booking process and at the payment stage it says 'name on the card or the account holder' - so not having the name on the card should not be a problem.

Chris, i had exactly the same thought earlier. Whenever i book anything with my visa debit, it always asks for the name on the card, the address of the account holder ( then it says that the address needs to be linked to the name on the card)

I presume that when you click on the prepaid mastercard option it will have a different set of questions won't it?

Hi again, i went into phones4u today and got one of those escape prepaid mastercards. The process was exactly the same as what TFS1 did, paid 20pounds for the card, only took my name and address, didnt need ID.

Went home to retreive my pin, then went to a different Phones4u later today to put in 300pounds. But the sales man had trouble putting the money onto my card, as it kept saying my card wasn't activated, and my details werent on

Anyway, after about 10mins the salesman managed to put the money on to my card, and then 30 minutes later i went to the cash point to see my balance, with the pin number that i got off the phone before i visited the shop to put 300pounds on, and it said incorrect pin .

So, i had the receipt still, but i thought i would go home and phone the pin activation line again, and got a new pin.
I phoned the number up again, and clicked on to show balance, and it said i had 310pounds. So i think it is working now.

I have not booked the flights yet, as i am considering going to either Tenerife or Lanzarote, i cant make my mind up yet again
But i need to book tonight!!

Hi yummymummy,

I'm really pleased it seems to be going according to plan, albeit with the odd hiccup along the way.

I sense that this card is as new to a lot of the Phones4u staff as it is for us customers, the person dealing with me had to frequently ask someone else to get the answers to my questions. I guess they are more at home selling phones than prepaid mastercards !

I look forward to hearing how you got on with the booking process once you have decided which Canary Island you have chosen.

Good luck and look forward to your next posting with interest.

Regards, Chris

I have just spent about 5mins typing out a detailed reply, but my computer decided to be funny

So heres a shorter version...

I have just booked the flights with ryanair using the prepaid escape mastercard, and it all seemed to go smoothly.

It asked for the usual info regarding card digits, eg name of account holder, security code, card number, expiry date.

I received a confirmation email within minutes which had my booking reference number on. I have since logged onto the section manage your booking, and it comes up with my flight details.

So, i think it has worked

p.s. i chose Tenerife

very interesting post I feel sure the info will be of great interest to a lot of us, thank you

You're welcome Shrimper
Ryanair were going to charge me £40 to book using my visa debit card (£5 each flight each way) , so i paid £20 for the pre paid mastercard, and £10 of that was added to my balance.

This means i saved £30

every little helps, better in my pocket than Ryanair.

Hi yummymummy,

Thanks for the feedback, at least we now have some evidence of one card that can be used 'fee free' and some, if not all, of the issues that go with it.

I take it Ryanair did not charge you any booking fees for using this card. Have you logged onto your Escape account to see if the money is on its way to Ryanair ?

Has anyone used a different Prepaid Mastercard to book flights ?

Regards, Chris

ps where in Tenerife did you decide on ?

pps and the next time you book a lowcost flight you will save £10 for each person!

Hi Chris,

No i haven't checked with Escape to see if the money is on its way to Ryanair, but i think i should.
We have decided on PDLA.

Im looking at going to Turkey again in September, but i dont think Ryanair fly there. I know Easyjet do, but Ryanair are cheaper than Easyjet.

I have just logged onto my escapecard account history, and it says that the transaction is pending, but it does also say that i only have 10pounds available to spend.
Does this mean that the transaction with Ryanair is going ahead, i think it might say pending because it is weekend, but i am a little worried.

I'm no expert but it all sounds fine to me. We have a similar thing when paying with Electron, it takes a day or two for the payment to get to Ryanair and confirmation to come back.

Regards, Chris

Thanks Chris, i will keep you updated

Just looking at the small print and there is a 'dormancy fee' of £1 a month. This is charged if there is no activity on the card ie money going on / off, for a period of 90 consecutive days.

I think this is typical for this type of card and understand that 'dormancy fee' charges as high as €3.50 a month are levied on some Mastercard prepaid cards. I'm not sure how they recoup these fees if the balance is zero.

There are also cancellation charges should you wish to cancel the card before the 3 year expiry date.

Regards, Chris

Hmm, so to get around the charges we should pay a small amount onto the card each month and use the card to purchase things online.. what happens at the end of the expirey date, do we still need to pay 10pounds to cancel the card, or is that for when you want to cancel before the end of the card expirey date?

it has got me thinking now, i was only going to use this card to pay for my flights a few times a year, maybe it would have been cheaper just paying the ryanair admin charge.

The cancellation fee is paid if you want to cancel the card early or if you want a refund of the remaining money on the card after the card has expired.

If I havent used the card for a couple of months I will put some money onto it and/or make a flight booking. If I forget to do this after 90 days and get charged a £1 I'll make sure I dont forget the next time !

Although these cards are new to me I sense using it is similar to flying with Ryanair - you have to know the rules, adhere to them and everything will be ok.

I still believe this card will be ok for me - it may not be for others. I will not pay £5 a flight booking fee and this card seems to allow me to do this.

The only problem I will have is that the annual spending limit for the basic card is £650, a couple of flights to Tenerife in a year and thats around the £650 gone and no more spending capacity for our Spanish flights.

I plan to upgrade to the £3000 annual limit after Christmas to make sure we can purchase all our flights for the year using this card.

Has anyone else used this card yet or anyother Prepaid Mastercard ??

Chris