Currency in Central Europe
Mar 30th, 2004 | 09:40 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Currency in Central Europe
Hi,
I am not quite sure which currency to bring with me on my trip to Central Europe. I will get travellers cheques in Euros, plus I have a credit card, otherwise, what about Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic? Some of these countries are supposed to join the EU on May 1, but does this also mean the currency will be changing over to Euros overnight? Also, what denominations of travellers cheques to bring, and how much cash should I be carrying around?
Thanks,
T
I am not quite sure which currency to bring with me on my trip to Central Europe. I will get travellers cheques in Euros, plus I have a credit card, otherwise, what about Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic? Some of these countries are supposed to join the EU on May 1, but does this also mean the currency will be changing over to Euros overnight? Also, what denominations of travellers cheques to bring, and how much cash should I be carrying around?
Thanks,
T
Mar 30th, 2004 | 11:04 PM
#2
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,465
Likes: 0
I don't know about the other countries that you mentioned, but there are lots of bank machines in Poland, so you should be fine with a credit card. I wouldn't bother with traveller's cheques there - we had some and they turned out to be very inconvenient to cash (had to go to a bank during normal banking hours, took a long time and was complicated - at least three different bank personnel were involved in each transaction).
Oh - a curious story about exchanging cash to Polish currency. While in Warsaw (two years ago) we needed to exchange some of the US dollars that we had to Polish currency. When we gave the money to the bank teller, he told us that there would be a 10% service charge because the bills were, in his words, "dirty" (which in this case seemed to mean that they weren't pristine and brand new, they weren't dirty but obviously didn't look as if they had just been spit out of the money machine either). So my hubby found some "cleaner" looking ones, and there was no service charge for them!!
Has anyone ever had this kind of experience before???
Oh - a curious story about exchanging cash to Polish currency. While in Warsaw (two years ago) we needed to exchange some of the US dollars that we had to Polish currency. When we gave the money to the bank teller, he told us that there would be a 10% service charge because the bills were, in his words, "dirty" (which in this case seemed to mean that they weren't pristine and brand new, they weren't dirty but obviously didn't look as if they had just been spit out of the money machine either). So my hubby found some "cleaner" looking ones, and there was no service charge for them!!
Has anyone ever had this kind of experience before???
Mar 30th, 2004 | 11:24 PM
#3
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,682
Likes: 0
Author: depgrl
Date: 03/31/2004, 01:40 am
Message: Hi,
I am not quite sure which currency to bring with me on my trip to Central Europe. I will get travellers cheques in Euros, plus I have a credit card, otherwise, what about Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic? Some of these countries are supposed to join the EU on May 1, but does this also mean the currency will be changing over to Euros overnight? Also, what denominations of travellers cheques to bring, and how much cash should I be carrying around?
Thanks,
I am afraid the currency will take time to change, usually a few years. For ten years now I have travelled in these countries with three credit or debit cards, about 200 euros in cash, and no travellers cheques. Travellers cheques involve finding banks to change them, give a poor rate, and are subject to loss or theft. Cash is subject to loss or theft. There Automatic Teller Machines (bankautomats) all over the place in central Europe. Now that debit and credit cards are free I carry three of them, all adjusted here at home to use the same PIN code (so I do not have to write it down). I have three, not one, to avoid a crisis if a mid European machine swallows one, and have both Visa and Mastercard or Maestro, as a few machines take only one style. I carry in my luggasge a separate note of card numbers, expiry dates, and issuers and (of great importance) the number to phone from abroad if a card is lost or stolen or fails to work. I also check two weeks before travel, in my home city, that each card works on the PIN code I have.
Inside each country I walk around with just one cash card and a couple of days money drawn at the first station I arrive at, with a photocopy of the key pages of my passport. All other valuables are in the hotel manager s safe. Aged 67, I have been asked to show my passport just once, but that was in the obscure rebel state in Moldova.
If you do not yet have three cards you can look at weekend money pages of your daily newspaper for companies that want to sign you up for more cards. The only drawback is the junk mail they send me, but that is easy to recognise.
Please write if I can help further. Welcome to Europe
[email protected]
Date: 03/31/2004, 01:40 am
Message: Hi,
I am not quite sure which currency to bring with me on my trip to Central Europe. I will get travellers cheques in Euros, plus I have a credit card, otherwise, what about Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic? Some of these countries are supposed to join the EU on May 1, but does this also mean the currency will be changing over to Euros overnight? Also, what denominations of travellers cheques to bring, and how much cash should I be carrying around?
Thanks,
I am afraid the currency will take time to change, usually a few years. For ten years now I have travelled in these countries with three credit or debit cards, about 200 euros in cash, and no travellers cheques. Travellers cheques involve finding banks to change them, give a poor rate, and are subject to loss or theft. Cash is subject to loss or theft. There Automatic Teller Machines (bankautomats) all over the place in central Europe. Now that debit and credit cards are free I carry three of them, all adjusted here at home to use the same PIN code (so I do not have to write it down). I have three, not one, to avoid a crisis if a mid European machine swallows one, and have both Visa and Mastercard or Maestro, as a few machines take only one style. I carry in my luggasge a separate note of card numbers, expiry dates, and issuers and (of great importance) the number to phone from abroad if a card is lost or stolen or fails to work. I also check two weeks before travel, in my home city, that each card works on the PIN code I have.
Inside each country I walk around with just one cash card and a couple of days money drawn at the first station I arrive at, with a photocopy of the key pages of my passport. All other valuables are in the hotel manager s safe. Aged 67, I have been asked to show my passport just once, but that was in the obscure rebel state in Moldova.
If you do not yet have three cards you can look at weekend money pages of your daily newspaper for companies that want to sign you up for more cards. The only drawback is the junk mail they send me, but that is easy to recognise.
Please write if I can help further. Welcome to Europe
[email protected]
Mar 31st, 2004 | 03:16 AM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 74,699
Likes: 0
Hi dep,
One more voice for *not* buying TCs in euros.
Not only will you have difficulty cashing them, but you will get a poor excange rate to buy them.
Bring an emergency cash reserve of TCs in *dollars* and put them back in your bank account when you get home.
Have a good trip.
One more voice for *not* buying TCs in euros.
Not only will you have difficulty cashing them, but you will get a poor excange rate to buy them.
Bring an emergency cash reserve of TCs in *dollars* and put them back in your bank account when you get home.
Have a good trip.
Mar 31st, 2004 | 03:25 AM
#6
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Hey
One more vote for not taking travellers cheques. I've visited Europe about 20 times in the past four years, including places like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the Czech Republic. My strategy was, if possible, to take about 50-100 pounds of local currency, and my debit card. I never had any problems with getting cash out anywhere with my British ATM card.
However, I would just add a word of warning, just check where you're going doesn't have a public holiday the day you arrive. The only time I had trouble getting cash was when I arrived in Pisa on a holiday, all the ATMs were EMPTY!
One more vote for not taking travellers cheques. I've visited Europe about 20 times in the past four years, including places like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the Czech Republic. My strategy was, if possible, to take about 50-100 pounds of local currency, and my debit card. I never had any problems with getting cash out anywhere with my British ATM card.
However, I would just add a word of warning, just check where you're going doesn't have a public holiday the day you arrive. The only time I had trouble getting cash was when I arrived in Pisa on a holiday, all the ATMs were EMPTY!
