How much $ do you bring with you?
 

When going to Europe for a week, how much money do you bring with you in dollars, euros, and Travelers Checks?

For a week in an hotel, I bring my trusty 50 dollar bill that I keep in my purse pocket all the time.
I also bring 100 euro because I rather have it with me when I land to pay a cab to the hotel and maybe a snack before I hit an ATM.
I have an old beat up traveler's check for 100 dollars that I have been taking with me for years, too.

I normally take $100, whatever leftover Euros I had from my last trip, my debit card, and 2 credit cards.

I return with my original $100 less any food/beverages/airport tips prior to departure, and usually have 20-30 Euros that I didn't need to spend. ((b))

I'm from London, if I'm travelling in Europe for one week without already having paid for the hotel, transfers etc. I'll take around 2000-2500EUR this will suffice for all shopping and accommodation.

as little as possible, maybe $100. I try to use our Amex whenever possible, I feel safer that way

I take more cash than the people above, except the person from England, but never use it. ATM cards and credit cards handle all I need. I too have $150 worth of travelers checks that I have to use someday. They have been on so many trips they are getting worn out. They were purchased in 1991! You just do not need them anymore.

For a trip of any length, we take enough $ to pay for airport parking at our point of departure and enough euros to get from our arrival airport to our hotel or the nearest ATM. Lately, we have had enough left over euros from previous trips so we didn't need to buy them before leaving for Europe. No travelers checks.

I take a few USDs in cash, use ATMs and low cost (1%) (USAA) US CCs, but NOT my 3% Citi AA MC.
I know someone will criticize my faith in ATMs, and eventually I'll get shut out, but...
It also helps to have small amounts in overseas financial institutions as a cushion if you travel lots - $10 K (total) is exempt from reporting to the IRS.
Full disclosure, I hate cash and charge all my expenses in the US (get AA miles) and have electronic, CC or direct checking W/D for all my other recurring bills - all fee free of course.
M
Have a great trip!

I'd agree with suggestions about $100. We did the same thing on our last trip. We were running out of money in some place in Italy (I think near Vatican) and stopped by an atm to get some more cash. However, it was a weekend and the machine was out of money. Tried a couple more atms in the area, they were out of cash too! Our $100 bill came in handy then to get cash from an exchange bureau at an exorbitant conversion rate.

How can you possibly manage on 100USD - using cards to pay for items leaves one open to fraud and losses due to the floating exchange rates.

A couple of thousand Euro's worth will suffice and you might even have some leftover for your next holiday.

m kingdom - credit cards give you fraud protection and good exchange rates. ATMs are prevalent almost everywhere so you can get cash wherever you go.

I would never carry that much cash around. What would you do if you got robbed? I'd rather be exposed to a slight chance of credit card fraud (which, at least in the US, I'd only be responsible for $50), than be worried that I could lose several thousand dollars.

Frank - bring a little, use ATMs and credit cards. I haven't bought travelers' checks in years.

Karen

I bring around 250 Euros, USD 100 for the US airport & the trip home and credit cards for the rest. I always overspend and need an unlimited supply!

m_kingdom2,
Please understand in the US, we may simply deny any fraudulent CC charges and walk away. Actually, one may have to have deeper pockets than most to pull that off cleanly in the current billing cycle, but I have never had a problem.
Remarkably, even the consumer unfriendly Citibank has, to date, been very helpful.
I certainly don't want a gun stuck in my ear 'cuz I'm wearing a Rolex or have tons of cash on board.
M

I deposit my cash in the in-room safe which is usually insured up to a value of 5000EUR. It guarantees the rate of exchange and is convenient and universally accepted.

$300-400 US cash to exchange at bank
ATM card
No Euro
Travelers checks to exchange at bank in case of emergency only

As for being held up for my watch, it's insured so I'd give it up without any fuss - not worth being injured when in the longrun they can do you a favour - you get a brand new watch at the end of the day. I only carry a few hundred EUR on me at any given time, this minimises potential losses.

I hate to admit it but I always take large sums of cash (in addition to ATM and credit cards which I only use when making large purchases and shipping things home). I'm always paranoid about having the ATM card eaten by a machine, going over the daily withdrawal limit, etc. ) I just like the freedom of cash. I leave the bulk of it locked in the room safe and carry "cash for the day" with me.

By the way, the only time I've ever been robbbed was in the USA, probably because I'm more aware when I'm away from home.

I usually bring about $50 USD, 100 euros and my debit and credit card. Whenever we are low on Euro's, we simply find an atm and get more money out.

I would never carry around a large amount of money at one time. Usually when we travel to Europe, we stay at two or three different areas. Traveling on the trains with a few thousands euros is something I wouldn't do.

I NEVER carry dollars in Europe:)

€50-60 and my credit card. Can't remember the last time I bought a traveller's cheque

I'm surprised by the number of people responding to this question who feel the need to bring hundreds or even thousands of dollars or euro. I personally feel jittery carrying more than 200 dollars and/or euro on me at any one time. I'd rather take out money from the ATM every 2-3 days and use credit cards as much as possible.
So, this is what I bring when going to Europe:
Dollars- $100 (exchange places seem
to enjoy new twenties)
Euro- 60-70 (leftover from last
trip, in 10s and 20s.)
Trav.Checks-NONE (last brought them in
1997 and didn't use them)
Debit Card- One
Credit Card- Two

This combination isn't for everybody but its worked for me for years.

Let me try to explain the logic of bringing relatively large amounts of cash. If my hotel is costing me 300EUR per night for say six nights, that's 1800EUR. I'm going to be using GBP as my base currency. Supposing I buy when the rate is favourable - typically at 1.45EUR per 1GBP - then my hotel bill has come to 1241GBP (rounded), now if I happened to travel and the rate dropped to 1.41EUR per pound and I had to pay for it on credit/debit card the bill would now be 1277GBP. By taking cash I've saved myself 36GBP. Whilst this is an insignificant amount, it pays for a couple of cocktails, a light lunch, taxi etcetera etcetera. For minimal risk - what's the chance of being a victim of crime coming out of an airport into a taxis straight to an hotel - you've saved some money. The more you spend the more you save!

"The more you spend the more you save!" - M-Kingdom, you already think American, congratulations!

My dear, I knew there must be some side-effects to my visits here!

On our next trip to France and the UK, planned for late fall, my wife and I will take 25 GBP, 50 Euros and about $100. No TCs. The GBP and Euros are remaindered from prior trips. We are comfortable arriving anywhere without the local currency.

Each of us carries an ATM card on different accounts, and at least one credit card each, again different. We have never had more than a momentary delay in getting the appropriate currency.

Before the Euro you needed 5 or 6 different currencies when touring. The ubiquitous ATM has made travelling simple.

I take $100 in new 20's, about $100 in Euros - or whatever the local currency is. If I don;t have the latter left over I buy in the outgoing ariport. I charge everything possible and use my ATM card to get cash every 4 or 5 days - and usually end up going home with the same $100 and some local currency (that I save for the next trip). No Trav Cheques - they're way too expensive and very hard to change.

Just read m_kingdom2's most recent post and it is assinine. The assumption is that the conversion is always going to be in his favor. Even George Soros wouldn't make that bet.

Whatever I have left from my previous trip, but usually around 50 Euros. And airport dinner/parking dollars. That's it. I get cash as I need it from an ATM machine and charge everything I can because I get a better exchange rate that way. Haven't used traveler's checks since I couldn't get them "cashed" years ago without an exhorbitant fee.

I think what this thread may be showing is people's normal style of dealing with money. I am a cash & ATM person at home and only use credit cards for major purchases. Same when I travel. I'm guessing others might be simply continuing something similar to their home practices abroad.

As a side note several people mentioned "we", my husband, etc. When you are two people together you have the automatic advantage of a backup way to get/carry cash. Because I often travel solo I need to be sure whatever I have will get take care of my own needs in any circumstance.

At home I always use a black MasterCard my sole credit card, I have no need for any others - I rarely use cash, only for tips, antique shops or small purchases.

m kingdom - you will happily pay €300 a night for a hotel, but are worried about losing £36 if the exchange drops?? I hate to think how much it must eat you up if the rate happens to rise whilst you're away and you lose a few quid that way.

BTW, I don't have a black Mastercard, just a common blue one, but I was recently the victim of credit card fraud following a trip to Malaysia. My card apparently was cloned and used for 2 large transactions some weeks later in Korea. However, my bank, Nat West, were alerted to these unusual transactions, phoned me to query them the same day and it didn't cost me a penny. Maybe you should change banks if you're so worried about fraud.

=:)

jsmith is right. m_kingdom2's strategy only locks in the exchange rate - it is not economically superior to using credit cards. There is just as much chance the exchange rate will move in one's favor as there is that it will move against. And actually, when you factor in the (small) float that m_kingdom2 is giving up by not having that cash invested, he/she is economically worse off (albeit by a fairly insignificant amount).

But the certainty of the exchange rate is often attractive to people.

m kingdom, my, you must be packing quite a wad (of money) in your pants!

My dear, In the UK the exchange rate for EUR last year averaged 1.41-1.42, this year is is not 1.44-1.45. It won't go up to 1.46-1.49 range so I buy in this year. As for saving 30 or so GBP, as I said it's a couple of cocktails, it's something so why not have that "something"?

As for fraud, I'm not in the least bit concerned, but I'd much rather have my holiday already paid for up front than face a bill on my return. I have the cash in my safe so it's already paid for up front. Furthermore, if I'm away for a couple of weeks, I could easily spend 6000EUR that's a differntial of around 100GBP so a bottle of Krug could be lost.

Sorry mk, I must have misinterpreted your phrase "using cards to pay for items leaves one open to fraud" Silly me.

=:)

Suze is correct. I don't use ATMs at home and the one time I did in Europe, did not work for me. I bring euros because alot of the places we stay or eat do not take credit cards and we don't stay in large cities so we waste little time looking for atms and banks. But Everyone's way is ok for them.

I use that in the same sense as saying "smoking gives you cancer" only 30 per cent of smokers develop cancer associated with their habit, so that phrase should read "smoking can lead to a significant increase in your chances of developing cancer".

My sentence should read "credit cards seriously increase your chance of being a victim of credit card fraud".

Quite true.

Similarly, carrying around significant amounts of cash increases your risk of losing significant amounts of cash.

On our last trip we took 300 Euros. Used ATM card to get additional cash. We charge the hotel and pay cash for everything else. Not uncommon to have at least one hotel (B&B, Guest House etc) that requires cash.

You choose your method, you take your chances. I have never lost or been robbed of cash while traveling. To me that seems less likely than running into an ATM malfunction or credit card scam.

MK2, please get your facts straight before you brag about your expenditures and financial wizardry so you retain at least a modicum of credibility.

On average in 2003 the pound bought 1.44615 Euros (range was 1.5456-1.3776) and in 2004 it is 1.48569 (range 1.5279-1.4096). ON AVERAGE THE EURO IS 2.7% LESS IN 2004 THAN 2003. The source for this is http://oanda.com/.

I don't know what interest is paid on riskfree deposits in the UK but I can get 2% FDIC insured in the US. How much did you earn on those funds in your safe?