Neotraveler6

Hello All,

Sorry so long.

I will be traveling to Europe at the end of the month and wanted to know how much money (U.S) dollars should I take?

I can say that I do not plan to do a lot of shopping and a number of my tours have been booked and paid for in advance. I need money for food, travel (metro), dinner/club ect.

I will be in Paris for 4 days and Italy (Rome) for 6 days.

I thought to do my total amount and do half cash and half credit card however with the credit card fee I began to think otherwise.

Thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

hanleyster

at least 100$ a day for just spending money

vjpblovesitaly

"I will be traveling to Europe at the end of the month and wanted to know how much money (U.S) dollars should I take?"

Whatever you will need at/to/from the US airports and a little more. You can take an ATM card to withdraw cash in Europe. You don't want to exchange USDs when you get there. Bad exchange rate. Let your bank know where you will be and when.

Tons of posts on this subject.

basingstoke2

If you have time and don't have one yet, open a debit card account - you will save on fees.

janisj

&quot;<i>how much money (U.S) dollars should I take? </i>&quot;

<b>None</b> (except if you want any cash to use in your departure airport)

You cannot use US$ in Europe and converting $ to &euro; will cost you. Just use your ATM card to get &euro; as you need cash . . . . .

kayd

I'll disagree a little -- take about $200-300 in US cash (20s and 50s only) as an emergency reserve. If all your ATM and credit cards fail (very unlikely), you can exchange dollars for euros (at an unfavorable rate) to tide you over until the card problem is resolved. If you are traveling with friends who could cover for each other in such a situation, then maybe you do not need dollars at all.

Neotraveler6

Hello All,

Thank you all! You are the best.

Sorry for the confusion, when I said how much money should I take I ment how much US dollars should I take to exchange once in Paris/Rome?

I see that most agree to pull money from ATM but have some cash incase I have ATM problems.

One last questions:

Credit card vs. Euro for paying for items?

Well I have the whole voltage thing figured out...110V vs. 220V (baby steps,ha-ha)

Robespierre

I use credit cards for large items (hotel, train, car rental) and buy everything else with cash. I replenish the &quot;walkin'-around&quot; money every two or three days at an ATM.

The fewer people that see your CC#, the less your exposure to fraud. When withdrawing cash from a bank terminal, you can shield your card and PIN so no one can see them.

suze

I figure $100 per day for myself for spending money (not counting the hotel room).

I take my ATM card to withdraw euro as needed. Plus I take ~$300 USD in cash that I can exchange if needed.

I only use my credit card to pay the hotel bill and for emergencies.

StCirq

There is no need to take dollars to exchange. As others have noted, just use your ATM debit card to get euros once you've arrived. If you're concerned about ATMs, which you really needn't be, bring along some dollars as an emergency fund.

Not sure I understand your &quot;credit card vs. Euro for paying for things&quot; question. Do you mean is it better to charge things to your credit card than to pay in cash? If so, my advice would be to pay for large-ticket items like hotels and restaurant meals with your cc but use cash for small items.

Neotraveler6

Hello All,

I wanted to say thank you so much.

BTW Capital One does not charge a fee for foreign currency transactions it's posted on the web. I printed for documentated proof (when the bill comes due).

Thanks again

nytraveler

You don;t take any money to exchange.

You charge as much as you can on credit cards. For smaller expenditure you pull cash from ATMs with a debit card attached to your checking account. This will cost you typically 1-3% of your money. To change cash - anywhere, will cos tyou 8 to 10% of your money.

By taking cash - except a small amount for emergency purposes that you don;t use - you willlost about 5% of the value of your money.

As to how much you'll spend - that completely depends on you. You can shop or not. You can eat at upscale or midscale restaurants or small cafes or have a sandwich on a bench. That part us up to you.

girlonthego

Definitely get a capitol one card. Like above said, they do not charge a transaction fee. Use ATMs and we did change some money here to have money when we landed. That is just my personality. I had to have cash on arrival. I would take about 200 Euros with me. You can order them from your local bank or buy them at AAA in packs.
I just didn't want to arrive in Paris tired and not speaking french. It was just easier to bring some cash for taxi and first couple of meals.
Enjoy!

Neotraveler6

Hello All,

Great advice esp about customer reps not know the full story. I pulled out my Terms and Conditions (small print) bible (ha). M&amp;T is the bank I plan to use and if I put some extra money in the checking it upgrades to a gold (if you will) account ie unlimited withdraws with no fees usually 2.00 US and 5.00 international for not using a M&amp;T bank (FYI). I just need the card to work. I did get the direct number if I run into problems.

Any issues with M&amp;T debit cards?

Wonderful advice travel family!

ira

Hi N,

&gt;how much money (U.S) dollars should I take?

NONE.

Charge everything that you can and get cash from ATMs when you need it.

Get a CapitalOne CC. They don't charge conversion fees.

Some people like to exchange about $100 at the departure airport so as not to have to look for an ATM upon arrival. This will cost about $4 more than if you do it in Europe.

Bring about $500 in USD traveler's checks as emergency backup. You can deposit them when you get back home.

Enjoy your visit.

girlonthego

We have an ATM here that my husband's check gets deposited into. I did not take this with us to Europe.
I opened two new accounts at two different banks so that I would have options if one was eaten by a machine or stolen. I loaded both accounts with some money.We had no trouble with anything, but I felt safer this way.