nytraveler

You regular credit cards and ATM are going to be less expensive than any prepaid cards - which absolutely soak you with fees and a really bad rate of exchange.

(NO FEES mean nothing when they charge you 10% over the Interbank rate versus the 2 or 3% over that regular cards charge. You would just be shoveling money out the window.)

texasbookworm

The way out is to have an account that has the funds you have allocated for the trip and have an ATM/Debit card to that account. Then you can use it to get cash and you may also be able to use it as a debit card there. I have traveled with EFTours twice; each tour is of course different and what happens depends slightly on the tour director, but I would say again there's no reason to take much foreign currency. You should be allowed time to find an ATM upon arrival. You could even get your friend to ask this specific question of the tour director. In my experience, foreign ATM's, even with some fees, were cheaper than getting foreign currency from my local bank. In my 4 trips to the UK, I never had trouble finding an ATM (although, as I mentioned in an above post, we did always carry cards from two different accounts so we had several options of ATM networks) and I only had my debit card refused once, at a little gift shop (and never had my CapitolOne MasterCard refused--and we did use cash a lot for smaller purchases.) And unless you get confirmatation from the tour director, I wouldn't assume that hotels would have a safe. They might; they might not. Also you may want to look at the specifics, and I do mean picky specifics like exact addresses, of your accomodations and itinerary. I am using EFTours again in 2013 so I obviously think they do a good job for the money, but their accomodations are sometimes not in places where it is easy to "do your own thing" in the evenings. Since 2 meals a day, transportation, and admissions are included in the price, you may be overestimating how much actual cash you need. But that does depend on the specifics about your tour--and you--so get your friend to ask. (If the tour is in the summer, you won't find this out until closer to departure, but you can let the tour consultant know now what you want to know.)

Pegontheroad

You're going to see charges whatever you do. The question is how you can get money cheaply. For me, the cheapest way to pay in Europe is to get cash from an ATM.

The second cheapest way (for me) is to use my credit card and pay it off before there's any interest. Don't use a cc to get cash, as the interest starts as soon as you get the money, whereas the ATM card charges just the single fee.

As others have said, if you get euros at home, you'll get a poor exchange. If you bring dollars and change them at your destination, you'll get a poor exchange. If you use a pre-paid card, you'll pay fees.

My bank (Wells Fargo) charges $5.00 per transaction. That's not an "insane" fee, but it does ensure that I withdraw the maximum amount, which in my case is $500 worth of euros (because I asked my bank to raise my daily limit to that amount). If I get the max, the bank charge amounts to 1%. My cc charges 3% per transaction.

There are ATM's everywhere.

Ah, yes, the safe. I well remember the time I was 100 miles from Heidelberg when I remembered that I'd left credit cards and passport in the hotel safe.

And the cash. My friend had $200 American in her money belt, which got tangled up with her bedsheets in our hotel in Madrid. She remembered the belt later, in Cordoba, but needless to say, she never got it back.

I'd certainly advise you to follow the advice you see on this thread. We are all experienced travelers, and we know the ropes.

jent103

<i>I'd really rather not deal with cash at all (thus the beauty of getting a prepaid card) because if I don't use it all by the end of the trip I have to exchange it (like Daveesl stated) but I don't see any way of getting out of that.</i>

I always find that I use cash more often while traveling than I do at home, for various reasons: I'm splitting a dinner check rather than just getting separate tabs, or more stores have a minimum price to use a credit card, or whatever. So you'll need some cash regardless. There's just no point to using a prepaid card for the rest - it's more expensive than your regular debit card, and adds a layer of hassle. Just make SURE to call your bank(s) before you leave and let them know you'll be traveling.

You'll almost certainly have a few euro/pounds left over at the end. The trick is to plan ahead enough to where you don't have a <i>lot</i> left over. If you only have a day or two left in the UK and are about out of cash, don't get very much at the ATM (or don't buy anything you can't use a card for, or work out arrangements with someone in your group who has a lot of cash left - you buy dinner on your card, they buy whatever with their cash). Five or ten euro isn't worth exchanging when you get home, but fifty euro is more of an issue.

kybourbon

>>>I'm taking a LOT of money with me and I do NOT want to carry all of it around and also don't want to pay a lot of fees<<<

You keep saying you don't want to pay a lot of fees, but the two things you keep talking about doing (changing cash and prepaid cards) have the highest fees. They are hidden fees, but still fees.

nytraveler

Why ar eyou taking a LOT o f monmey with you. Ayone carrying a lot of cash anywehre is just setting themselves up for problems - never mind the extra cost of chaning it all into euros or pounds or whatever.


There is no way to completely avoid paying fees - since hte international banking system is not set up to do yuo a ot of services for free. You will pay fees no matter how you do it. the idea is to minimoze the fees - which means using credit cards for whatever possible and pulling cash from local ATMs for walking around money.