Where to get cash and a prepaid sim card
 

I am traveling to Spain and on a Mediterranean Cruise in March. Anyone can advise me on where to obtain Euros and a prepaid SIM card in the US. Ideally the SIM card will allow me to roam during my ports of call on my mediterranean cruise(France, Italy, Malta). The phone will be used for emergency contact. I will also use it to call the owner of my apartment rental while in Barcelona. I have a unlocked GSM triband phone. It may be cheaper just to make one call with my Tmobile phone and leave my phone on the rest of the time while on vacation.

Thanks in advance.

Wells Fargo Bank is selling euros for $1.6367. That is the least expensive I have been able to find. Right now the rate is $1.565 per. You can go to their website to check it out.

I just order a Tim/Sim card from Telestial.com for $39.00 and includes 5 euros of time. To be honest, I did not research this very much and their could be less expensive cards for purchase. Since you are going to 3 countries you really have to do some research for the best deal.

Lydia

You can obtain cash from any ATM machine once you land in Spain, including the Barcelona airport. You'll have no need for cash until then.

There are several agencies offering sim cards that will cover several countries, but only a few will cover you while at sea. You're better off with a "Spain only" sim card and use the roaming feature with your T-Mobile account, which is only $0.99/minute for incoming and outgoing calls. The Telestial sim is hardly a bargain and was designed for business travelers who could care less about the cost.

I'd check out "On Spanish Time" regarding a sim card for use in Spain.

Thanks for the responses. There are multiple SIM cards available from different websites online. After calculating the per minute cost, these SIM cards offer calls at around $2/min. I think t-mobile is around $3 /min.

There is an auction on ebay for an international SIM card. Only $3 buy it now and $3 shipping http://cgi.ebay.com/Global-Prepaid-I...QQcmdZViewItem

You get a UK number, $10 call credit with free incoming from Spain, UK, Italy, France. $0.99/min outgoing while roaming in this zone.

Any experiences?

My AT&T Cingular plan charges me $1.29 per minute if I use it in roamimg mode while in Europe; plus $0.50 per text messaging. Not bad for emergency situations, imho.

We also have another unlocked phone with a French Orange SIM card that we've purchased in France about 2 years ago and which remains alive as we re-load it often enough as my wife and I travel to France frequently enough to maintain the phone's usage. This is a lot cheaper for us, but if cell usage is only for emergency use, I won't bother with this and just rely on my US-based carrier phone, i.e. AT&T Cingular.

Hi Shtoopid

Can't help you with the card but can provide a Fodors hint. To prevent problems with the post width, when you have a long web address (like your ebay one), go to www.tinyurl.com and paste the address in there. You will then get a short address.

Sorry about the long link. I came back late last night after drinking. I forgot about tinyurl.com.

The more i think about it I probably will just use my carrier (t-mobile) I won't be making much calls. I can't even speak any of the languages =).

I think my friend is going to exchange moolah @ a chase bank. If we finish our trip with excess money, it would be no big deal because I see the euro getting stonger than the dollar.

Well, understand that he will be paying a premium in buying his euros ahead of time in the US. ATMs really are the cheapest source of money, especially if your home bank/credit union makes no per transaction surcharge.

If you and your friend are willing to pay the premium (7-8%) to buy Euros in the US then it demonstrates that it really doesn't matter what the exchange rate is. If you cared about the exchange rate and the weakness of the dollar, or understood the difference between buying and selling currency then you would use ATMs upon arrival in Spain.

That's fine - many people prefer the perceived convenience of having Euros in their pocket the minute they step off the plan from the US. They can't then complain about the dollar dropping 5%.

The only precaution when using the ATM is to stay away from the Bank of Santander ATM machines. The bank appears is adding a stiff fee (about 5%) when using a foreign ATM card; similar to the charges that occur when you encounter the DCC, Dynamic Currency Exchange, in El Corte Ingles and some hotels when using your credit card.

My friend told me that there were no transaction fees at Chase when exchanging for euros. I assume that the exchange is based on the current exchange rate. If there were an additional fee or rate hike, I would just get it from an ATM like Mimar said. Nexity bank does not charge transaction fees when using international ATMS.

shtoopidanimal: &quot;<i>My friend told me that there were no transaction fees at Chase when exchanging for euros.</i>&quot;

Many banks don't charge &quot;transaction fees&quot; - but they have to pay for the service somehow, and the way they do it is to use REALLY inflated exchange rates.

You will pay something somewhere - either w/ a fee, through the rate used, or sometimes both.

Using an ATM after you are there will almost always be better/cheaper than buy &euro; at home.

Then as ipod_robbie says, perhaps you and your friend don't understand the difference between buying and selling currency.

Yes, you will be charged the &quot;current exchange rate&quot; - and that rate will be whatever the bank chooses, usually ~7% above the interbank rate you'll see on the financial websites.

The reason for the markup (technically not a fee) is that you are a consumer looking to buy Euros here in the US, where it is NOT the local currency. I've heard the analogy: Buying Euro's in the US is like buying oranges in Chicago to bring with you on your trip to Florida. You've heard Florida oranges are good and you want to make sure you have some right when you are there.

Thanks for everyone's replies. I'll tell my friend to get the Euros when we land.

The forum

http://tinyurl.com/egoy7

provides links to companies selling international prepaid sims. They cost between $50 and $75, and calls cost around 50 cents/minute outgoing, nothing incoming.