How much cash do you travel with?
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 25
Likes: 0
How much cash do you travel with?
I am pretty sure ATMs are available most places, but how much cash do you normally carry with you when you travel? We will be on a 15 day trip to Yosemite, Sequoia, and San Diego and I don't want to be stuck without cash if we need it.
Thanks!
Thanks!
#4

Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,082
Likes: 0
No more than $150 for me when traveling and very rarely actually spend any of it. I use credit cards whenever possible and only use cash for gratuities for doorman, porters, and for incidentals.
On the off chance I need more cash I've always been able to find a "bank owned" ATM somewhere close by no matter which country I'm in.
On the off chance I need more cash I've always been able to find a "bank owned" ATM somewhere close by no matter which country I'm in.
#6
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 5,238
Likes: 0
$20-40. I don't know about sequoia. But yosemite is not exactly rustic and San Diego is a major city. The only thing I ever spend cash on is bus fare, food trucks, festivals, minor local museums. Very occasionally gas, because pumps don't like my debit card but gas stations have an ATM and I also have a credit card. (For the us, anyway- some countries are much more cash based).
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#12
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 49,521
Likes: 0
I rarely travel with cash. In fact I've traveled to Norway twice without ANY cash. I paid for everything with a Visa card.
I live in San Diego and I don't carry cash. Again I pay for everything with Visa credit card. One exception is I pay small library fines with cash.
I have gotten a ton of free travel miles this way.
I live in San Diego and I don't carry cash. Again I pay for everything with Visa credit card. One exception is I pay small library fines with cash.
I have gotten a ton of free travel miles this way.
#13

Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,709
Likes: 1
At home maybe a couple of twenties. I even buy coffee with plastic (and get FF miles). If I were traveling in the US I'd probably up it to $100 or so. Abroad I have $200 as emergency backup and have very rarely needed it, but I do carry local currency, the amount depending on the country and acquired on arrival.
#14


Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 23,190
Likes: 0
I like to have equivalent of $50-100 in local currency when traveling abroad. Just makes me feel secure and that I could buy a meal or a taxi ride without finding an ATM.
I never use cash, but always have $100-200 in my wallet. No practical reason. I know it is silly. And it is rarely touched. The time my car got towed and I had to take a cash-only taxi to the cash-only tow lot confirmed the practicality of this (I know, the taxi would have taken me to an ATM). This amount is the same when I am traveling in US or just in my town.
I never use cash, but always have $100-200 in my wallet. No practical reason. I know it is silly. And it is rarely touched. The time my car got towed and I had to take a cash-only taxi to the cash-only tow lot confirmed the practicality of this (I know, the taxi would have taken me to an ATM). This amount is the same when I am traveling in US or just in my town.
#17
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,315
Likes: 0
Always less than $50. When I run low on cash, I just go into a grocery store, buy a few munchies, pay with my ATM card, and get cash back. I've never paid a penny in fees for doing so. The places that don't accept credit cards are becoming more & more rare over time.
#18

Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,709
Likes: 1
I travel solo and I take more than one ATM card! What if it gets eaten by a machine? In fact, for trips abroad, certainly beyond Europe, I usually have three ATM cards and three or four credit cards - NOT all in the same place, lol. The primary cards carry no foreign conversion or ATM fees.


