This has actually turned out to be a more interesting thread than I expected - and with two of my three kids abroad next year (one for the whole year and one for a semester),and plans for family trips to visit them both, there will be a good amount of international travel in my family’s immediate future.
I agree with those posters who are stressed about arriving in a foreign country with absolutely no cash, so we have typically exchanged $100 or so at the airport. I knew I was getting a bad rate but I figured it was worth it – I am guessing that ordering currency from a bank would get me a somewhat better (although still not good) exchange rate?
Regarding ATM cards, it sounds like I should investigate Schwab (and maybe Fidelity and maybe local credit unions)?
Oh - my worst trying-to-pay story is that the morning we were checking out of our hotel in Paris I went to the ATM machine to withdraw cash and the machine ate my card, and the bank was not open yet (it was sort of my fault because I put the card in backwards, but the machine could have spit it out rather than keeping it). I can’t recall why we were paying in cash rather than charging, but we managed to scrounge up enough Euros to pay and check out, but I had to make a trip back to the bank later that day to get the card.
We googled where the ATMs were in the Beijing airport before we got there. No problem finding the ATMs or getting the money. Easy peasy. China is not credit card friendly as not many places take them.
I had an incident a few years ago where my hotel in Shanghai ran my card through and it was declined. I was exhausted and wound up paying cash for that night so I could sleep and then contact someone at home to call the credit card company and deal with it. Luckily I had that cash on hand, no?
Although in Asia (and perhaps other places I have not been yet) its not uncommon for ATMs not to be linked to the international system, so our US ATM cards would not work. We learned you have to look for the MasterCard/Visa logo.
CAVEAT
I don’t remember the actual numbers of my PIN. I just remember the “pattern” as I punch the numbers.
This screwed me at an ATM in hong kong. I’m used to using keypads where the “1” button is on the top of the keypad. But the machine I used in HK had the “1” button on the bottom line (like on a computer keyboard).
Well, after stupidly entering the wrong number 3x, i locked my card. Luckily i have a 2nd ATM card from another bank. Now, i actually look at the arrangement of the numbers on the keypad before i start pressing buttons.
I opened a joint Schwab account with daughter who did a semester abroad. Nice feature is that, although I live nowhere near a Schwab office, I can make an overnight deposit by taking a picture of a check with their phone app. You can do bank to bank online transfers but that takes a few days.
For credit cards, Capital One has no transaction fees.
I’m visiting now, and found that Wells Fargo charged only $7.50–half the price of AAA–to exchange any amount of cash, before I left.
One other tip: right now the dollar is strong. I found I could save money by going on-line to prepay for hotel rooms, planes, trains in Euro, not dollar, prices. If you can’t read the language, look for the UK English version of the web page.
My daughter in Europe found it never a problem to use the Schwab chip and signature card, even though it’s all chip and pin in Europe.
Also: my son will be starting college in the middle of nowhere with one obscure local bank and one ATM. I’m planning to open up a Schwab account with him so he can use that ATM without fees, and I’ll be able to easily put money in the card.
“Well, after stupidly entering the wrong number 3x, i locked my card. Luckily i have a 2nd ATM card from another bank. Now, i actually look at the arrangement of the numbers on the keypad before i start pressing buttons.”
You could have turned to me and I’d have lent you some cash
"I was absolutely stunned last fall when my card was refused at Gare du Nord - must have looked it, the very appropriate English speaking employee assured me “This doesn’t mean you don’t have any money. Our system just isn’t taking it. Do you have another card?” It was accepted everywhere else that trip. However, in 2011, same card, it wasn’t accepted for the hotel bill. "
Was it not a chip card? You need a chip card for Europe in my experience. The US is late to the game on this one.
One thing we also learned the hard way: overseas ATMs take the money out of your checking account even if you select savings. We were denied money in Paris on a Saturday night and had to take a cash advance on our credit card so that we could get dinner that night. We couldn’t call the bank until Monday morning (US Central time) to find out what was going on. Well, we had drained our checking account (we don’t keep much in it). We had to authorize a transfer from savings to checking. This was 2002 before much on-line banking. I did check this year before we went to China and the bank said that the money would still be withdrawn from the checking account. Just be aware of this.
Fwiw, I believe that there are two types of CC with chips. They are not widely available in the US and not widely required in Europe. If some automatic cashiers require the PIN code, in many places the attendants at rail stations can process the swipe cards manually. One can also pay ON the train, albeit with a surcharge.
As far as a CC being rejected at a hotel, the solution might be to use a different card, including the debit card that is preferred for an ATM. In some hotels, paying for the night might not be sufficient as the hotels want to cover added services via a deposit. That is why they ask for a CC even if the room is prepaid.
Is there a consensus possible? I think so. The debate about getting a small amount of cash prior to departure or pay a high fee at an airport is moot. All will agree that the security of having a little cash is good. Same thing for carrying a few hundred dollars in case of emergency.
For the rest of the trip, it is best to have a number of cards from different systems. A combination of Visa, MC, Amex, and a debit card covers most events. Amex even offers the easy SERVE as tool.
In my book, the rejection of CC is related to the fraud and limit controls much more than the requirement to have a chip with EMV addition. Fwiw, I did use a debit card at an ALDI in Europe. The locals all entered a PIN number. My card just went through without the PIN. Obviously, their PIN are different from our own as ours are only for ATM.
I don’t think this is that complicated. Soon we will all pay everything with our watch!
Could this depend on where you are traveling? We went to South Africa…visited a friend who lived there, and also knew which currency exchange would give us the best exchange for USD. Visited DD in a developing country of Aftica. Our hired driver also took us to where the exchange rate was favorable (we checked with him prior to traveling…and he gave us the rates…we compared, and he was absolutely the best option).
However, when we got to Europe, we just used our credit card…and got enough euro for the short time we were there.
We were going to get money prior to leaving the U.S. But opted not to.
Re #47 - it was a chip card - that’s why I was stunned. Handed her a different chip card, different account and that worked.
Chips are becoming more common. Chase just replaced our non-chip card with a chip. I did some research a year or so ago trying to upgrade my cards to chips or open accounts with a chip. If they didn’t already have chips, most places indicated they had plans in the works to change over.
There’s always something - US is becoming chip and signature vs the chip and pin model common other places. In Germany last month I was asked to input my PIN - no PIN, no problem it still went through. Why there can’t be one world model, I’ll never know…
^
Something that most people who parrot the message that a CC with “chip” is needed in Europe might not understand very well. Even the CC trumpeted as CC with a chip might not work everywhere.
I think the messages would be different if people started sharing what CC they have and if they have indeed the CC card they recommend to get! I am afraid most do not get the differences between the various cards.
Hint: check if the card still has a magnetic stripe!
Here is my CC rant (sort of on topic). Why in the U.S. do the waitstaff need to take our CCs to the back to process the bill…when in every other country I’ve been in, they bring the little CC thingy right to you at the table. Your credit card is never out of your sight.
The airlines do CC processing this way. Why not restaurants?
Xiggi commented on fraud detection issues with using a credit card abroad.
Bears mentioning this reminder: CALL your credit card company BEFORE you leave home and let them know where you are traveling and the dates. It’ll help reduce the likelihood that your credit card will be declined for suspicious activity.
