<p>My daughter is taking a school trip to Germany this summer. What is the best way for her to manage her spending money? Credit card, debit card, ATM card, Prepaid? Any words of wisdom or advice?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Debit for cash withdrawal, credit for other things. Preferably one sans international fees, such as Capitol 1, or if you have it regardless, the United Mileage Plus card, which recently dropped those fees. I had an account, and was easy to add a D when signing up.</p>
<p>You can get prepaid Visa cards and things like that, which would allow you to load a specific amount of money onto a card, which your daughter could then use in shops and also in cash machines to withdraw money.</p>
<p>You need to have a 4 digit PIN number to use your ATM card in Europe.</p>
<p>Have B of A so used Deutsche Bank in Germany-part of Global ATM Alliance.
You can also get euros at home in small bills at certain Wells Fargo if you have accounts there, so she has some cash on her off the plane.</p>
<p>When we travel in Europe, we use debit card from a checking account that does not charge extra fees for foreign transactions and Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa, which does not charge international fees for anything we can charge. It does have an annual fee but I think you can get first year free.</p>
<p>Note that, in Germany, you will need to pay for most things in cash.</p>
<p>^^Yes. This. DD is in Germany for 5 weeks this summer. We sent her with enough cash for meals for the entire trip - purchased through Wells Fargo. We got her a credit card in her name for travel costs and shopping for gifts, etc. and it has worked well so far for train tickets to the Netherlands and to France. She has found that she really needs the cash on a day to day basis. We chose to limit ATM transactions because the closest bank that accepts her ATM is a bus plus tram ride away from her hotel.</p>
<p>Debit card and a credit card. We added our daughters to our Visa CC which helped while they were traveling overseas. I wouldn’t get one of those reloadable Visa cards - the fees are astronomical and rank up with travelers checks as a poor option.
Our credit union is very competitive fee-wise and the transaction costs were low. We also have access to their accounts, so adding money when needed was easy.
In all of our travels we have never had a problem with an ATM not accepting the card.</p>
<p>Our advice to the girls was withdraw the maximum from the ATM, then keep in their wallet only the amount of cash they might reasonably use in a day. The rest stayed in a money belt or secured where they were staying. This minimized fees as well as any potential loss should they have been pick pocketed.</p>
<p>Many prepaid cards now do not allow use outside the US (not even Canada.) IIRC, this is a change. (It states in either on the card or in the packaging, so you can check this.) If you use a bank card, be sure to notify the company it will be used abroad. For D1’s debit card, we hit a snafu when she forgot. I may be the last person who feels this way, but I also take some back-up travelers checks. Because if they are lost, the replacement turnaround is short.</p>
<p>I think it’s good to have about 200 Euro or more in pocket before traveling.
Most places only take visa, not american express (except big hotels, train stations,…).
I think there is less pickpocketing (if none) in Germany.</p>
<p>Beware of jet lag and adjust sleeping pattern 1 or 2 weeks before going. My D had jet lag and was in a terrible situation when she just arrived in Europe last year.</p>
<p>You are the last person to think travelers checks are useful.
They are offered so seldomly that shops, restaurants will not accept them because they can’t tell if they are counterfeit.</p>
<p>I convert them at banks. We had the issue of lost cards. It’s a backup.</p>