<p>S2 leaves tomorrow for Spain. I need to get him something to use for meals and spending money. Tour company recommends prepaid debit or ATM cards. Debit cards sound better to me, as they can be used to pay merchants, not only in ATM machines. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I got my daughter’s from AAA. It worked great for her. I also set it up so I could add to it at our local AAA office.
Other than that she used her debit card from her bank. No problems.</p>
<p>Both my s and d used the AAA card in Europe – it was the easiest solution by far and the exchange rate is better with a card. We did have to add money for my d who had it within hours. There is a fee (about$5) to set up the card.</p>
<p>D used AAA money card in India, China, & South Africa with no problems. I could check the balance online and add $$ when needed by running over to the local AAA store, which is very near our house.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion - I hadn’t realized that AAA provides these cards. I am a member - will have to look to see whether they have a store near here.</p>
<p>Our kids have Visa Buxx from US Bank. I love how I can go online and refill if balance is low. (I can also see where they have shopped)</p>
<p>This is great. Son leaves this weekend for a month in Europe and I’ve been uncomfortable with giving him wads of cash but I know many places don’t take traveler’s checks any more and the credit card companies usually tack on a foreign transaction fee. Have had problems in some countries using our ATM card. Will head over to AAA this week.</p>
<p>There was also a foreign transaction fee for my D last summer using her debit card in Europe (Bank of America is her bank) It was fairly nominal…maybe $3.00 per transaction, I’m not sure.</p>
<p>I just talked to AAA. The card is $4.95 and there is 3% transaction fee for all international transactions.</p>
<p>I stopped in at my bank, and they had a good solution. They set up a new checking account (in my name and DH’s, like the others) and gave me a debit card for it. I can move money into the account whenever I want to. The debit card has DH’s name on it (I thought a male name would be better), but they told me to have S2 sign the card, in DH’s name. He can use it at ATMs and stores, etc. Best of all, they waive the foreign transaction fees. I didn’t know there was a way to get out of these. I usually use my credit cards overseas and there is always a transaction fee.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the information!</p>
<p>For those of you with more time Capital One has no foreign transaction fees. I carry a CO business credit card and DD is currently on a semester abroad.
Before she left I got a personal card with a second card in her name. Perfect. I can see the transactions online daily (and email her with questions!) and no transaction fees.</p>
<p>For those of you going with a debit card be sure to explain to kids to guard the pin when they use the card. Need to use your hand to cover the keypad. In some places (mexico is fairly notorious) they do have problems with skimmers being put on the machines.</p>
<p>We got S a Schwab account in his name only; he was under 21. Set up two accounts for him: one was the investment/savings account, which had a more sizeable amount of $, the other was the checking/debit card account. I kept a relatively smaller amount in the debit account, but could easily and quickly move more in from the investment account. Schwab also refunds foreign transaction fees.</p>
<p>bonnie, I was told that S2 had to be at least 16 to have his name on a bank account. He is only 12. The Schwab account sounds good, though. Our bank is waiving foreign transaction fees, but only because we have significant accounts with them.</p>
<p>I went over the AAA today and got my son a travel card. I’m happy with it - it can be used anywhere that takes Visa or debit cards and you can also use it to withdraw cash from ATMs. I can also check the balance and transactions online and replenish the card as he travels. There is a 3% transaction fee but on a $300 card, I figure the $9 plus the $5 card fee is worth it since I don’t have to worry about him carrying around a wad of cash.</p>
<p>A few comments from a recent trip to the UK and comments from my daughter who is in Germany: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>In the UK everything seems to have switched over to a “chip and pin” so any cards issued here will need to be processed manually. In the cities that seems to work ok but not always. I had a woman in the supermarket refuse to manually swipe my card because they get charged a fee for doing this.</p></li>
<li><p>Our daughter experiences a similar thing in Germany. She also says that some merchants won’t take visa only mastercard. Disclaimer: She’s a student YMMV</p></li>
</ol>