Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
First few trips, we used travelers checks along with CCs . Last trip, debit card and it was fine. I am always terrified of losing my passport so I wear one of those neck pouch things along with money. Granted, it looks weird, but I am not going to keep my wallet in my back pocket. I really don't like those cargo pants with all the pockets as well. While in Italy, a lady in our group almost got mugged by a gypsy but thankfully we stopped it.
Wife is disabled now so I doubt I will go overseas again. The last time, we almost had to bury her in Paris. Travel while you have your health. Money and time come and go but when your health goes, there is no return.
We carry a small amount of cash to cover tips, trinkets and trash.
Everything else we charge.
If I know that I will be going to a casino (before COVID) I carried 2K in a money belt
Remember, there are ATMs everywhere!
For foreign travelers, credit companies charge the sale at the up to date conversion rate. (All of that said, we don't pay ATM or International exchange fees for our account)
When traveling, how do you handle and protect your money?
Once, I left Alabama with all my worldly wealth ($35) and my old car, and drove to Seattle. Nobody said "You're insane to carry that much cash around", but it was worth $500 in today's dollars.
I'm a hosteler abroad, so I just carry enough crisp Benjamins in my money belt, changing them as needed. But what do you do if you stay in $150 hotels? A couple weeks of that, plus a couple of plane tickets to Rome, and you're over most people's credit limit. And the daily ATM limit would have you running to a ATM literally every other day. Even with my cash, my $100 bills would be too thick to jam 20 of then in my money belt. I get nervous when my Mastercard disappears from view in a Ukrainian ATM, or even Mexican.
That 35 bucks in 1960 was no problem, but then, everybody wasn't presumed to be guilty of being a money-laundering narco-terrorist, and there was a billl larger than $7 ($100 in today's money. I worked in a shop after school and saw lots of twenties ($300). But now a gas station won't take a fifty on a fifty-dollar fill-up.
What?? If your credit limit is that low, then stay home. You should not be spending money on travel.
You can pay the card charges the next day via your mobile app. That way your balance stays low. If you can actually afford where you are going, there is no reason to go over your limit.
In the US I carry around $100 cash and use a CC for everything possible.
I have mainly only traveled to Europe. I use cash I get out of a ATM using my debit card. I have a CC as a back up. I let my Credit Union linked to the debit card know I will be in Europe and the dates. I raise my daily limit to way more than I should ever need.
I pay for everything I can before I go, EuroRail, museum passes, and as many of the other places I plan on visiting as possible. This has worked great for me on multiple occasions.
I mostly just travel within the USA. I carry a debit, credit and maybe $40-60 cash. I can take cash out of any ATM for free with my credit union, they refund the fees to me.
But what do you do if you stay in $150 hotels? A couple weeks of that, plus a couple of plane tickets to Rome, and you're over most people's credit limit.
Buy the plane tickets in advance and pay off the credit card before leaving. Problem solved.
Charge plane tickets and accommodations to credit card before travel. Charge practically everything else to credit card during the trip. Change into local currency what I think I'll need for small expenses, either on the airport on arrival, or somewhere in the city if there is a much better exchange rate (there usually isn't, the airport tends to be okay). Carry more $ in money belt. Have ATM card as a backup, but very rarely need it.
I carry everything (cash, plastic cards, passport, cellphone) in a money belt. I carry a separate wallet with a small amount of cash and a couple of expired cards, which I would hand to a mugger if needed. But I try to avoid getting mugged in the first place - I don't go to questionable areas, and am back to hostel before dark in the US and Europe (though not always in Asia, where I feel safer).
Buy the plane tickets in advance and pay off the credit card before leaving. Problem solved.
No no no. Never pay off a credit card until the product or service has been fulfilled. If there is a dispute, make sure you are holding the money yourself until it is resolved.
I once landed in Stockholm years ago before there was a train and had no cash on me at all. I went to the bank of ATM machines and they were all out of order with a network outage. Back then, cab drivers only took cash so I had no easy way to get to my hotel. I wandered around the airport and managed to find a working AMEX machine where I could get a (costly) cash advance. Lesson learned, I always travel with a few US $100 bills tucked away in my wallet for an emergency. Invariably, I redeposit them with my bank when I get home.
Cash comes from ATMs. My brick & mortar bank has a pretty stiff foreign ATM fee so I generally pull out money in large-ish chunks. My internet bank, Ally Bank, has a free network in the UK. There’s an AllPoint machine across the street from my Heathrow hotel I can walk to on the way to the pub on our arrival night. There’s one near our hotel and tube station in central London. Elsewhere, I only use ATMs that are inside banks.
I travel with a Capital One 1 1/2% card that doesn’t have international fees. My primary CitiBank 2% cash back card has stiff fees. I generally use credit cards for everything possible. I occasionally run into the chip & pin mess at kiosks but that is increasingly rare.
No no no. Never pay off a credit card until the product or service has been fulfilled. If there is a dispute, make sure you are holding the money yourself until it is resolved.
If you dispute a charge because of a legit reason (like product/service not being fulfilled) you get the credit back regardless of whether you paid it off.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
