Money in Europe

Take a debit card linked to your checking account, and use automatic teller machines at any bank that is part of the same network (Cirrus or another) as yours. See the "Travel Tips" link in this website for more information about getting money. Be sure to notify your bank about your travel plans so they don't freeze your account when they see a withdrawal from elsewhere in the world. The same goes for your credit card issuer.

You'll get the best rate of exchange available to us non-plutocrats by using ATMs. You may also have to pay a fee to your own bank and/or a European bank. Since this is likely to be charged per transaction, try to minimize the number of transactions by taking out large amounts each time.

If you were an American, I would tell you absolutely not to use a cash card, because there have been reports of people taking those to Europe, only to find that they do not work at all. At least some of them keep hitting you with fees. I cannot say for sure that those issues apply to Australian cash cards, but I will warn you that they may.

It's best to use a combination of your ATM card (to get cash from European ATMs) and your credit card (for direct charging of purchases). In addition to notifying the card issuers that you will be using their cards in Europe (they'll want to know which specific countries), you should ask about fees for use in Europe. There may be flat fees and/or percentage-based fees. Once you know what those are, you can determine whether you want to maximize use of your credit card or minimize use of it. If you don't like the answers you get, you may have time to open a second account or get another credit card with more customer-friendly policies.

In Australia, a Travel card is loaded, by you with the currencies you need when travelling, i.e. Euros for my trip.
You are not charged at anytime when you use it to "purchase" anything. If you use it at an ATM, you are charged per transaction.
That is why I was thinking, use it for all my accom. food, shopping, etc and have AUS$ to exchange for my cash transactions?

I wouldn’t rely on a travel card. Use an ATM machine to get Euros with your ATM or debit card. I use my credit card for everything I do and use cash only if credit cards aren’t accepted. I stay within my budget. I don’t like to carry a lot of cash. Also, take more than one credit card so you have a spare if you lose one. That does happen, unfortunately.

Maybe some our Australian correspondents can chime in (djp_syd?) on how they manage. What you describe sounds like a very expensive way to go as the travel card has to make money somehow and usually that is with hidden fees on the currency translation.

The Aussie Dollar is a major currency and trades continuously on the international banking network. That means at any given instant, millions of AUDs and EUR are being traded between banks and when you charge something on your credit card or withdraw money from an ATM, your pittance will join that massive stream of transactions, and you will be charged somewhat less than 1 % for joining that stream. Your bank might tag on extra fees, and the foreign ATM might charge a fee of a few EUR, which will be disclosed on the ATM. But to say that you get a better exchange rate in Australia than in Europe is not true. There is one exchange rate at any given instant all over the world that is changing second to second as millions of units of AUD and EUR are continuously traded, 24-7, following the the sun across the sky. But when you deal with a currency exchange or travel card outfit, they can name what ever rate they want, and believe you me, they will always tell you "no commission" and "best available rate". Its called commercial speech. A salesman is allowed to say whatever they want and you can't say they are lying. They're just being "persuasive".

Well not everywhere will take a "travel card" so you will need cash and a credit card. I use my ATM card and withdraw a large sum ( 300 euros or so ) every 4-5 days( depends on my spending ) as I prefer to use cash mostly and only use my credit card for larger charges like hotel bills and train tickets, and an occasional splurge meal .

I would talk to my bank.. my bank has a certain type of account where if you maintain a certain balance I get free no fee foriegn ATM withdrawals.. and since many places ( like france ) the ATMs dont charge a fee.. I can withdraw fee free. I even set this type of account up for my daughter when she was 19 and traveled to Europe for almost three months.. she didnt have enough to keep that balance, so I put the money in for the minimum balance she needed, and she added all her money on top, and she only withdrew to the amount she had deposisted. When she returned we closed the account and i took my money back.

When i have 300 euros or so I dont keep it with me but in my hotel safe..but put it in a moneybelt and wear it under my clothes when in actual transit from place to place. I just keep 50-100 euros in my purse for day to day spending.

I think you miss understood me

I know we have crap rates in Australia.
I believe we would get a better rate in Europe

If you are going to use this travel card for most purchases, you will have to have it conveniently available to you most of the time, which means it is also conveniently available to pickpockets. It's also possible that you'll simply lose it or leave it behind somewhere. Trust me, as an experienced traveler to Europe - and other places - there are times when you'll be confused, forgetful, or just distracted.

You want to have enough cash in your pocket or purse for the day's expected expenses - food, trinkets, drinks, entrance fees, and small souvenirs. Keep the card in a money belt you're wearing under your slacks/skirt. If you need to access it, you can duck into a toilet or even a quiet corner to pull it out. Also have a back-up debit card, credit card, something in case you lose the main card, or as sometimes happens, it simply doesn't work. Make sure you can cancel it if it's stolen and get a replacement within 2-3 days while you're traveling. And make sure you know who to contact (and how). \

Banks have different rules, even in the same country. I had an instance when my credit card stopped working, the day before I flew from Italy to Spain. I called the bank, within 48 hours of my arrival in Spain I had a new card. I once lost (sheer carelessness) my ATM/debit card in Spain. I called the bank, they immediately cancelled it but said they would only send a replacement card to my home address - not at all useful. Luckily I had a lot of cash and a credit card to get me through the next 3 weeks.

My advice to you Di is that you should travel with an all expenses paid personal money carrier. Of course, I am willing to immediately offer you my services for this important job.

Seriously though, I don’t bother with travel cards or pre arranged cash, I just take my Visa, Amex and ATM cards. On landing I head straight to a bank ATM at the airport and withdraw 300€, which is currently the equivalent of about AU$470.

Make sure ...
1. it’s a bank ATM, not an exchange agency like Travelex.
2. you can easily change the ATM operating language to English.
3. when asked to choose which bank to perform the currency conversion, select ‘YOUR BANK’.
4. you avoid withdrawing lots of smaller amounts as you pay a flat fee per withdrawal.

I have found the exchange rate that my bank (ANZ) uses is about the best I could expect to get anywhere. Then for hotels and large purchases, I use my Amex or Visa cards.

Some people prefer travel cards, but in all honesty I don’t think you save anything with them, so why bother with the effort.

Regardless, keep your valuables (cash, cards, passport) tucked away in a money belt on your body. A 50€ note in your front pocket will see you through the day for lunch, entry fees and transport fares.

Have a great trip. By the way, where are you heading to?

My husband and I are from Sydney and we travel to Europe once a year to visit family. When we first started travelling we used money cards with our St George debit card as a back up. The St George card ended up costing quite a bit in ATM and foreign currency conversion fees. We did not find any advantage from using the travel money card.
For the last couple of years we have used a Citibank card as the fees have been much lower. We use this card to pay for most things including restaurants and supermarkets. We also like to arrive with a little bit of Euro in cash to get us started.
We have never travelled with Australian cash to exchange. I don’t think that the exchange rate has been noticeably different in Europe to what we get in Australia.

In Australia, a Travel card is loaded, by you with the currencies you
need when travelling, i.e. Euros for my trip. You are not charged at
anytime when you use it to "purchase" anything.

• What happens to your money if the Travel Card is stolen or lost?
• Is there a replacement card sent to you with the full remaining money you had prior to its loss or theft? If so, how quickly do you receive the replacement card?

I was curious about the Australian travel card, so I Googled and found that Australian Post has one. I would assume its conversion rates are as good as any. What it's currently giving for 1 AUD is between .5977 and .6057 euros. If you want euro cash, they use the .5977 rate; if you have the CashPassport Travel Card and load funds onto it, you get .6057. Oanda is currently showing a rate of 1 AUD = .6361.

That means it costs about 4.8% to load the travel card. I bet there are Australian ATM cards and credit cards that beat that handily.