Visa Gift Cards

To simplify, you could give them the cash or a check, they can deposit it in their bank account here, and then in Europe they can get euros in ATM's and spend it when and as they wish.

hey hey vanse
how old are your grandkids? those visa cards will not work there. maybe open up a debit account at bank or credit union and they can go to an ATM and withdraw money when need be. or buy the money of that country at your bank before they leave and no worries when they arrive.
you'll get different answers from everyone, but i like to have like 100E in my pocket when i get there, then hit the ATM.
aloha

How nice of you to give your Grandkids this gift. The easiest option for you is to give them cash or check to deposit in their bank and withdraw as they need in Europe.

Give them each a fistful of Euros to start their trip.

those visa cards will not work there. maybe open up a debit account at bank or credit union and they can go to an ATM and withdraw money when need be. or buy the money of that country at your bank before they leave

Agree with Princess. As stated VISA cards won't work. And, in the "off chance" they were accepted, the fees would eat up a lot of the monetary value = almost nothing.

As suggested, start them with 100 or so. Get them familiar with each currency/denomination and coin. Some may look similar. Try not to get large currency. It can be hard to change out.

And the ATM card - keep in mind "bank fees" and "withdrawal allowances" as well as "daily exchange rate" which will affect the balance.

Have you looked into a money belt or some type of (deep storage) security purse or small messenger bag?

Make sure they know - Nothing of great value goes into pockets of any kind on their person. And, no valuables in a backpack within "easy reach" for a pickpocket. Secure all deep down.

the fees would eat up a lot of the monetary value

Yup.

MasterCard and Visa do have prepaid cards marketed specifically as travel cards, and that can be used overseas in multiple currencies - TravelEx has a MasterCard one, AAA has a Visa one. These aren't the ones you'll see on the prepaid gift card rack at the grocery store, though. And they certainly come with a host of fees - percentage transaction fees, flat foreign ATM-use fees, monthly fees, possibly even cancelation fees. Granted, even some regular card-network gift cards can come with all sorts of fees, but you'd find a good little bit of the money you load on to them getting chipped away by fees each time they were to use them. On the flip side, they do come with certain things a wad of cash doesn't - some added security, purchase protection, and other such things offered by the card network. So if you were to look in to them I'd compare and contrast them to the alternatives and see what gives you the best terms - if you simply can't open an account at a bank that offers a debit card without foreign transaction fees and such, you're now comparing one option's fees to another option's fees, instead of with no fees at all. Makes it a wee bit easier to stomach!

How old are they ? Traveling by themselves, or with parents ? Do you want to give them "splurge" money or substantial amounts ?
If you want to gift them $25- $50- $100 each for walking-around money, Euros from your bank might be the easiest for all. If they already have checking accounts with associated debit cards (with reasonable foreign ATM charges) then US$ checks to deposit to those accounts.

Agree that cash is king -- but not euros. Good old American dollars can go into their chequing accounts, to be withdrawn in euros in Europe. It will be cheaper than a US purchase. If they don't have accounts, your best gift is to help set them up, another step towards financial responsibility.

Thanks all for the great suggestions.

The grandkids are 10 and 17 and traveling with their parents. I think I will go with the majority here and give them cash that they can put into their accounts and use their debit cards. The younger one’s will go into his parents account and he will draw on that.

Thanks again to all. Very helpful info.

Check with your bank...many of them will give you euros at the straight exchange rate with no additional fees for their customers. It would be nice to give them each a nice wad of cash for their trip to spend!

I very much doubt that any Annetican bank sells foreign currency to customers at the official (interbank) rate. The bank's employees may say the currency is provided without fees, but the employees typically don't know what they are talking about. The exchange rate will be quite poor. There may or may not be a delivery fee (service charge) In addition to the bad exchange rate.