First time to Greece May 9-18, Currency and Cell phone questions

Verizon will charge you $10/day each day you turn on your phone. If you do not use it, you will not be charged.

Visit a local US bank before you travel for Euros. It took 5 days for our bank to order them. Take a mix of $ and Euros. Avoid airport charges for currency exchanges.

I am super interested as well on the cell phone - is there a way to get a local SIM card to use internet (for gps mainly)? Does this need to be done at the Athens airport or can be done on the islands?

Thank you for the info! I will go to my bank tomorrow, and I will contact Verizon too.

Travel pros get most of their Euros from the first bank-owned ATM they find upon landing in Europe. Some also prefer to get some Euros at home (I don't), but the ATM in Europe gives you the best possible exchange rate. Just find out what your credit union or bank charges per use and as a currency conversion fee (I pay $0 and 0% with my credit union, but big US banks usually charge a few bucks per ATM use). You'll still likely get the best price at an ATM in Greece, even if you get some Euros at home first.

Try to use your credit card (make sure no foreign transaction fee if possible e.g. Costco Citi visa) as much as you can.

Unlike AT&T phones, Verizon phones aren't locked (yet), so you can either buy a Greek SIM when you land (you'll lose your Verizon number until you put your Verizon SIM back into the phone) or pay $10/day for Verizon's international roaming plan. (On days you use it.) Still free to use your phone on WiFi FYI. If your phone has WiFi calling, try to use it for free calls and texts.

You don't need mobile data for GPS FYI - at least for driving. Apps like Google Maps have an "offline" mode for driving - but not for walking/public transit directions, so it's still nice to have a working phone with mobile data for that.

Get your euros out of the ATM in Greece.

Thank you everyone for all the great advise!

One other tip. ATMs, at least for English bank accounts, will offer two options if you are drawing cash
a) to convert on the spot and tell you what the withdrawal will cost in your own currency
b) simply to show the withdrawal in local currency.

You always want to accept the second option and withdraw in local currency. The exchange rate on the first is invariably quite a bit worse.

It pays to be slightly careful here. A couple of times recently in Greece I've chosen the second option but then been shown a final 'confirmation' screen with 'convert now' as the default option.

Alan

All good advice about just using the ATM's to get your euros. There is actually no point in bringing your dollars they are not accepted and if you have to convert them it will have to be at a currency exchange or bank and you will be charged for the service. Just use the ATMs.

Super easy to get euros from ATM in airport. Just make sure your card issuers know you are going overseas or cards won't work. AT&T has a $60 monthly plan as an alternative to $10 a day plan if you must have phone usage. May work out better if you use phone as GPS or can't resist texting the home folks.

Hey!!

It is great that you are visiting Greece :) I mostly pay with my credit card or ATM card the last few years and had no issue. Plastic money seems to roll well in 2018! Regarding the phone, I've seen companies like Vodafone and Cosmote giving away sim cards to tourists. You can find them outside some central metro stations like Syntagma or Acropoli. Or you could go at a Vodafone Store or Cosmote Store and buy a sim card, I believe they cost around 10 euros. The signal is fine, these are the main big companies in Greece. They offer data packages. You will also find out that Greeks love free wi-fi. Offered in hotels, cafes, restaurants, metro stations, other public areas etc ;)

What I figured out and did in Italy in 2017 will work in Greece in 2018. Call your bank or use their website to tell them when you will be in Greece. Find the first ATM at the airport. Alan is right to select options to display the amount in Euros, not in US dollars. I paid for everything with cash - hostels, food, tickets, and so on. My bank charged $5 US dollars per ATM transaction; I was screwed on the ATM fees and there is nothing to do about it now. Always have coins for bathrooms, because at some places in Europe the only way the janitors get paid and have money to maintain the place is to directly charge users. Credit cards are used less often in other countries than in the USA. Less sophisticated businesses in Europe don’t take them; I used a credit card once in Englnd and time was wasted waiting for them to print me a slip of paper for me to sign.