MONEY IN EUROPE

Bill, that's wonderful news. I'm learning a lot. What's a Mastercard 'chip' ?

Europe uses a form of credit card known as"chip and pin"which is different from the cards used in the US. Many of their machines won't take our card s, so getting one that meets their format is helpful.

Sorry, Bill, but this advice is SO wrong. You're saying you should pay the fees and bad exchange rate to get pounds or euros in the US, then pay again through the bad exchange rate, to get a prepaid Travelex card? And what kind of rate do they buy back the unused money for? I bet it's not what you paid in the first place. As you found with your regular credit card, a chip&pin card is not necessary for making purchases. Secure? What if you lose it with all of your travel money on it? And it doesn't sound like it was trouble free if you had to call Travelex mid-trip to fix your registration problem. Except for unmanned toll booths or gas stations, or ticket kiosks, you don't need a chip&pin card, especially not at Travelex's inflated rates and fees.

I checked into the Travelex card and it was going to cost way more then just getting money out of my credit union account at an ATM in Europe. I got by just fine buying gas and paying tolls with cash. I was able to buy gas at a manned station using my regular credit card.

Bill, on what are you basing this advice.. I have to agree with others, its not a great idea. I simply use my ATM card and withdraw money when I need it ,, a few hundred euros at a time. My bank does not charge for ATM transactions( you will have to find a bank in the United States that does this, apparently there are a few or they have very small fees).. . I simply keep bulk of cash in my money belt or hotel safe and then only one days worth in my purse. I have done this now for last 20 years almost. ATMs in France and Italy do not charge withdrawal fees either. Alot less hassle.

I also disagree. I use my ATM cards and pay cash for almost all of our transactions, big and small. I helped out a family of four last December find their way in Venice who were having so much problems with their Travelex card (they were having problems accessing their money). Fortunately, they had a credit card to fall back on; but, oh so inconvenient, especially when they had to buy vaporetto tickets in a stop without an attended kiosk.

While there are cases in which a Travelex card or buying Euros in the US before leaving is necessary or convenient, from a purely financial standpoint, this is very poor advice. There are many, many threads here detailing the most cost effective ways to obtain local currency or make purchases. This is an easy summary: Exchange office (10%+) > pre-purchase of cash in US/Canada (5-10%) > Travelex (5-10%) > withdrawing funds from an ATM (standard bank fees 3-5%) > credit card (standard fees 3-4%) > ATM's or credit cards with no/low fees (0-1%) The % costs are those fees and rates above the daily interbank rate. And remember - everytime you buy or sell cash, you will lose money!

Well, despite all the adverse reactions, I remain unconvinced. I got exchange rates from Travelex that were comparable to what I got on my debit card, did not pay any foreign currency fees, had 2 cards to split between me and my wife so that losing one was not disabling, a toll-free # to call if it were stolen, and it worked in every ticket machine, restaurant, museum, boat, train, plane in which I tried it. I would not advocate carrying 2 credit cards, a debit card, having to get up to your cash limit every other day (I had 5 people in my party) to be sure you could pay the dinner bill, on the ASSUMPTION you could save $3.54 cents by using your credit or debit cards. The convenience alone was worth the expense (which after I sold my residual pounds and euros back today at a decrement of 3 cents on the euro was $30 dollars). Tell you what, the financiers among us ought to continue using their debit cards and wrangling with their banks to waive ATM fees, while the folks who think a Paris Visite card is good value just because it gets them to the head of the Louvre line, whether they actually save money on entrance fees or not, can swallow their pride and use Travelex. Happy Traveling!

"Tell you what, the financiers among us ought to continue using their debit cards and wrangling with their banks to waive ATM fees, while the folks who think a Paris Visite card is good value just because it gets them to the head of the Louvre line, whether they actually save money on entrance fees or not, can swallow their pride and use Travelex." So.... isn't that what we are doing? The people who understand the system are using debit cards (I don't have to get ATM fees waived because I don't have any), and the misguided people are using Travelex?

It's not an assumption that you save money using your own debit and credit cards over Travelex. As noted before, Travelex may be worth the cost to some people for the convenience or for those needing a chip & pin card. But Travelex is a for-profit exchange and money service. Your local bank/CC company probably charges fees to cover their exchange costs, but that is not their profit focus. Not knowing your bank and their policies, I can still show you the cost difference. Right now the Travelex dollar-Euro rate is .7149 The interbank rate is .7899 That is a 10% difference. All banks/CC's use within 1% of the interbank rate. Most then charge between 1-5% in foreign exchange fees and withdrawl fees. So just using your own debit and credit cards will save you at least 5%. If you spent $2000 on your vacation, Travelex would cost you $200, plus the 10% rate on any re-conversion of leftover funds. At worst, you'd only lose $100 just using your own accounts (and no re-conversion). Those numbers only get worse the more time or money you spend. Whether Travelex is worth the cost is up to each person, but there IS a cost. Take a little time to get a no-fee account, and you'd save almost the entire $200. That's a full day's cost of a vacation for many people.

Just got back from France. Due to information in the Rick Steve's Paris book, I asked my bank about a card with a chip. This is Houston, an international city. They had never heard of it. I got a separate bank account with a debt card thar couldn't be used to access other accounts. This worked everywhere but for Metro cards, and Air France extra bags. A very nice young Frenchman rescued me at the Paris Metro station by using his card to buy my 4 day pass, I paid him with my cash. I also used the only one of 3 credit cards that promised to not charge foreign exchange fees. Plan on telling that to the others when they send deals if I use their credit cards.