Teen Travel in Europe

Ragnar375 · ‎02-27-2023

We are sending our 17 yo son on a 10 day trip to Europe (France and Germany) this summer with his high school.

He's a trustworthy kid, solid A/B student, but hasn't exhibited the best money management skills.

He will need a means to pay for a few meals not included in the trip price, tips, souvenirs, etc. He has a Visa debit card for his USAA checking and savings account and we plan to send him with $200 cash in pocket for misc whatnots.

However, I'd also like to be able to send him with a credit card that stays in his luggage/room should something extreme and unexpected come up or if his wallet get lost or stolen. (Thinking a $5k limit?).

All of my credit cards have FTF fees, plus would like something he can be an authorized user on now, but help him establish his own credit when he turns 18.
My FICO Bankcard scores are 692, 696, and 650.

Any suggestions for a credit card best suited?

Thanks in advance.

ChargedUp · ‎02-27-2023

@Ragnar375 wrote:
We are sending our 17 yo son on a 10 day trip to Europe (France and Germany) this summer with his high school.

He's a trustworthy kid, solid A/B student, but hasn't exhibited the best money management skills.

He will need a means to pay for a few meals not included in the trip price, tips, souvenirs, etc. He has a Visa debit card for his USAA checking and savings account and we plan to send him with $200 cash in pocket for misc whatnots.

However, I'd also like to be able to send him with a credit card that stays in his luggage/room should something extreme and unexpected come up or if his wallet get lost or stolen. (Thinking a $5k limit?).

All of my credit cards have FTF fees, plus would like something he can be an authorized user on now, but help him establish his own credit when he turns 18.
My FICO Bankcard scores are 692, 696, and 650.
Any suggestions for a credit card best suited?

Thanks in advance.

Fico 8 Bankcard isn't truly the same as a standard Fico 8, but loosely using those scores, I would try the pre-qual page at Capital One and see what they offer. ALL of Cap One's cards are no FTF so anything they offer would work.

Edit to add: What are your current cards/lenders? It may be possible for you to product change a current card you have for a no FTF card as well

bourgogne · ‎02-27-2023

@Ragnar375 wrote:
We are sending our 17 yo son on a 10 day trip to Europe (France and Germany) this summer with his high school.

He's a trustworthy kid, solid A/B student, but hasn't exhibited the best money management skills.

He will need a means to pay for a few meals not included in the trip price, tips, souvenirs, etc. He has a Visa debit card for his USAA checking and savings account and we plan to send him with $200 cash in pocket for misc whatnots.

However, I'd also like to be able to send him with a credit card that stays in his luggage/room should something extreme and unexpected come up or if his wallet get lost or stolen. (Thinking a $5k limit?).

All of my credit cards have FTF fees, plus would like something he can be an authorized user on now, but help him establish his own credit when he turns 18.
My FICO Bankcard scores are 692, 696, and 650.
Any suggestions for a credit card best suited?

Thanks in advance.

hello. I would not send him there with any us cash, I assume the airport drop/pickup is covered. put $500 in the ATM and he can pull euro out of any atm there as he needs it. forget about ftfs, he is not paying for air or lodging or any big ticket items, it does not matter. do you have a military affiliation? you, father, grandfather, anybody? if so, nfcu is your ticket, get either a primary card from them or if denied deposit $5K for a secured card with that sl. then make him an au on it. go to experian.com, do a $1 trial, refresh all 3 scores and post them. why are your scores low? france and germany, those are the right places to go, hopefully he is going to munich, such a great city

edit: for clarity, after you sign up for the ex trial and pull all 3 scores go to membership and downgrade the account. you can do this right away, don't forget

CYBERSAM · ‎02-27-2023

I have used Cap1 Venture and Quicksilver overseas with no issues! They have no FTF and probably give you the least hard time about transaction approvals!

You can monitor AU spending and make extra payments if needed, therefore no need to have a large credit limit available.

Anonymous · ‎02-28-2023

@bourgogne wrote:
forget about ftfs, he is not paying for air or lodging or any big ticket items, it does not matter.

I was thinking this. If the only use for the card is going to be "emergencies only" there is little point in getting a no FTF card just for this if you can add him to one of yours. If you plan on international travel in the nearish future, then it is probably worth getting one.

No FTF on no AF cards used to be rare, basically CapitalOne, but now there are lots of choices, Cap One is still a reasonable option

markbeiser · ‎02-28-2023

Something unrelated to consider.
Make sure his smart phone isn't going to cost you a fortune for him to use during the trip, especially data.
You don't want to contribute to the many MANY horror stories of several thousand dollar cell phone bills...

Current FICO8:

bourgogne · ‎02-28-2023

@markbeiser wrote:
Something unrelated to consider.
Make sure his smart phone isn't going to cost you a fortune for him to use during the trip, especially data.
You don't want to contribute to the many MANY horror stories of several thousand dollar cell phone bills...

good catch and this is no joke. its the only reason I stick with t-mobile, n/c international roaming

markbeiser · ‎02-28-2023

@bourgogne wrote:
@markbeiser wrote:
Something unrelated to consider.
Make sure his smart phone isn't going to cost you a fortune for him to use during the trip, especially data.
You don't want to contribute to the many MANY horror stories of several thousand dollar cell phone bills...
good catch and this is no joke. its the only reason I stick with t-mobile, n/c international roaming

I've heard of way worse, but a friend of mine's kid racked up almost $6k in data usage on a 2 week trip to Germany.🤣

Current FICO8:

SpaceCityCCuser · ‎02-28-2023

@markbeiser wrote:
@bourgogne wrote:
@markbeiser wrote:
Something unrelated to consider.
Make sure his smart phone isn't going to cost you a fortune for him to use during the trip, especially data.
You don't want to contribute to the many MANY horror stories of several thousand dollar cell phone bills...
good catch and this is no joke. its the only reason I stick with t-mobile, n/c international roaming
I've heard of way worse, but a friend of mine's kid racked up almost $6k in data usage on a 2 week trip to Germany.🤣

Ahh yes, I actually got the Google Fi sim card when I went to Europe. It was good to be able to call people when I walked off the plane. I then bought local sim cards for my family's phones. It's not a bad option, make sure your phone is unlocked if you bought it through a cell service provider also.

Last Signature Update: 09/01/25 | 2025 Total AF = $1560 (2025 credits redeemed *organically* $1465)

Credit Age:
Approvals (Chase 5/24 not counting business cards):
Inquiries:

Financial Institutions:
Cards on the Radar:
2 plus years away cards:

Anonymous · ‎02-28-2023

Also, make sure that you CAN actually make calls (you may need to explain to your children that that is special mode that the phone supports).

I was at Heathrow last December when there were multi-day delays to some destinations. A young American woman had been trying to go somewhere (maybe Sweden) and flights had been cancelled for 2 days, and when she went online to rebook, as instructed, she was eventually told that it cannot be handled online and she should call.. (the BA centre with several hour hold times!) She explained at the desk that her phone didn't work in the UK.

Being "the customer is hardly ever right, and even then" UK, she was eventually told to leave so that they could deal with customers trying to check in for the next flight and "come back later", presumably at a time when there were no flights departing (which at a little local airport like Heathrow is, um ,never). I felt sorry for her, although, being a Brit, not my problem..... Certainly in the old days you could have a phone that didn't work at all in the UK (CDMA for example) but probably now it's just a case of making sure that the plan allows some calls both back home and in country...

(We are not all quite that cold hearted. There was an American 17 year old who had been stuck at the airport for 3 days, didn't know anyone, and was trying to go home. As she was almost crying, rather than being brash like the first one, staff were attempting to assist her)