Which cards are recommended over seas?

[haulingthescoreup]

My 20-year-old is headed to Ireland this summer. From what we've found on our researches:

Take a debit card and use it for cash pulls. Pull infrequently, but use cash when you can. That will cut down on the number of times you're ding'ed for currency conversions.

MC and Visa are widely accepted. In fact, MC is huge in Europe.

American Express is fine in big cities, etc., but might not get you far in rural areas. (DD will carry my AmEx Gold as an emergency rescue card.)

Forget Discover.

We were also told that we ought to be buying euro's now in anticipation of further currency declines. But I'm not convinced that if we buy them now in the US, we won't pay a horrendous fee, and I don't know if there might be an issue when she goes through Irish customs. You might want to research this...

[Anonymous]

It's pretty futile to try predict currency fluctuations. I always get a wad of foreign currency at the airport (either in the US or on the other side, you get shafted on the spread, either way). There is no customs issue unless you're bringing in really large amounts of cash (for US, it's over $10,000). I often go to Europe with leftover Euros or Pounds from a previous trip in my wallet.

And, yes, use the ATMs. You might get dinged with a fee, but the conversion rate will be more fair than what you'll get at currency exchange places.

I wouldn't bother trying to get foreign currency from a US retail bank.

Message Edited by watchnerd on 04-06-2008 02:41 PM

Message Edited by watchnerd on 04-06-2008 02:43 PM

[Anonymous]

kamilia,

i would STRONGLY suggest to call you CC company and let them know that you will be traveling, cuz many have fraud alerts that are triggered when you have activity outside your normal usage.

Even worse they will deny transactions while you are overseas and are not at home to recieve automated fraud alert calls!

It is best to call and let them know and they will note the account, after that you shouldnt have any problems....

[Anonymous]

Agreed. I've had the card cancellation multiple times due to overseas transactions until I learned to pre-empt that.

[haulingthescoreup]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
It's pretty futile to try predict currency fluctuations. I always get a wad of foreign currency at the airport (either in the US or on the other side, you get shafted on the spread, either way). There is no customs issue unless you're bringing in really large amounts of cash (for US, it's over $10,000). I often go to Europe with leftover Euros or Pounds from a previous trip in my wallet.

And, yes, use the ATMs. You might get dinged with a fee, but the conversion rate will be more fair than what you'll get at currency exchange places.

I wouldn't bother trying to get foreign currency from a US retail bank.

---

Thanks, that was my conclusion, but it's good to have it confirmed by someone who actually travels!

And I agree with the others about giving your CCC's a heads-up that you're traveling! The most recent drama that I read here was by someone who didn't tell his CCC that he was going abroad, and got angry when the froze his account.

If I have charges suddenly popping up on my cards from overseas, I definitely want to hear from my CCC's! If someone is using my cards in other countries, it had better be me.

[Anonymous]

My best investment in the past year?  I bought some watches in Europe and got 200 euros back for the vat refund - making a 20% return in one year.  Now I got a little spending money for the trip my wife and I leave on this week! 

And I use Capital One overseas.  In fact, is in the only time I use credit cards.  I only use debit cards around home, don't like paying credit cards money.  But my debit card charges 3% fee and capital one no fee.....

[Anonymous]

The number for travel notification for Cap 1 is 800-214-4823.

They did suggest calling prior to travel  so there would be no problems with the account being used abroad.

[haulingthescoreup]

Forgot to mention --if you plan to use your debit card overseas, make sure that it's linked to your checking account, not to your savings. There seems to be some sort of problem accessing savings. (I'm clueless as to why; just passing this on!)

[Anonymous]

oooo! this thread has been very helpful. I'm going overseas in the summer.


I have another question that you all haven't covered, what do you think about traveler's cheques? is it worth it or should i just buy currency (euro)? Is AMEX the cheapest place to purchase them? I bank with BoA and noticed that they issue AMEX traveler's cheques at a higher rate than if i went to AMEX directly.

[Anonymous]

Travelers checks are a relic from the pre-ATM days.

I never use them overseas (or anywhere else). I don't see what they allow me to do that I can't do with some combination of either a credit card or ATM card.