It was once part of every traveler’s pre-planning. Along with passports and flight tickets, we would not set off without their travelers’ checks. Nowadays, with fewer merchants taking traveler’s checks and also the comparatively high fees for buying and cashing them, a number of travelers have moved to credit, debit, and ATM cards as their method to obtain money while traveling.
Some of the following ideas might be helpful:
Visa and MasterCard charge a one percent fee for foreign transactions, and most banks tack on another two percent to change the transactions to US dollars. Seek advice from your credit, debit and ATM card providers to ascertain which of your credit cards are most travel-friendly, or sign up for a brand new card with a provider that waives or reduces the fees.
Make sure you have sufficient credit and/or funds deposited, and verify expiration dates on the cards you have selected. Several foreign ATM’s accept four-digit PINs only and commonly don’t display letters on the keyboards. If you use a word to remember your PIN, commit to memory the numeric equivalent before departing home.
Unusual foreign transactions may be flagged as bogus, therefore notify your credit, debit and ATM card companies about your travel plans to prevent a freeze on your bank account. Consider taking more than one credit card to make certain you have a choice should your account be frozen.
Create a record of convenient ATM locations in your vacation destination cities just before you set off. Both Visa and MasterCard have on-line global ATM locators covering more than 210 countries. Make certain the ATM card displays a Visa, MasterCard, Cirrus or Plus logo for worldwide approval.
Prepaid debit cards are a safe, albeit more expensive, alternative to a conventional debit or ATM card. You merely purchase the value required in advance of the occasion and use it in ATM machines while vacationing. Because the card is not linked to your checking account, there is no risk of being wiped out should it be stolen or lost, however there are usually extra fees involved.
Make all of your purchases in local currency, and beware of retailers offering to change your purchases into US dollars. These vendors generally increase the exchange rates by as much as five percent.
Cash-to-Cash machines are widespread, especially in Europe. They look like ATMs – the big difference being that you feed in currency rather than a card. Although they seem very practical, they are best avoided because they charge higher exchange rates. The exact same is true for the currency exchange booths at numerous international airports.
Exchange rates and commission fees may be expensive when changing foreign currency back to US funds, so try to reduce your cash withdrawals to just what you need. Use your remaining currency for a final meal or souvenir, or tuck it away for your next trip.
One last note for those souvenirs and purchases in the pro shop, make sure you request the tax refund forms if the country you are visiting offers tax refunds to tourists. In many cases, it is simply a matter of completing the form, attaching a copy of your receipt (normally an extra copy of the receipt is provided by the retailer) and dropping it in the appropriate box at the airport when you depart.
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