ATM and Money Matters

December 5, 2010

 On this gray Sunday morning, I’m sitting in Panera Bread in  Dedham, MA. I just met with Mo, who answered my Craigslist “ad” to help me with this blog. He is a young computer guy who is going back to school next semester and also sells real estate in Hyde Park. Now I will be able to add pictures! Plus Mo will be my “go to guy" for quick computer questions. He has several websites such as www.bucketbeats.com!

How you want to deal with money when you travel is really a personal decision! I take” X” amount of currency for the country I'm going to. I have US money changed at a local bank, and then I depend on ATMs as I travel to replenish my funds. All banks do not convert US cash to foreign, but Citizens Bank in the Boston area does this easily. Unless I go to a main bank, which has foreign currency in inventory, I need to order the amount that I want ahead of time.  Getting money when you travel is more of a challenge travelling outside of the US. I prefer to use cash rather than credit cards so there is less financial pain on re-entry! (You might want to check with your bank to see how much the transaction fee is, as it does vary from bank to bank. That is another reason why you want to avoid making lots of withdrawals.)  I only use credit cards for major purchases. Most credit cards charge 3% additional for the transaction in addition to the conversion. (Capital One is one card that does not have this additional charge.)  I have read in many places that using credit cards is “better” because you get the best rate, but I don’t agree with that.

Until I’ve made my first ATM withdrawal in a new location, I am a bit apprehensive. “What if I can’t get any money here? Then what?” As a result I usually travel with two cards so that if one doesn’t work, I use the other one. Outside of the US, you need to be sure that your PIN is four digits. As a last resort, I figure I would have to go into a bank and try to the manager to solve the problem of not having any cash! I also don’t wait until I am down to my last €…that would be way too stressful! Last summer when I traveled most ATMs would not  allow international withdrawals of more than €250.
When I was travelling in Italy and Spain last summer, the ATMs usually had language options, which was a very pleasant improvement! Some will have an additional fee for the withdrawal, but many do not have this. There was an additional ICBA fee of $2.54 to withdraw €250.

Many travel books do talk about money belts and hiding money. By this I mean, keep your money and credit cards in different places-bags, backpacks, etc. Again this is a personal decision. Certainly some places are safer than others! I was robbed at the airport when I arrived in Paris in 2005. It was totally my own fault! I was tired from the flight, and we were trying to buy tickets for the Metro, and , I wasn't paying attention. I made it way too easy for someone to reach into my backpack. The good news is that my credit cards were in a separate purse, so they only took €200. (It could have been worse,as I had already given Carol the €200 which I had had gotten for her!

There are many websites to help you follow the value of the dollar versus currency all over the world. I used  http://www.xe.com/ most often. (It says it is "The World's Favorite Currency Site"!) While it was more “fun” and more of a challenge in the pre-Euro days, I think that the Euro makes the money situation easier while travelling in Europe!