Money for young travellers
 

Daughter (aged 23) and son (aged 20) will be travelling separately through Europe this July, not staff travel, and I would like some up-to-date advice on currency.
They will be going to Amsterdam, London, Munich, Paris and Rome, so will they need a fistful of euros, pounds and traveller's cheques, or are there sufficient ATMs to get by?

Erebus,
If they are taking hard cash, make sure that they have £ sterling for the UK. A few places will take €, but the exchange rate will be a total rip off.
They will need Euro's for all the other countries you mention. There are plenty of ATM's available all over Europe, but again, some of these can be a rip off.

Personally, I think your best bet would be to give them Euro travellers cheques, and a little bit of cash.

Do your kids have a credit card?. If not, why not consider getting them on yours. This would be the safest and easiest way to get around the problem.

419

Erebus,

I would recommend opening a Nationwide account and getting a cashpoint card which also acts as a Visa debit. N'wide don't charge commission or interest on foreign withdrawals and exchange at the interbank rate to boot. IMHO this is much more secure, and cheaper, than travellers' cheques.

Ll

LLademos,
I noticed that Erebus lists Perth (Australia or Scotland?) as his/her home.

Is it possible for a non UK resident to open an account in a UK bank or building society. I know it used to be very difficult to do.

hello erebus,

in my opinion a mix of euro tc, credit card and cash will be ok. do your kids have a maestro enabled card? with this they will be able to get cash at nearly every atm or to pay at the most stores, and it will be cheaper than getting cash with a credit card.

once i signed up at visa for a holiday and recognized that my normal "bank card" is maestro enabled, i never used the visa....

you can check further details on the following web site:

http://www.maestrocard.com

good journey for for your kids, and tell them not to visit the hofbraeuhaus in munich, it's a rip off. "seehaus" (located in the "Englischer Garten") is a much better place to taste munich's athmosphere...

:-)

419,

Unless things have drastically changed, you are correct. I got my wife (a Nigerian citizen with UK residency) onto my bank accounts as a joint holder but it took months and all sorts of paperwork such as certified true copies of both our passports (I am a Brit born and bred and already held the accounts !!).

So opening an account just for the purpose of using it for a holiday may prove cumbersome. Maybe there are different rules for different citizens (Nigeria doesn't have a particularly good reputation with the finance industry !!), so it may be worth asking, but IMHO the credit/debit card route would be the easiest and more secure way to go.

Hope this helps.

NEO

419 ... you're absolutely right; I assumed Perth, Scotland!

IN that case, I'd look for the bank (or banks) that charges the least for cash withdrawals and credit card use abroad. Is there an Aussie equivalent of 'Which?'?

I also understand that Amex is starting a 'plastic travellers cheque' scheme, where you buy a card loaded with money which can be used at ATMs.

Ll

Thank you one and all for your prompt advice, I will discuss the various options with the children.
Home is Perth in Western Australia, not Scotland.

If you can get a cashcard that will work in international ATMs (a Maestro one as a previous poster said) I would just take that, one or two credit cards and a small amount of TCs (AU$500, perhaps) in USD or euros for emergencies.

I've never had a problem finding ATMs in Europe and I just got back from a 6-month trip in Asia where ATMs are also plentiful, even in India. The only places I needed cash or TCs were Cambodia and Laos.

TCs are a pain in the arse and cost money to use. If you don't get charged comission on cash withdrawals, ATMs are the way to go. I know Australian banking has a very different approach to ATM use so you'd need to check.

I ended up having a big prob recently while vacationing in Lake Garda. I've used my ATM card all over the world but the sign I need to use wasn't on the machines in northern Italy, the 'link' sign I think & no one in the banks recognised the 'link 'or 'plus' signs'. I had tried to find out of pin number for my credit card before I left but a recorded message told me to use the internet which I foolishly forgot about.

I had to go to a Cambio (Exchange) centre where I had to pay 10% commission. The banks were closed anyway because it was a long weekend. :uhoh:

I tried the banks on the Tuesday but they refused to forward money on my credit card without my pin & I couldn't manage finding it on the internet without a plethora of details which I didn't have with me so it was back to the exchange centre who opened up especially for me early in the morning.

I rang the credit card company when I got back, turns out my stupid credit card was never a chip & pin one in the first place but a sign & pin (so why wouldn't the banks forward me money on it then). :confused: I got my new card the other day, I'll be changing my pin number to the same as my ATM for ease of remembrance.

Be careful, don't fall into the expensive mess that I did. Major credit cards appear to be accepted everywhere but do have you pin number. Be wary of being able to use lesser known cards. :O

I'm lucky I didn't end up living on bread & water between my included breakfasts & dinners that is. ;)

Whatever you decided to do about credit or debit cards, I recommend travelling with some pound and euro notes so there's something to get started with in case there is difficulty using an ATM or whatever.

My other piece of advice is to spread any cash AND cards amongst your wallet and hand bags, so if one gets lost it's not such a big problem.

flyingbee

I think it's important to be aware if you borrow money on your credit card through hole in the wall or bank/exchange buro transactions, interest is charged on the amount you've borrowed immediately rather than after the date you've normally to pay the balance on your statement by. Sometimes credit card companies will transfer funds into your bank card at a far lower rate of interest but this is pointless if they fail to work. A combination Lasercard/Bank Card are supposed to be more reliable abroad but in Ireland anyway would come with the robberous €40 govenment levy they put on credit cards. :*