How to Pay While Travelling

A question every traveller asks themselves before leaving their home country is ‘how much foreign currency money should I bring’? Before getting into the cash, let’s look at some other financial mechanism required for your trip.  The recommendations listed below are for European and North American travel but they may also be used for other destination. Do the research and ensure these approaches will work. Planning how much money to bring for a trip is essential. Let’s break it down:

  1. Credit Cards:

    • Have Multiple Cards: Ensure you have more than one credit card, preferably from different brands. If one card is lost, stolen, or damaged, having a backup is crucial. I remember an incident in Ireland when the Visa network had an outage for about 10 hours, but luckily we had a MasterCard to rely on. Visa and MasterCard work on different networks.

    • Sufficient Available Credit: Check that your credit card(s) have enough available credit to cover your entire trip. Some unexpected expenses might arise, so having a buffer is wise.

    • Always Pay in Local Currency: When you make a purchase in a foreign country and you are asked if you want to pay in your home country currency or local, always pay in local currency. Example the retailer offers to convert your purchase in you home currency, decline this offer and pay in the local currency you are at. If you paid in your home currency, the retailer charges you a very high exchange rate. This is referred to a DCC, Dynamic Currency Conversion.

    • No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Card: Some people may prefer a no foreign transaction fee credit card when they are travelling, but this is personal preference and may need to balance between a no foreign transaction fee credit card versus potentially collecting loyalty program points with usual credit card.

  2. The Wise Card (Debit Card):

    • The Wise Card is a game-changer for travelers. It’s a prepaid Visa Debit card that allows you to hold multiple currencies. Here’s why it’s great:

      • Low Exchange Fees: You get a favorable exchange rate when moving money from your home currency to a foreign currency (e.g., euros).

      • Perfect for Small Purchases: Use it for small transactions at places like coffee shops, train stations, and souvenir shops or wherever you would normal pay with cash.

      • Easy to Load: Loud enough money to cover most of your costs or enough to cover how much you think you would prefer to pay with debit. If you run out of funds, you can quickly load more money into your Wise account via email money transfer.

      • Reduces that amount of cash you need to bring: Limiting your cash being stolen and you can always load more from your home bank account if you need more.

      • ATM Withdrawals: Need cash? You can withdraw euros from your Wise account at any ATM.

      • Our Andorra Experience: Once, while in Andorra, we needed cash but had no funds left in our Wise account. No worries! We email-transferred money from our bank account back home to Wise. Then, using the Wise app, we converted that money to euros. A quick ATM withdrawal, and we were all set. Plus, this particular bank didn’t charge a withdrawal fee.

      • Note: Some merchants don’t accept prepaid cards, so it’s good to have traditional credit cards as well. I found that paying with the Wise card in the Greek Islands was inconsistent.  Some merchant accepted it and many did not.  However while in Athens, every merchant I shopped at accepted it

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • Tapping your credit/debit card is great convenient feature, and it’s also convenient for a fraudster who somehow steals your credit/debit card. Keep in mind that all they need to is tap as well! It’s incredibly important to make sure you do not loose or forget your credit/debit cards.

  • A debit card or a prepaid Visa Debit, such as the Wise card will NOT be accepted as a form of payment for hotels, car rentals etc. This is because there is no available credit to secure incidentals/additional charges by the merchant.

3. Cash:

    • While digital payment methods are prevalent, there are still situations where cash is necessary. For instance, some roadside stands or one-off taxi drivers might not accept cards.

    • My personal preference is to bring the equivalent of around $200 in euros as cash. This should cover those instances where cards aren’t accepted and remember you can use the Wise card if you need more cash.

Remember, flexibility is key. Having a mix of payment options ensures you’re prepared for any scenario during your adventure!