Traveling Europe 101: Cash, Credit, and Traveler’s checks

Before embarking on your trip, make sure to call your credit card companies and bank to inform them you’ll be traveling. This ensures your Credit Cards and your Bank Card will operate during your trip.

There are a plethora of banks throughout the metropolitan areas of Europe, so bringing a large sum of cash isn’t necessary. Depending who you bank with, the transaction fees when exchanging currency with Currency Exchange Booths may be higher than your bank fees when withdrawing money from a foreign bank. Check with your local bank for foreign transaction fees and withdraws.

Because of the accessibility of banks and the numerous merchants that accept Credit Cards, Travelers checks are a distant option. I carry Travelers checks for emergency purposes. Because they don’t’ expire, I still have the same travelers checks purchased from my first Euro trip. The left over checks became my emergency checks after learning it cost less to withdraw money from a bank rather than going to a cashier to exchange currency.

As mentioned, to avoid any surprise when you receive your bank and credit card statements, check with your local bank and your credit card company for foreign transaction fees.