Comments on: Off We Go to Europe!

By: J. Money

J. Money — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:15:59 +0000

Haha, thanks guys :) You all are full of great tips too! (esp you Cap. and I’ll have you know I did not give them a reason to hate Americans more! haha…I left them with some pretty sweet dance moves too!)

I’m adding one more tip to this list too – Allow 1 extra day off to unwind from the trip!!! If I had to work today I’d be a goner. Thank goodness for Memorial Day…

By: Bucksome Boomer

Bucksome Boomer — Sat, 22 May 2010 13:29:49 +0000

Have a great time (I’m sure you will and didn’t need me to tell you that!). Sorry I didn’t get to meet you this time in DC, but maybe the next time business brings me there.

Excellent tip about contacting your credit card companies when traveling abroad. I always do that as well.

By: JMK

JMK — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:43:42 +0000

Should clarrify, put the copies of your passport front page in your carry on bag. We never check bags so I forgot to say it that way. You don’t want your pasport info heading off unsupervised.

By: JMK

JMK — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:41:19 +0000

If you haven’t already left, throw a few copies (scan and print) of the front page of your passport in your bag. Many hotels in Europe ask for your passport as they must copy the front page and provide it to the local authorities. Having a copy to give them means you never have to surrender your passport. Some will ask you to leave it with them while you go drop your bags in the room and come back for it later. If you lose your passport a copy can only make the process of dealing with the Embassy to get a new one that much easier.

We intended to minimize our cash requirements and put as much as possible on our CC while we were in Greece, Italy and Germany in 2008. Turned out many small restaurants didn’t take them and we blew through a lot of cash. Even some major museums and attractions wanted cash. If you want to take a cash advance on your CC at the ATM it will only be possible if you have a PIN type card. If not you’ll have to just do a straight cash withdrawl from your bank account. They’ve been using PIN codes on CCs there for years – we only started having them here in Canada in the last couple of years. We still had the old type when we were in Europe and if we couldn’t sign a CC receipt manually we had to pay cash.

Even if the conversion rates are better there, it’s still wise to go with some local cash. When we landed in Rome the train tickets from the airport to downtown had to be paid in cash (this may have changed, but it was a surprise to me). Between the train station and our hotel I passed a museum that sold the 3day passes we wanted to get so I stopped in. Again cash only (4 x 20Euros)… Before we got to our first hotel I’d already gone through a good chunk of the euros I’d brought to get us started. We walked from the station to our hotel, but a taxi would have required cash again. If we’d arrived with no euros at all we’d have had to find an ATM in the airport terminal just to get started, and I suspect those ones specifically meant for travellers don’t have the best rates.

Enjoy yourself!

By: Adam @ Sit Down Disco

Adam @ Sit Down Disco — Fri, 21 May 2010 04:21:49 +0000

Not sure how your medical insurance works in the USA, but for most countries, you are not covered outside of your home country. That means that if you get sick or injured overseas, you are liable for any expenses. It’s the only reason I ALWAYS buy travel insurance – for catastrophic injuries. On top of immediate medical care, there is then the cost of being transported back to your home country under a medivac arrangement which can cost in excess of $100,000. Even a broken leg requires enormous expense if travelling internationally (traction, aircraft space, etc).

But if you’re covered internationally, all this means nothing. :)

By: Cap

Cap — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:11:23 +0000

ATM is definitely the way to go. Was in Italy last month and my Schwab ATM rocked out. Just check before hand on which machines may have fees in % vs. flat rate. I found a few from certain banks that have absolutely no fee so I was good to go.

Certain countries in Europe will have daily withdrawal limit, regardless of your bank’s limits too, so watch for that.

But yeah, you basically get a much much more favorable exchange rate, and many times it’ll be near or at wholesale currency exchange rate.

Enjoy yourself and don’t let us caught you in any news. Also, please don’t give more reasons why they need to hate Americans :)

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 21 May 2010 00:02:34 +0000

Thx guys! Lots of pics and lots of fun – Roger that.

By: Stephan

Stephan — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:05:12 +0000

Have a blast! and spoil yourself, its vacation after all

By: Donna

Donna — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:46:32 +0000

Have fun and relax. Can’t wait to see some pics!

By: Stella

Stella — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:10:02 +0000

Have a great time! We’ll miss you…