Travel Money Management Tips

15 Jan Travel Money Management Tips

Recently I took a month off to visit Spain and North Africa.  It was a fantastic trip and longest I have taken thus far.  While I have done my research about how to handle the day-to-day money needs in foreign countries, there are still a few gotchas that I learned along the way.  Here are some of the knowledge that I think every international traveler could find helpful:

1. Set Travel Notice with your bank on where you will be traveling to.  This basically tells the banks where you will be so they don’t block your ATM or credit transactions on fraud suspicion.  You can set this on multiple debit/ATM or credit cards.  Even if you have not decided on which countries exactly, you can always notify your bank prior to your arrival in foreign country.  If you failed to do this or sometimes the banks made a mistake your ATM transaction will fail and you will likely have to contact your bank to unblock your card again.  (I have done that and it is not fun when you are alone at the airport with no foreign cash…)

2. Some countries are still cash-centric and you need to withdraw cash from ATMs while traveling there.  Beware of the ATM fees and International transaction fees.  Banks such as Bank of America could potentially charge you double the fees for both using foreign bank ATMs and international transaction fees.  The exception for this is some banks are part of the international alliance and the ATM fee is waived because of that.  However, I would recommend either use a credit union which charges less fee or try to plan out how much to withdraw in a foreign countries in order to minimize the fees you will be char.

3. When you travel from one country to another exchange the paper bill leftover if you don’t intend on carrying extra bills and/or saving it for souvenirs.  Note that coins will not be accepted at currency exchange and they can be “heavy” so use them up before you leave.  Another reason for exchanging your leftover currency is some of these money will not be accepted outside the specific countries and you will be left with bills that not essentially not usable.

4. Use a credit card that gives you no foreign transaction fees.  For example bank of america travel reward credit card has no foreign transaction fee.  There are many others that are like that and you should consider getting one if you are going to be traveling abroad for extended period.

5. You should always have some emergency cash available on you.  It is either hidden in your money belt of some other safe area (not in your wallet).  This will come in handy when you somehow run out of money in local currency or god forbid lost your cash/wallet and really need to buy a bus or train ticket.  US dollars is nice for this purpose because it is an international currency and is widely accepted.

6. With the smartphone popularity these days chances are you will have a smartphone.  There are some nice apps that can help you navigate the foreign money transactions.  The currency converter is nice to have and will give you the up-to-date exchange rate on international currency.

7. Research the tipping custom prior to arriving in the foreign countries.  There are many good websites such as lonely plants will give you rundown on what and how much to tip generally.  It is also good to talk to fellow travelers as you settle in for the first time.

8. Don’t forget to negotiate prices when shopping at flea market or hailing a cab.  It is common place for many vendors to set a fairly flexible price range.  It is good to not take the first price presented to you.  Compare prices and negotiate for a fair price you are willing to pay.

9. It is good idea to review your online statement once a while (I would do it at least once a month) to make sure all transactions on your ATM or credit card is valid and the amount is what it is supposed to be.  I have had some vending machines charging me for transactions that failed at the time.  In that case you will have to call the bank or the vending machine owner to dispute the charges.  (Avoid using ATM when there is no customer service around might help as well)

I know this is only a small set of tips for handling money internationally but I hope someone will find them useful.  Let me know your own travel money tips and happy trails everyone!