Summary: What you will need in Europe:

• 2 Major credit card - Visa, MasterCard, AmericanExpress
• 1 ATM card - From any major bank

Using ATM and Credit Cards

With the banking technologies of today most travelers do not have to worry about money as much as one use to. In most countries, arriving at your destination with some cash from your home country, credit cards and atm card is good enough. Most airports have currency exchange for you to exchange your cash for the local currency. Everywhere else you go will typically accept credit cards, and most major banks will accept your atm card and credit card if you have cash advance feature. Make sure to call your credit card company and inform them of your plans for travel. If you try to make a big purchase overseas, the credit card may think it’s from a stolen credit card and reject the transaction.

Exchange Rates and Pin Numbers

In general, for cash, bank exchange rates are better than money exchange kiosks. Credit cards are also a good way to purchase items overseas since many credit cards come with fraud protection and are easy to cancel in case you lose your wallet. But most importantly most atm’s around the world accept cards with a 4 digit pin number, remember the actual digits of your pin and not an alphabet associated with the keypad since not all atm keypads are the same.

Some banks, even major ones will charge an ATM conversion fee for each transaction in a foreign country.  Find a bank that doesn’t charge a conoversion fee or will charge minimally to save some money.  Otherwise try to minimize your transactions, take out a few hundred at a time to limit your cash withdraws.

Earn Miles on Your Day to Day Spending to Save on your Trip

A great way to save money and earn free airfares is to get a mileage reward cards. Many reward cards give you one mile per dollar spent. So when you buy that bottle of shampoo you are getting closer to your next trip!  Other rewards cards are also great for collecting a little extra to spend on vacation.  Some cards come with 3% back on your regular grocery and gas purchases.