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Do I need a travel card for Europe?

If you're traveling to Europe, a travel money card can make spending and withdrawing cash when you're away cheaper and more convenient. Different types of travel money cards, including travel debit cards, prepaid travel cards and travel credit cards, are available to support different customer needs.



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It all depends on where you're going and what you plan to do during your trip. As you can see from our travel costs table above, some European cities are cheaper or more expensive than others. As a general rule, though, it's a good idea to budget at least $100 a day for your vacation.

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Resist the urge to buy foreign currency before your trip. Some tourists feel like they just have to have euros or British pounds in their pockets when they step off the airplane, but they pay the price in bad stateside exchange rates. Wait until you arrive to withdraw money.

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ATMs are the best way to access money abroad and are increasingly available. Your bank or credit card company may charge fees for withdrawals overseas and may have a limit on the amount you can withdraw daily, so be sure to consult with your bank about this.

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This is so entirely dependent on your own travel preferences that it's tough to estimate but we recommend putting aside roughly €700 to €1700 for spending money for one week in Europe.

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As a general rule, though, it's a good idea to budget at least $100 a day for your vacation. This is just spending money, as hotel costs are likely to have been either paid in advance or settled by card when you check out.

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Buy currency before you travel. Doing so gives you time to shop around for the best rate. Plus, when you arrive, you won't have to immediately find a bank or currency exchange. Do some research ahead of time to see if US dollars are widely accepted at places you plan to go to.

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If you plan a more extended vacation and need to know how 3 weeks in Europe budget look like, we'd say you're looking at spending about 850 per week, making it 2,550 euros total. To quickly recap, if you are traveling to Europe, you are looking at spending around 120 euros per day on average.

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Restaurant tips are more modest in Europe than in America. At restaurants, check the menu to see if service is included; if it isn't, a tip of 5–10 percent is normal. In most places, 10 percent is a big tip. If your bucks talk at home, muzzle them on your travels.

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There are only a few downsides to using prepaid cards, but they are significant. Prepaid cards come with fees. Cardholders may have a lot of fees, including activation fees, transaction fees, ATM withdrawal fees, reloading fees, monthly fees, or inactivity fees. Check the fine print on the card for fee types.

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Further, prepaid travel cards may also charge a card purchase fee, ATM withdrawal fee, higher foreign ATM withdrawal fee, inactivity fee and a fee to get any remaining balance back by check.

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