Traveling in Germany best way to carry $$

[marknga]

My teenage daughters are leaving next month for a two week student exchange trip to Bautzen Germany. They will be staying with a students family (she stayed with us last year).
Having never traveled abroad myself what is the best way for them to convert US dollars to Euro's?
I've heard that travelers checks are a no-no.
Best for them to carry a debit/credit card and use ATM's to withdraw/convert to Euro's?
Or to go ahead and convert $ here to Euro?

Any advice is most appreciated.

Mark

 

[parolebear]

Hi Mark

Please know that I am not a world traveler but have been a few times. I have found the best to be use a credit card and carry a small amount of cash. Exchange rates vary from place to place but normally not a great deal unless you are at the airport. The families could tell them the best place to exchange, some banks charge a fee some don't. Once I found the best rate in town to be at the casino, even the people that I was traveling with who would not go in asked me to exchange money for them.

With the credit card companies the exchange rate is normally a little (very little) better as they exchange huge amounts where you will exchange a few dollars.

Make sure your card company knows that you will be using it outseas as they usually will not honor it unless advised ahead of time.

My wife said to tell them to ALWAYS keep a few coins in their pocket as pay toliets exsist. She was caught without money and lets say it was embarrassing to her.

Travelers checks are ok and accepted everywhere but you lose on the exchange if you swap at the point of purchuse. Credit/Debit card is to me the safest, easiest and best exchange.

All of this is my dumb opinion. Like if knew anything I would live in S.GA. Have a great time, wonderful country, great people and the best beer.

 

[threeleggedpigmy]

There are places at the airport and in a lot of the cities to exchange money. If she carries cash, do not carry it all together.

What I mean by that is not in one pocket or hand bag. When we traveled, we keep a little money in our front pocket for spending. The rest was keep in a belly wallet under the shirt. Tourists are targeted for pick pockets in big cities. They tend to watch when people buy things and pull money out of there pocket.

These are precautions. All the times me and my family went abroad, we never had a problem ever.

 

[marknga]

Good advice.

Thanks for replies.

 

[hoochfisher]

some of the pre-loaded credit cards have loss/theft insurance. and can be easily replaced if needed. my brother had one and lost it with his wallet, with over $100 on it, called and it was replaced for a small fee, around ten bucks if i remember correctly.

 

[Twenty five ought six]

I don't know who told you that travelers checks are a no-no. What's a no-no is using them to pay for goods or services. The best exchange rate is at the airport or train stations. Convert the checks to cash as you need them.

Debit and credit cards work o.k., and in fact Europe is probably way ahead of us on the use of debit cards. But the companies can play some real games with you on the exchange rate. You basically are at their mercy.

I've never looked into because I've always used travelers checks, and been happy with them, but if a prepaid debit card is available, it would be safest.

One reason I go old school is that my bank gives out free travelers checks to customers and many other banks do so too.

 

[wildlands]

Just came back from germany in Dec. The exchange rate was better at the ATL than it was in Germany. I exchanged a few hundred and then just used my credit card where I could. As others have said just do not keep all your cash in one place on you and keep some change at all times. I did a search for exchange rates online before I headed out to the airport so that I would know what the going rates where. It paid off as the rate at the airport was not the highest I found online but better than average. They will be going over at a beutiful time of year.