Money and Phones

A short break from talking about Rome is called for. 

My young friend is leaving for Italy tomorrow and I never got around to talking about money and phones, both important considerations.   I’m sure she’s sorted it out, going as she is with a college group. 

The short answer is, things change.  Each time you leave the country you must research these two items. 

For a while it seemed our credit cards were not going to work in Europe.  New York Times travel section articles said European banks were doing away with the stripe in favor of a chip and PIN system.  The last three years I’ve ordered euros from the bank and taken them with me.  That’s what you have to do in a medium-size midwestern city: order and go back several days later to pick them up.  The bank tells me they don’t charge me a fee, but their exchange rate is always several points worse than what I’m pulling up online.  Still, it should be better than any rate you’ll get changing dollars once you get there.

In spite of the predictions, our cards have worked fine, just as they always did, provided we told our bank we were going.  I once had mine shut down at the end of two weeks in Paris as I franticly shopped for last-minute gifts.  Why it took them so long I don’t know, I must have reached a threshold.  The bank woke up and pulled the plug in a children’s clothing store on rue Rivoli, as I tried to buy a dress for my six-year-old niece.

When you use your card for purchases, you'll be charged a euro to dollar conversion fee by your bank.  It will appear on your statement as a percent of the purchase. You might avoid it if you have a credit union card, an elite card or possibly an airline credit card.  You’ll have to read up on this.

When you use your card to get euros out of an ATM, you’ll be charged a fee for using the machine by their bank and by yours, plus the conversion fee will show up on your statement.  With all that, it should still be cheaper than going into a bank or a storefront money exchange to change dollars or travelers checks into euros, because there you will undoubtedly suffer from a less than favorable conversion rate.

One last point on this subject: European ATM numeric key pads do not have letters, so be sure you know your PIN by its numbers.

Phone charges and policies change as fast as you can do the research.  The least expensive way to go that we've found is to make sure your phone can make international calls and buy an international texting plan.  We make few calls, keep them short and pay for them.  It's never amounted to much.  (If you need to make frequent calls, consider getting a cheap prepaid phone over there.  Read up on it. I believe incoming calls are free, but data is expensive.)  We mostly text and occasionally email.  If you can get by with emailing only when you have Wi-Fi access, you're in good shape.  Be forewarned that in small towns and villages, Wi-Fi and phone reception can be scarce. 

If you're like we are, dependent on following the blue dot on Google maps to keep from getting lost, you'll need an international data plan.  These do not come cheap and can be so limited, as to the amount of data they'll allow you, that they are worthless.  Try to find one you can add to if you get close to your limit.  If you rent a car you can get GPS.  But we travel mostly by foot.