I'm leaving for London tomorrow...

[lindseyb]

...then we are heading to Glastonbury on Wednesday! I'm going with my English friends who have been to the festival many times. Sounds like it will be almost a full week of festivities. Thursday has its own line-up of events even though the festival doesn't officially start until Friday. We will stay until the Monday after...apparently traffic is horrendous so its best to wait it out.

Yay! Wish me luck!!!!!

Oh yeah, who has traveled abroad recently? What's the best way to bring money? I'm sort of nervous about carrying $2 grand in cash around in my pocket, but I don't know what else to do. Whenever I've been abroad before I've always stayed long enough to open a bank account. I've done travelers checks before and they were a pain in the ass, nobody would accept them. What should I do?

[amyzzz]

Do you have a bank account at home? Can't you use your debit card?

And hey, good luck and have fun! Soooo jealous.

edited: I guess you'll be at glastonbury the whole time, so you need cash, nevermind.

[lindseyb]

Yes, but I think the fees they charge to withdraw cash are outrageous.

[Courtney]

Just bring your credit card (Mastercard or Visa, not Diners Club or something weird) and an ATM card. Pretty much all banks in the UK will accept any ATM card with the Cirrus logo, Plus logo, or other similar international networks. You'll also get better exchange rates than you will with a travelers check or cash. Just make sure your bank doesn't charge more than a couple dollars in international processing fees. If you were traveling somewhere more remote I'd say bring a couple hundred dollars cash in case of emergency, but that's probably not necessary if you're just going to London.

And oh yeah have fun!!!

[amyzzz]

I had one of those passport holders that you put under your clothes with the strap around your neck when I went to Reading years ago. The wallet part is supposed to go under your shirt, but I think the strap was long enough that it was in my pants, so I ended up taking cash out of my pants. Didn't exactly look good.

[amyzzz]

But Courtney, the ATM fees are OK? I think that was her concern. Exchange rates are supposed to be good at ATMs for sure.

[Courtney]

For the fees, it depends on what your home bank is and which kind of account you have with them. For example, I know that my old HSBC account never charged me more than $2.50 for international withdrawals (on top of the foreign bank's $1.00 fee or whatever). Now that I have Bank of America, they always try to charge me some ungodly $10.00 fee per transaction, but I always call and complain after trips and threaten to put my money elsewhere, so they always remove the charges from my account. This is probably really inefficient and I should just get a different bank account. But anyway, that's a long way of saying that she should call up and ask and figure it out.

[lindseyb]

I'm on the phone with them right now...

[lindseyb]

Wamu charges 1% of the amount of the transaction.

[amyzzz]

So $20 for $2,000. Ouch.

[lindseyb]

i'll just try to make as few transactions as possible. thanks, gals!

[woogie846]

They make 1% sound so good though! Then you realize it's $20 for $2,000, which all in all, is a small price for carrying that much in your pockets all the time.

[Courtney]

Wamu charges 1% of the amount of the transaction.

That's very reasonable. Definitely just use your ATM card and don't stress out about bringing travelers checks or anything complicated.

And use your credit card whenever possible.

[keriann]

Better than BofA. I got raped by their charges. I should have taken the Courtney route. Or do the non-lazy thing and change banks.

Have fun Lindsey! I want to hear about it when you get back.

[amyzzz]

Travelers' checks are ridiculous.

[lindseyb]

wait, why is it better to use a credit card?

[amyzzz]

No atm fees?

[Courtney]

Don't use your credit card for cash withdrawals, but use it for purchases. At least, mine doesn't charge any fees or anything for international purchases.

[keriann]

So you don't have to take as much cash out.

But I think credit card companies charge a small foreign transaction charge or have lame exchange rates too.

[Courtney]

Keriann, you're making me second guess my credit-card-is-always-better policy. Now I want to double check the exchange rates that they've been giving me.

Edit: Where's Tom when we need him?

[lindseyb]

wamu charges 1% on both credit and debit card transactions. oh well!

[lindseyb]

keriann who is that guy on your avatar?!

[Courtney]

Oh that's ridiculous. You should get a different credit card. Capital One cards have no foreign transaction fee. I hope you're at least getting airline miles or some sort of reward from your card.

[Courtney]

Look what I found: comparison of foreign transaction fees for ten major banks. Looks like WaMu is actually one of the better ones, all considered.

[keriann]

keriann who is that guy on your avatar?!

that is my homie Thompson

see the "Hi Chris" thread for context

[keriann]

also, holler at Capital One credit cards