Paying for things in France and Italy.

Wellington

Wellington

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I presume one no longer carries travellers cheques (can you even still get them?) so how do you keep your money secure and accessible in the road? We are going to France and Italy and do not intend to visit many towns, just villages and small sites. Will I be able to pay in most restaurants, bakeries and so on by card, or should I plan to use mostly cash and find some good hiding places? Which cards or bank accounts are good deals for spending Euros?
 
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Speak to your bank. Tell them what you want to do and ask their advice. It might save having to open new accounrs elsewhee. I use credit cards that are free to use and a different card also free to use if i want cash
 
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Don't know about Italy, but France no problems at all.

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MisterB said:
Speak to your bank. Tell them what you want to do and ask their advice. It might save having to open new accounrs elsewhee. I use credit cards that are free to use and a different card also free to use if i want cash
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I don’t have a lot of faith in them at the moment. I phoned on Friday to see if they had received a letter I sent ten days ago. It took an hour and three departments, and they still don’t know if they have it, or where it would have gone if they did!
 
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Take a look at NATIONWIDE plus account for commission free transactions using debit and credit card in Europe.
 
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Can’t speak for Italy but in France we use credit card for almost everything.
We have a Santander Zero card that gives the banks exchange rate and no loading.
Use cash for smaller things like croissants in the morning and take a good amount with us for ‘just in case’. Spread cash around between you and there are always hiding places in a van for documents and spare cash.

Richard

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we use a pre paid we swop card good rates and you can withdraw free from cash points i think its a min of 200 euros withdrawal to get it free. using the app you can top up at any time
 
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I would recommend a Monzo account. No charges on transactions, 300 euro cash withdrawals free every 30 days. Instant updates on transactions, ability to freeze the card on app if required. Ability to divide funds into pots.
 
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I use a Halifax clarity card and a float of about 500 euros for small things, not too much to lose.
Usually carry about 150 euros in case places dont accept cards.
Had a meal in the Netherlands came to 80 euros to be told they dont accept cards, luckily had my euros. Campsite in lauterbrunnen didnt take cards either.
So dont rely totally on cards.

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Pilgrim said:
I use a Halifax clarity card and a float of about 500 euros for small things, not too much to lose.
Usually carry about 150 euros in case places dont accept cards.
Had a meal in the Netherlands came to 80 euros to be told they dont accept cards, luckily had my euros. Campsite in lauterbrunnen didnt take cards either.
So dont rely totally on cards.
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Good idea to have a backup plan, either cash or alternative cards.

On our recent trip to mainland Europe the credit card stopped working (expires 02/2020). It transpired the bank decided to send us a new card. No warning or explaination. Fortunately, we had alternative cards we could use.
 
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Halifax clarity everywhere just back from France Spain Portugal no problem like above cash also :)
 
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Wellington said:
I presume one no longer carries travellers cheques (can you even still get them?) so how do you keep your money secure and accessible in the road? We are going to France and Italy and do not intend to visit many towns, just villages and small sites. Will I be able to pay in most restaurants, bakeries and so on by card, or should I plan to use mostly cash and find some good hiding places? Which cards or bank accounts are good deals for spending Euros?
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You'll find quite a lot of sites won't take a card, not all of them of course but enough to mean you will need to carry some cash. Supermarkets all take cards in my experience but some restaurants won't. In France you may see "No CB" which means no cards.

I use Google maps to find ATMs (and almost everything else such as supermarkets) and I try to choose them from larger companies like Credit Agricole. There are some really obscure banks around.. :) The machine should converse in English either automatically or by selecting the right language on the screen. If given the option choose to be charged in euros not sterling. This sounds counter-intuitive but it means you will get the official exchange rate not the bank's own which will be worse.

And get a safe fitted. A smallish box with a key lock not a cashbox but a genuine safe. A local locksmith should be able to advise. Don't get a digital one, they can be opened in seconds if the thief knows his trade. Have the safe securely mounted out of sight somewhere but where you can get at it easily otherwise you won't use it. It won't deter a determined thief but it will delay them. Keep your passports in it (carry photocopies) and an alternative credit card so if you are mugged you have access to cash.
 
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I use a Clarity card for most things, and withdraw cash from my Nationwide Flexplus account as and when. I use an app called Evernote to photo copy all important documents (including passports) and I can the access them from my phone, iPad, or any other computer if necessary.

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Wellington said:
I presume one no longer carries travellers cheques (can you even still get them?) so how do you keep your money secure and accessible in the road? We are going to France and Italy and do not intend to visit many towns, just villages and small sites. Will I be able to pay in most restaurants, bakeries and so on by card, or should I plan to use mostly cash and find some good hiding places? Which cards or bank accounts are good deals for spending Euros?
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We use a Santander Zero card. Zero cost for transactions abroad.
 
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We also use Santander Zero credit card but no good for you assuming you don’t already have one, as not able to open one now. As others have said above, you should be able to get a charge free card from somewhere. I pay with my credit card for everything I can, which is most things, but do ensure that you have set up automatic payment for it.

Try and get small note 10, 20 Euro notes in U.K., I would say at least 300€, keeping most safe in van and then about 30 € in your taking out purse. On your initial outings for ice cream, croissants etc, pay with a note and collect change and save any 1€ and 50 cent coins in a small pot or purse to keep separately in van. You will find them useful for parking machines at aires.
 
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I know the risks involved but we have always taken cash. Two small safes hidden in good position and bolted back to back. We have in past covered them with electric cable boxes with complicated screwed lids, with electric warning stickers on them. Been doing that for nearly 40 years never had a problem. Growler alarm also helps. Occasionally have to use a credit card at tolls or for fuel. Wife begrudges using them at tolls as you get charged for the transaction every time. Please don't warn me that it will happen one day but it also happens to those that use credit cards .

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halifax clarity credit card also gets our vote , but also a couple of hundred euros, to pay for coffees and the odd beer? The money came in handy when the card did not work at a Portuguese restaurant, still don't know why , as it worked for the rest of the holiday.
 
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Thanks for asking the question, it's something I wondered about. I'm well travelled, been around the world but not been on a plane for almost 17 years, so was wondering how things have changed. Always took travellers cheques and some foreign currency but never used a card abroad
 
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We use cards wherever possible - which means (apart from in Germany) we hardly use cash.

Our preferred card was the Halifax Clarity and we only had problems with it in a handful of places. Luckily we also have a Post Office card as backup. This year we've ditched the Clarity in favour of Tandem - the main advantage over the Halifax is that Tandem pays you 0.5% cashback on all your spending.

PS. if anyone is interested in opening a Tandem card then PM me for a referral and we can each get a £10 Amazon voucher.
 
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I think I might be cutting it fine to get a new card before we go in ten days. (especially given that Barclays have done something unspeakable to my credit rating, and have yet to sort it out). I’ll try and get a safe fitted, and am planning on some extra door locks. I’m very tempted to get cash and hide it around the van in smallish amounts, in fake baked bean tins and so on. It one less thing to bother about (dragging a kid around looking for a cash point is zero fun) which is always helpful.

I might look at a starling card, and I bank with Santander anyway, so they might be able to sort something out. Barclays are no longer going to benefit from my custom very soon!

Where does the best cash rates? I generally just go to Tesco’s because it’s convenient, but I usually only get a couple of hundred. I’ll need a bit more this time, so it’s probably worth shopping around.
 
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