London logistics for travelers

[KungFuPanda]

Help me out. My daughter is making a class trip to London. Her days are all planned out, so that's easy, but I'm a little confused about the best way to dal with her money and phone. Do I call and get her phone made useable there? Or can we skate by using hotel wifi? It's not like she'll be calling home very often, if at all. The best we can hope for is a few texts and some FB/tumblr updates. I'm also told there is an app for making calls that's workable?

The second issue is money. Something about the new European credit cards and a chip? She has an American credit/debit card. We've been told to use debit first. I can get her some cash. I was also told about some preloaded credit card you can get at the exchange that may result in fewer fees than her American ATM card? She knows not to withdraw small bits of cash frequently, but we're still puzzling out the best way to have access to money with the fewest fees.

So, what do you all recommend. This is a very frugal, responsible teen. I'm not worried about her going nuts or being unable to grasp that she's spending pounds not dollars. I do want to streamline it all as much as possible without wasting too much on fees. I'd also like to hear from her every day or so :-)

[momma2three]

UK credit cards all have chips and pins.  But they can still slide the card, though sometimes you get a little attitude about it.  I imagine that anyplace they'd be going would be really used to US cards, though, and all she has to do is say "it's an American card" and they'll know how to deal with it.

[Sun]

What type of phone does she have (carrier)? Some will work just fine in England (ATT, for example), but others use a different technology and won't work (Verizon may not work - not sure). T-Mobile lets you use your phones abroad, with included data abroad in most countries. Tracfone will not work. Texts are often much cheaper than voice calls.

 

The cards should be fine in London. I used to worry about this a lot, but I've found in many trips that it's only an issue at automated kiosks or small retailers that don't get a lot of tourists. Hotels and big stores in London will all be fine. That being said, most credit cards and many banks charge foreign transaction fees. I know Capital One doesn't, not sure about other credit cards that don't. We purposely switched to a bank that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees when using the ATM card abroad and refunds us any ATM charges. You may want to look into that. Otherwise, check her ATM card's daily withdrawal limit. Some banks have very low ones, like $200 US per day, which does not go very far in London, particularly if you're trying to minimize ATM withdrawals to minimize service charges from using ATMs that aren't affiliated with your bank.

 

 

 

 

[KungFuPanda]

What type of phone does she have (carrier)? Some will work just fine in England (ATT, for example), but others use a different technology and won't work (Verizon may not work - not sure). T-Mobile lets you use your phones abroad, with included data abroad in most countries. Tracfone will not work. Texts are often much cheaper than voice calls.
 
The cards should be fine in London. I used to worry about this a lot, but I've found in many trips that it's only an issue at automated kiosks or small retailers that don't get a lot of tourists. Hotels and big stores in London will all be fine. That being said, most credit cards and many banks charge foreign transaction fees. I know Capital One doesn't, not sure about other credit cards that don't. We purposely switched to a bank that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees when using the ATM card abroad and refunds us any ATM charges. You may want to look into that. Otherwise, check her ATM card's daily withdrawal limit. Some banks have very low ones, like $200 US per day, which does not go very far in London, particularly if you're trying to minimize ATM withdrawals to minimize service charges from using ATMs that aren't affiliated with your bank.

She has an iPhone on an AT&T plan. We have a credit union, not a bank. I'll have to ask about the fees. I don't know why I didn't think of it when I told them she'd be traveling.

[Sun]

She has an iPhone on an AT&T plan. We have a credit union, not a bank. I'll have to ask about the fees. I don't know why I didn't think of it when I told them she'd be traveling.

 

Her phone will work fine there then. To avoid data roaming charges, be sure that data roaming is turned off. She can use WiFi at the hotel or wherever else it's available. Just FYI, I've noticed more hotels abroad charge separately for WiFi. You may want to check her hotel's policy in advance and figure out a plan.

 

Text messaging abroad from ATT is $.50 per message sent; charge per received message is per your normal plan or charge. There are foreign messaging plans available, and that may be worthwhile for you/her. ATT Foreign Use Information
 

[Sun]

She has an iPhone on an AT&T plan. We have a credit union, not a bank. I'll have to ask about the fees. I don't know why I didn't think of it when I told them she'd be traveling.

 

When you ask, remember that there are different types of potential fees:

1. Foreign transaction fee, imposed by your bank/credit union (or not--ours does not charge this)

2. Non-your-bank ATM fee, imposed by your bank/credit union

3. Non-their-bank ATM fee, imposed by whichever financial institution's ATM she uses

 

It's possible to avoid all of those, depending on your financial institution, but it's not common. Our bank doesn't charge #1 or #2, and it refunds any fees charged by other banks (#3). If you're getting charged all three fees, it can add up to quite a bit of money over the course of a trip.

[Matryoshka]

Hey, I was going to ask the same question here - we're all going to Europe this summer, and I was looking for what to do for phones for two of my kids that will be on their own for a while at the end.

 

We do have AT&T, but they don't have smartphones.  Also, after England, they're going to the Netherlands and Germany, respectively, which is where I really need them to work.  And one will have a layover on the way home in Iceland, and I was thinking it would be nice to have an emergency phone from there just in case there were any delay or cancellation.  Any idea if I can get their AT&T not-smartphones to work in those countries?  And do I have to temporarily switch plans to have this happen, or would they just charge me for an international call??

 

Sorry, don't mean to hijack, but the question was so similar...  :bigear:

 

[readwithem]

I would get a credit card with a chip in it - it will make her life so much easier while in the UK.  Also I would find one that won't charge you forex fees.  

[momma2three]

I would get a credit card with a chip in it - it will make her life so much easier while in the UK.  Also I would find one that won't charge you forex fees.  

 

Are they even available in the US?

 

I really would not bother.  I got to England 1-2x a year, for several weeks to a few months, and have never had a problem with my US cards.  All of the store machines can take them.  Sometimes the new person at a small boutique won't know that, but I really doubt that will be a problem for the places people are likely to go on a school trip.

[Alessandra]

You might want to consider travellers checks as one option. They are pretty safe, as id is required to cash them. Plus. They can be replaced if lost.

You can go to a Barclays branch in US and get sterling checks or to American Express for dollar checks.

The checks make a handy back up and can be cashed at banks; hotels often charge fees for cashing,

[readwithem]

Are they even available in the US?

 

 

If you mean a card with a chip, the answer is yes.  We got ours through Bank of America, which also has no foreign exchange fees.

[J-rap]

I really wouldn't worry about a phone.  To me, part of the fun of traveling is feeling like you're away from it all.  I don't know your daughter's age or how long she'll be gone, but I'd just be happy with a short email now and then to make sure all is good!  She'll be with her class so it's not like you'll need to be concerned about her safety and whereabouts.

 

That being said, our family has one international phone that whoever is traveling can use not for fun texting or even just keeping in touch, but for a necessary communication, especially if they are traveling alone.  It's like a TracFone but it's works internationally.   This is it:

 

http://www.gosim.com/world-sim-card-and-dual-sim-phone.html

 

Just make sure you have the right outlet adapters for the countries you are in, so that you can charge it!

 

As far as a credit card, the chip is common there but they can always hand enter her card number.  It's not that big a deal.  I wouldn't get traveler's checks.  A lot of places don't take them anymore.  For most small expenses, I'd recommend cash.  The best way to get cash is for her to use her debit/ATM card over there in cash machines.