Hey all, im planning on an upcoming one month long trip around europe. interailing + taking budget airlines as well. just want to ask about money matters. for atms would it be better to open an account with a european bank, deposit money from singapore exchanged to euros and use that account there to draw money, or would it be better to just stick to credit cards and perhaps hsbc which has some atms in some of the more major cities. pls advise
Trip to Europe, money matters
- Thread starter roaringflamer
- Start date
Wow, is it need to be that serious?
No need open an account there... Unless you going to spend more then 10k SGD equivalent... I was in Europe for 3 weeks. Just use cash. Most of my transport fees already paid, and all my accommodation booked online using credit card. Some paid full while booked. So not much spending. If you really don't like carry a lot cash, use credit cards for certain situation.
it is not so convenient to open europe accounts from singapore, i think.
most credit cards are not charged in london for withdrawals, on the withdrawing atm's bank side. the bank in singapore will always charge though.
bring enough euro over, and some SGD
sgd incase. can exchange at forex.
else use visa plus or cirrus maestro to withdraw in emergency shopping requirements
sgd incase. can exchange at forex.
else use visa plus or cirrus maestro to withdraw in emergency shopping requirements
When i was in Europe for a month, i prebooked everything via credit card in Singapore. I brought about 5k euro in cash. Most of your stuff can be paid for via your friendly cards. Yes, you lose a bit on the exchange, but better than losing much more when you get pick pocketed. Carry around a hidden waist pouch. Depending on how you plan your holiday, i spent i think almost 20k for a whole month for 2. Obviously going to eastern europe is generally going to cost substantially lesser than western europe.
I would be very wary about bringing sizeable chunks of cash, particularly if you are not particularly young/big. There is a potential risk of theft, regardless of how careful you are (and they can work in gangs ie it's organised), and carrying sizeable wads of cash is asking for it. You don't have to be flaunting it for them to target you either.
One thing to realise is, food isn't cheap in Europe. There are no hawker centres, sandwiches even from say a supermarket can set you back S$5 or so (it varies greatly from country to country, for example compared to the UK, you can eat/live like a king in Prague ^.^).
Short of buying a loaf of bread in the supermarket and buying fillings and do your own (and even that will be significantly more expensive than Singapore), I think you'll struggle in the more expensive European cities to get any sort of food for reasonable money - Vienna, London, Zurich come to mind. Although maybe night86mare will have some all-you-can-eat haunt in London for 20p ;p
I would do all your currency exchange in Singapore, arguably even convert your backup first. The rate is so ridiculously good in Singapore that when I was converting some currency to leave in fix deposit over here in the UK, the buy/sell rate in Singapore is so close, you lose relatively little even for large amounts. On the other hand, the swing between buy/sell and the commission in this part of the world is insane.
As night86mare says, opening a European bank account is more tricky than you'd imagine. HSBC has a pretty good presence and in all honesty you should have little trouble using cards to pay for the vast majority of things. Credit cards will be more expensive if you want to withdraw cash, what you can do possibly is to get a debit card instead. Debit cards are very common in Europe.
I would certainly recommend using cards (credit or debit) for everything you can, and then having minimal amounts of cash for the things you need to use cash for.
Depending on where you're going, just remember the Euro () is not universal everywhere, and some countries do still have their own currencies.
One thing to realise is, food isn't cheap in Europe. There are no hawker centres, sandwiches even from say a supermarket can set you back S$5 or so (it varies greatly from country to country, for example compared to the UK, you can eat/live like a king in Prague ^.^).
Short of buying a loaf of bread in the supermarket and buying fillings and do your own (and even that will be significantly more expensive than Singapore), I think you'll struggle in the more expensive European cities to get any sort of food for reasonable money - Vienna, London, Zurich come to mind. Although maybe night86mare will have some all-you-can-eat haunt in London for 20p ;p
I would do all your currency exchange in Singapore, arguably even convert your backup first. The rate is so ridiculously good in Singapore that when I was converting some currency to leave in fix deposit over here in the UK, the buy/sell rate in Singapore is so close, you lose relatively little even for large amounts. On the other hand, the swing between buy/sell and the commission in this part of the world is insane.
As night86mare says, opening a European bank account is more tricky than you'd imagine. HSBC has a pretty good presence and in all honesty you should have little trouble using cards to pay for the vast majority of things. Credit cards will be more expensive if you want to withdraw cash, what you can do possibly is to get a debit card instead. Debit cards are very common in Europe.
I would certainly recommend using cards (credit or debit) for everything you can, and then having minimal amounts of cash for the things you need to use cash for.
Depending on where you're going, just remember the Euro () is not universal everywhere, and some countries do still have their own currencies.
thanks bros for all the replies. may i know if all our local bank debit cards work over there as well? and will there be a charge? so with our debit/credit cards i can just withdraw money from an overseas bank atm there using visa or cirrus?
It depends on your spending.
Usually bed and breakfast (B&B) will cover your breakfast. I will eat as much I can eat so can stand for longer time
A sandwich can be very 'cheap' or expensive depends where you get it. In London, example, a Chicken Sandwich from mark and spencer can be about 3.5 to 4 pound. From TESCO, if there is a package promo, you can get a slightly smaller size chicken sandwich but comes with a small pack of cracker and a 250ml drinking water, for 2 pound.
I never try any 3-4 course set meal... beyond my budget :bsmilie: But a fast food type of restaurant in Salzburg selling a pasta kind of meal (one plate) for about 10 Euro iirc....
These were in June 2009.....
Wow, is it need to be that serious?
I was in Europe for 3 weeks. Just use cash. Most of my transport fees already paid, and all my accommodation booked online using credit card. Some paid full while booked. So not much spending. If you really don't like carry a lot cash, use credit cards for certain situation.
I agree ...cash is enough ..... with credit card for backup ...such as paying for your hotel or B&B ( those which accepts them ) and if your are gg by rail or budget flying they are paid for beforehand I believe
I went to the Eastern European countries, and averaged out at about 90-100 a day including traveling and sleeping.
Didn't buy a rail pass because it was actually cheaper to pay for individual trips.
Sleeping and eating are going to be where the bulk of your money goes, so if you can pay for some of these with a reliable credit card, then you can shave some of the cash that you have to carry around.
It'd be good to call up your banks to see which credit cards will waive some of those withdrawal fees and stuff like that. From what I know, DBS and Mastercard provides a good combination of no fees.
Didn't buy a rail pass because it was actually cheaper to pay for individual trips.
Sleeping and eating are going to be where the bulk of your money goes, so if you can pay for some of these with a reliable credit card, then you can shave some of the cash that you have to carry around.
It'd be good to call up your banks to see which credit cards will waive some of those withdrawal fees and stuff like that. From what I know, DBS and Mastercard provides a good combination of no fees.
Oh, beware of fraudulent money changers. Always change at a bank, if possible, especially if you're visiting non-English speaking countries.
Me and my gf, despite being careful, have been cheated at a money changer before because of a very clever psychological trick in the way the numbers were arranged on the money changer's board to seemingly convince you that the rates were the best. By the time the money changed hands and I realized the discrepancy it was too late, and the guy was completely denying anything, saying I had willingly walked into the shop to do the exchange.
When the rates changed the next day, I went to the shop to check the board again and the trick was still there, albeit modified to suit the day's rate. So be careful when you're changing money in Europe.
And if this is of any advice, try not to take taxis because they rip you off 99.99% of the time, unless you know the exact fare from one location to another and agree on it before boarding. The meters are rigged, and the drivers go long routes. The meter goes 3x as fast and the route takes 3x as long, and if they employ money switching psychological techniques you're going to be paying a hell lot of money for a short taxi ride.
Some other people may have more pleasant experiences though - maybe I was just unlucky.
Me and my gf, despite being careful, have been cheated at a money changer before because of a very clever psychological trick in the way the numbers were arranged on the money changer's board to seemingly convince you that the rates were the best. By the time the money changed hands and I realized the discrepancy it was too late, and the guy was completely denying anything, saying I had willingly walked into the shop to do the exchange.
When the rates changed the next day, I went to the shop to check the board again and the trick was still there, albeit modified to suit the day's rate. So be careful when you're changing money in Europe.
And if this is of any advice, try not to take taxis because they rip you off 99.99% of the time, unless you know the exact fare from one location to another and agree on it before boarding. The meters are rigged, and the drivers go long routes. The meter goes 3x as fast and the route takes 3x as long, and if they employ money switching psychological techniques you're going to be paying a hell lot of money for a short taxi ride.
Some other people may have more pleasant experiences though - maybe I was just unlucky.
Depending on your card, they should work. For example if they are Visa debits then that should work anyplace that takes Visa cards.
You can withdraw money yes, but there will be a fee involved. Hence I suggested, change what you'll need in Singapore, that's a lot better. But because you don't want to be carrying around 10k or whatever it is, keep cash transactions to a minimum and pay for things like hotels, restaurant meals, etc, with a card.
I think the likelihood of this depends largely on where you are. I've yet to have any problems although I don't regularly take taxis, but then I suppose these days I can pass off as local accent wise anyway.
As long as your ATM card has the logo " plus" , "cirrus" , "MAESTRO" ( just flip your ATM card behind and u can see it, its not even your debit card, just our NORMAL daily use ATM card, even the new POSB ATM card have these logo. ) ....u can withdraw from most of the ATM with these logo as well(ANY ATM in the country, e.g. our POSB can withdraw from HSBC ATM in Euro). even singapore ATM has it...just that we never pay attention to it. The Euro countries that I have been are Germany, Holland, Czech, France, and all these 4countries ATM have these Logo.
the Services charge is min SGD5, and up to 1% of your withdraw amount. the exchange rate so far from what I have experience is pretty good, not that far from the exhange rates from the singapore money changer. and Put it this way, we are just changing 1-2000 max, its just a few dollars differences.
e.g. if you are withdrawing SGD200 equiv, you pay SGD5
if you are withdrawing SGD700 equiv, you pay SGD7.
Just a point to note , in europe, normally have to pay a "commission" to the money changer , some as high as euro10, lowest I ever see is euro5. thats why I seldom use their money changer, I rather withdraw from my ATM card, unless I am really desperate.
this services can even be use in most of the asia countries, at least I have draw money in Nepal, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, India,
the Services charge is min SGD5, and up to 1% of your withdraw amount. the exchange rate so far from what I have experience is pretty good, not that far from the exhange rates from the singapore money changer. and Put it this way, we are just changing 1-2000 max, its just a few dollars differences.
e.g. if you are withdrawing SGD200 equiv, you pay SGD5
if you are withdrawing SGD700 equiv, you pay SGD7.
Just a point to note , in europe, normally have to pay a "commission" to the money changer , some as high as euro10, lowest I ever see is euro5. thats why I seldom use their money changer, I rather withdraw from my ATM card, unless I am really desperate.
this services can even be use in most of the asia countries, at least I have draw money in Nepal, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, India,
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Yes, and I know you haven't said it will, but just to be clear I don't think that applies to counter sales.
ya.... of course...this is just for withdrawing of cash... just in case TS spend all his money and need extra cash for daily small expenses.
I think TS did not want to bring lots of cash around while travelling.so TS can just draw from ATM as and when he need it, it will be just as conveience as Singapore, except with a services charges.
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what I did 4 years back was:
I had a citbank account and they gave me a ATM cum debit Card. You can use this card to withdraw money from your citibank savings account. No service charge incurred.
But take note that it is a debit card so don't let it get stolen else someone can easily sign the card for purchases.
I had a citbank account and they gave me a ATM cum debit Card. You can use this card to withdraw money from your citibank savings account. No service charge incurred.
But take note that it is a debit card so don't let it get stolen else someone can easily sign the card for purchases.
That happened to me as well. And it was a westen union money changer in prague. I stood there... shouting, and started calling the police. When people wanted to change money, i told the potential customers that this money changer is a scammer. 5 Mins later, i got the best rate possible. LoL. Stand your ground and you should be able to get it worked out.
sorry, i don't quite get the numbers thing, can elaborate further?
i only encountered the winning magician money changers of bali once - the kind that can magically count out 10 notes for you when it is 9, and a very dishonest king's cross money changer who changed rates in between the time i went to draw money and first enquired about polish zlotys.
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