Wanted to provide some tips on how Stefi and I plan our trips abroad. These will allow you to save some money you might not even know you are losing and help you hit the ground running by knowing the essentials when you land.
To get these answers, I'd recommend starting off with a google search. If that doesn't work, go to Tripadvisor forums. First do a search of the forum to try to find your answer, if that doesn't work, ask the people a new question. As someone who participates int he Budapest community, I recommend you do the search first as experienced people will not reply to the same question over and over again...as such, you'll find either no one responds or you will get a response from someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.
The way I will structure this is to start out telling you the things to look for followed by an example from Budapest.
1) Transportation
a) From the airport - Many countries have public transit routes from the airport to city center. Some have "official" taxis services with fixed fees. The only consistency is every city and airport is different. Is credit card accepted? Research the best way to get from the airport to downtown and understand the costs.
In Budapest we have the 100E bus which will take you to the city center with three stops. This is typically the best way as it costs $4 per person and you can buy your pass using credit card (note that normal transit passes, including unlimited ride passes, do not work on this bus). But if you arrive late at night and are not staying near one of those stops, while the 100E bus runs, you will need another bus to get you to your hotel. Much of public transit stops at 11:00-11:30.
While it is generally advised not to flag a taxi at a taxi stand or on the street, it is absolutely the best option at the airport as there is an official taxi service and the government makes it hard for other taxis (even pre-arranged drivers) to operate. A ride to the city center is around $30.
b) Taxi service - How does it work? In some countries you need to call ahead an in others you flag them on the street. Does Uber exist? If not, a similar service probably does. What are the reliable companies to use?
In Budapest, you do not use taxis at the train stations nor flag them on the road. All of these taxi drivers (called freelancers) are ripoffs. If you use a real taxi service, you will absolutely get an honest driver, but you need to call ahead or flag them through an app. The two primary services are City Taxi who you can call or use the app, or Bolt, which is similar to Uber. Due to Budapest law, all taxis (including Bolt) charge the same price. All of these services must accept credit card.
c) Public transit - Is it better to buy individual passes or unlimited passes? How do you validate your ticket (particularly for individual ride passes)? Does the ticket allow for transfer?
I love google maps transit mode for routing me.
In Budapest, you can buy 1, 3 and 7 day passes in purple vending machines (validated at purchase) or via the Budapest Go app (I do not yet trust the mobile app). You can also buy individual ride passes, which I do not recommend because many tourists do not properly validate them and get fined (if you are intent on taking this route, research how to validate tickets). Except on a few busses (not normal tourist routes), your pass will not be checked when you board...it is an on your honor system backed by roaming officials who will check for passes periodically asking to see your ticket. If something is wrong (i.e. your single ticket isn't validated) you get fined 12,000 HUF. All passes can be bought using credit card.
2) Currency
This is a tricky and complex subject.
Research the currency rates so you know when you are being ripped off and not (I have the xe app on my phone). You will never be able to exchange at the published exchange rate, but at least you know how much you are losing. You can calculate your loss as follows:
Published exchange rate: 400 HUF
Store Exchange rate: 404 HUF
404-400/400 = 1%
Good rules of thumb:
- Don't exchange at airports, train stations or tourists centers
- Don't change at large chains
- Don't change at banks
Internet sleuthing and tripadvisor can usually provide you with good exchanges
ATM withdrawals at bank ATMs are almost always a great rate...but subject to your own bank fees. Most European bank ATMs do not charge fees like in the US. Again, something to research.
Using credit card is also a great way to get a good rate.
In both cases of ATMs and credit card transactions at stores, there is a concept of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). When you use and ATM or a credit card machine, it will warn you that your bank is going to charge you unknown fees. To protect you from these fees, the machine can present the charge in US Dollars. The trick is, while they publish the exchange rate, if you do the math it is a ripoff. I'll talk about this later in bank fees, but I have never seen the known rate at less than 3% loss.
Always, always always pay in local currency. While Mexico will take USD, it will always be at a poor exchange rate. While Hungary will take Euro in many tourist places, it will typically cost you 30% in poor exchange rate.
In Budapest, do not exchange at airports or train stations. Correct Change is a chain of FX shops along trams 4 and 6 with multiple locations. You can also withdraw money from a bank owned ATM for free. Just make sure to withdraw at the "unknown" rate from your bank rather than using a known rate the bank ATM will offer you. Also, avoid Euronet ATMs which have especially horrible "known" rates which they will trick you into accepting (you will lose at least 10%). 99% of places accept credit card, but you will need cash for bathrooms and street food.
3) Tipping
I don't think any country adopts a 20% tip like the US. I would say in countries where tipping is customary, the norm is 10%.
Some examples:
- In France and Italy, they include a flat euro amount service fee (or bread fee) and you may round up the bill to the nearest euro as a tip.
- Budapest is moving from a traditional 10% tip model to a service fee of 10-12%. 5-10 years ago, only tourist places charged a service fee, now virtually all restaurants and bars charge it.
- In Netherlands, it is an insult to offer any tip. No service fee is charged.
- I believe the UK uses the traditional 10% tip
Outside of the US, you will often not see a tip line on the receipt, instead you tell the server how much to add as tip. In many cases, I don't believe the server will get the tip, and as such, I try very hard to tip in cash.
Also understand tipping for taxis, which may be different for restaurants. Additionally, bars may be different from table service (i.e. I believe Brits do not tip for drinks at the bar).
4) Cell Phone
Find out the best cell phone service to get as a pre-paid SIM card. Be prepared that you may need to show your passport.
You will need to call your carrier and have them unlock your phone so you can use a temporary SIM card. T-Mobile has an app you can download that allows you to unlock even an in subscription phone for 30 days.
The EU has free roaming...if you are doing a trip across multiple countries, you can buy a SIM card in your first country and use it in any EU location. Since the UK has left the EU, it is no longer covered by this practice.
Alternatively, for short trips, I have a Google Fi subscription. The service has no commitment and can be enabled and disabled at will (if you leave it disabled for 90 days, it will re-enable...but you can simply turn it off). Google Fi is $20 or $30 a month plus $10 per gigabyte for global data.
In Budapest, I recommend getting T-Mobile prepaid service...it is less than $10 for 10 GB of data.
5) Credit Card Usage
Understand how widely credit cards are accepted. Some countries use them so widely that you almost can no longer use cash. Others are very cash centric and it is very hard to use card.
Many countries require a chip for your card. Also, many countries make far better use of contactless payment. In this case, you can pay with your watch or phone by enrolling your credit card in google pay/wallet or apple pay.
Some services don't take US cards. I used to find public transit in Europe would not take my cards, but since the US adopted chip cards, this has not been a problem. I still do find some online tourist attractions do not accept US cards....the Vatican was a perfect example. The only solution to this is getting a European issued card. Likely not worth the effort.
6) Electronics
There are two things you need to worry about with your electronics when you travel. 1) The voltage - The US is one of the few countries in the world that uses 120 Volt power from the outlet. Most of the world uses 240 Volt. 2) The shape of the plug - There is no international standard here. I think there are around 7 plug shapes mostly defined by region.
For the Voltage, check either the power brick or the place where the power enters your device. If it says something like 120VAC/240VAC for input, you are good. If it only says Input 120VAC, you are screwed. For these, there are converters you can buy, but it isn't worth the hassle.
I find that nowdays, about the only thing you have issues with are heating devices such as hair dryers and curling irons.
The other thing is the shape of the plug. These are easy to buy cheaply either before you leave or on the ground when you land. Google the shape you need.
7) International Trains
I remember in college being told how great Eurorails was for buying european train tickets. Maybe at the time it was great given I'm sure most countries did not have websites. But nowdays, they just add a surcharge.
The best way to get train tickets is through the national railway for the country of origin or destination. You can do this at the train station or, often, online. This is a great site for european train travel: https://www.seat61.com/
8) Bathroom use
Many cities (particularly in europe) are sticklers on bathroom usage. For instance, in Budapest you can't even use the McDonalds bathroom without buying something. There are often many public bathrooms, but they all charge around $1 to use them. This will require you to have some change at all times.
Ways around this: 1) buy a coffee to use the bathroom 2) Hotels rarely monitor their bathrooms
We were in Bratislava for a day trip and as such, didn't get local currency...we knew we could use card. The one thing we forgot: we were in the castle and the only bathrooms available charged 1 euro. We had no euro. There were not even restaurants we could buy a coffee at. Luckily the attendant took pity on the boys, but not on Stefi. She had to hold it a very long time.
Preparations to travel abroad:
1) Banking
Call your banks ahead of time and tell them you are travelling. Many banks block foreign transactions unless you warn them. They will ask dates of travels and countries you will visit.
Understand your fees. Most banks will charge you $5 to withdraw from a foreign ATM and a 3% fee for any transaction (credit card charge or ATM withdrawal) that is done in foreign currency. I have a Schwab account where my ATM card has zero fees for both and it will reimburse me for ATM charges. Capital One cards are famous for not charging the foreign transaction fee. I believe the Costco card has also removed this fee.
You will need a chip card abroad - mag stripe is dead. Additionally, I find most countries are far ahead of the US in contactless. I have enrolled my cards in Google Pay/Wallet and often pay with my phone.
2) Cell Phone
As I noted before, call your carrier to get your phone unlocked for a temporary SIM. Make sure you bring the tool so you can pop the SIM card on your phone.
Most carriers have a plan where you can have internet access abroad. For even our normal internet fees, they are very high vs. other countries. The international rates are even far higher than our normal rates. That makes US carrier fees a complete rip off when you are abroad.
Install apps on your phone to communicate back home. I use whatsapp, signal and facebook messenger for most of my domestic and international communication.
Also, install a phone app that allows you to call US numbers...I've traditionally used skype. This comes in especially handy if your credit or ATM card gets declined for fraud.
3) Passport/Visa
If you have less than 6 months left on your passport on your return date, check the countries you are going to make sure that is OK.
Make sure you don't need a visa to travel...you can typically check on the US Department of State website or the Embassy/Consulate of the country you are looking to travel to.
4) Phone Apps
Here are some phone apps I rely on. I am a Google guy so most of my apps will be Google over Apple. Apple may have a similar, if inferior, product.
1) XE - great for currency conversion...know rates and be able to convert prices without doing math.
2) Google Maps - tons of useful stuff here.
Get directions using walking mode, transit mode or driving mode.
Find great restaurants using reviews, cuisines, and distance from current location.
Find banks, atms, grocery stores, hospitals, fast food etc.
If you have the local rideshare app installed it will provide you rideshare cost estimates.
3) Google Translate - in addition to typing in words and phrases to get a translation, you can use your camera and it will use character recognition to translate and overlay with English. You can also use interpreter mode to talk with someone and use Google as an interpreter.
4) Google Lens - you can point it at an interesting building or monument to find out what it is.
5) Tripadvisor - use it to find top sites, top/nearby restaurants and use the forums to ask ad hoc questions.
