Bank conversion fee

[WinniWoman]

I didn't realize tours were that expensive as I've never been on one. If your are inclined to tip, th as t seems to be a reasonable amount.

Yes. Don’t forget the tour price includes all the hotels, the transfers, the meals and the other tips.

In our case, because we are going the day before we had to arrange and pay for our own airfare (as opposed to their included airfare price- they did give us a credit for that) and pay an additional fee for the arrival transfer to the hotel and pay the extra night at the hotel.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Yes. Don’t forget the tour price includes all the hotels, the transfers, the meals and the other tips.

That's exactly correct, you would not tip as a percentage of the tour package price. That would result in huge tip for the guide...

 

[davidvel]

We always paid by card as well, but I'm pretty sure we had the option of tipping by rounding up.

Very different experience for us. In over 25 transactions, it was simply look at total and tap card. No way to tip at all.

 

[nerodog]

So we went to our bank today to order $300 in Euros for our trip to Italy. Cost was $362.40 PLUS a $15 fee!!

$200 euro of that will be for the tour guide and the rest just to have for tips at the airports for my wheelchair and a few incidentals like a gelato or whatever while we are away.

They said they couldn’t give us coins which I wanted because I heard you need them for toilets. So I ended up getting a few more paper 5’s.

I’m hoping not to need more cash than that and not having to bother with an atm machine.

Anyway, just my rant but that seems like an incredibly high exchange rate.

Hi.. yes that is pretty high.. once there you can collect some 1 and 2 euro pieces..they do come in handy and people always want change!!!

 

[nerodog]

That’s an interesting idea. Our atm card has a pin and I assume it’s a chip. I’m going to ask about that when I pick up the Euros.

I use my USA cards all the time in Europe. No problems.

 

[nerodog]

I actually never use my atm card but I feel like I have to bring it with me in case we need more cash. I really hate the idea of taking it actually.

It's a safe guard and ATM are all over the place. .

 

[bizaro86]

It's a safe guard and ATM are all over the place. .

Yeah. I think not having/using an ATM card is a pretty niche position. It's both more convenient and cheaper than any other option. I don't leave tens of thousands of dollars in my checking account - I've certainly saved more than the maximum possible fraud loss without ever having been a victim of fraud related to an ATM.

 

[WinniWoman]

Yeah. I think not having/using an ATM card is a pretty niche position. It's both more convenient and cheaper than any other option. I don't leave tens of thousands of dollars in my checking account - I've certainly saved more than the maximum possible fraud loss without ever having been a victim of fraud related to an ATM.

I am going to definitively freeze my card on the app and unfreeze it if I have to use it.