Hiya,

I would like to travel to Eastern Europe. I would like to go to Poland, Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy (maybe Romania and Bulgaria if
possible) from the UK in October. Should I buy traveller cheque or just draw out cash
with my debit card? Also, I have two accounts, HSBC and Lloyd. Which one is better if
drawing out cash is better?

Thanks alot.

Caroline

Caroline,

Can't answer your question regarding your specific banks, but in general we found the
ATM's much easier and less expensive than Traveler's Checks.

A month ago I had to go to three banks in Munich to cash an American Express
Traveler's Check in the amount of $500 and had to pay a hefty fee. In both Budapest
and Prague I simply walked up to an ATM inserted my card and it worked like a charm.
First question on the screen was what language would you like? Of course I selected
English and the transaction was simple.

On our next trip, I am going to forget the checks and use only our ATM card.

Ed in Las Vegas, USA "Caroline Lee" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hiya,
    >
    > I would like to travel to Eastern Europe. I would like to go to Poland, Czech
    > Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy (maybe Romania and Bulgaria
    > if possible) from the UK in October. Should I buy traveller cheque or just draw out
    > cash with my debit card? Also, I have two accounts, HSBC and Lloyd. Which one is
    > better if drawing out cash is better?
    >
    > Thanks alot.
    >
    > Caroline

In article <[email protected]> Caroline Lee,
[email protected] writes:
    >I would like to travel to Eastern Europe. I would like to go to Poland, Czech
    >Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy (maybe Romania and Bulgaria if
    >possible) from the UK in October. Should I buy traveller cheque or just draw out
    >cash with my debit card? Also, I have two accounts, HSBC and Lloyd. Which one is
    >better if drawing out cash is better?

- Use your debit card
- Don't use "Eastern Europe" for Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia
and Croatia; they are in Central Europe
- For answers to F(requently)A(sked)Q(uestions) on Prague and the Czech Republic,
visit the Czech Republic FAQ: http://fas.harvard.edu/~sever/Czech.homepage.html
- For answers to F(requently)A(sked)Q(uestions) on Bratislava and Slovakia, visit the
Slovak Republic FAQ: http://fas.harvard.edu/~sever/slovak.html

Ivan

"Caroline Lee" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hiya,
    >
    > I would like to travel to Eastern Europe. I would like to go to Poland, Czech
    > Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy (maybe Romania and Bulgaria
    > if possible) from the UK in October. Should I buy traveller cheque or just draw out
    > cash with my debit card? Also, I have two accounts, HSBC and Lloyd. Which one is
    > better if drawing out cash is better?
    >
    > Thanks alot.
    >
ATM cards - no question, but take them both (and don't loose them both at the same
time!). Lloyds works fine for me, but check what the charges / rates look like
(Lloyds vary type of account, IIRC)

Yeah take both as some ATMs are temperamental and may eg accept one Visa provider but not another depending on the ATM bank. Better still if you have both Visa and Mastercard. No problem calling those countries E Europe tho' some chip on shoulder locals prefer Central and Eastern Europe. Don't you mean credit card not debit? The exchange rate may be poor, typically 2-3% worse than interbank.

Hi Ivan,

    > - Don't use "Eastern Europe" for Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,
    > Slovenia and Croatia; they are in Central Europe

I think it depends on what kind of concept you use to distinguish. I also think both
of them, Eastern Europe and Central Europe, are acceptable. Also, when I read the
guide books from lonely planet, those countries are included in the category of
Central Europe and Eastern Europe as well.

By the way, thanks very much for your recommended web pages.

Caroline ^_^

Ed:

I almost agree with you. Never the less after some interesting experiences, I use my
ATM card but always carry traveler's checks as a backup. The machine might eat the
card (this has happened to me), the magnetic encoding can get bollixed, the machine
can be broken or cashless (the later has happened to me several times -- certain
cities seem to run out of ATM cash much more often than others). On my last trip to
Europe, I didn't need the travel's checks; on the prior trip I did. It's worth the
loss of interest to me to keep emergency money in such checks.

Paul

"Ed Wynn" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > Caroline,
    >
    > Can't answer your question regarding your specific banks, but in general
we
    > found the ATM's much easier and less expensive than Traveler's Checks.
    >
    > A month ago I had to go to three banks in Munich to cash an American
Express
    > Traveler's Check in the amount of $500 and had to pay a hefty fee. In
both
    > Budapest and Prague I simply walked up to an ATM inserted my card and it worked
    > like a charm. First question on the screen was what language would you like? Of
    > course I selected English and the transaction was simple.
    >
    > On our next trip, I am going to forget the checks and use only our ATM
card.

Taking a moment to reflect, Ed Wynn then wrote:
    |
    | On our next trip, I am going to forget the checks and use only our ATM card.

Might want to keep US$100 or so in a cheque just in case your card is lost or
stolen, though.

In article <[email protected]>, Caroline Lee
<[email protected]> writes:

    >I would like to go to Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia,
    >Italy (maybe Romania and Bulgaria if possible) from the UK in October. Should I buy
    >traveller cheque or just draw out cash with my debit card?

Carry some travellers' cheques in case you lose your card. But I travelled
extensively in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania and Italy (and elsewhere) last
year and never used them, only my VISA debit card. If your card is not a VISA one, it
might be hard.

Larry in Berkeley (seaotter6 at aol dot com, no spaces in address)

Sounds like a reasonable idea. Thanks,

Ed in Las Vegas "mhicaoidh" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:luj%8.620317$352.131853@sccrnsc02...
    > Taking a moment to reflect, Ed Wynn then wrote:
    > |
    > | On our next trip, I am going to forget the checks and use only our ATM card.
    >
    > Might want to keep US$100 or so in a cheque just in case your card is lost or
    > stolen, though.

In article <[email protected]>, "Ed Wynn" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > Sounds like a reasonable idea. Thanks,
    >
    > Ed in Las Vegas "mhicaoidh" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:luj%8.620317$352.131853@sccrnsc02...
    > > Taking a moment to reflect, Ed Wynn then wrote:
    > > |
    > > | On our next trip, I am going to forget the checks and use only our ATM card.
    > >
    > > Might want to keep US$100 or so in a cheque just in case your card is lost or
    > > stolen, though.
    > >
    > >

for $100 in back up just take a long a handful of 20s

"hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > In article <[email protected]>, "Ed Wynn" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > > Sounds like a reasonable idea. Thanks,
    > >
for people travelling in Cen/East Europe (which IIRC was the OP), I'd recommend some
EUR5 notes instead: very acceptable, a small enough not have to worry if forced to
use it. One big (US) note is great if you change it at a bank, but if need an
'emeregncy lunch' or something, EUR5(s) will do very nicely at a cafe / gas station.

Taking a moment to reflect, hamilton then wrote:
    |
    | for $100 in back up just take a long a handful of 20s

How would you replace them if they were stolen? A cheque you can have replaced.

"mhicaoidh" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:jfC%8.117894$Wt3.100266@rwcrnsc53...
    > Taking a moment to reflect, hamilton then wrote:
    > |
    > | for $100 in back up just take a long a handful of 20s
    >
    > How would you replace them if they were stolen? A cheque you can have replaced.

Your backup money is kept secure, like passport and airline ticket. Look among your
things. Imagine a really safe place to place some rolled up cash. There are tens of
good places. I used always to tote a hundred under the insole of my show or in my
bra. I never had to use it, but I never lost it either.

"Ken Tough" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Ed Wynn <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > >Can't answer your question regarding your specific banks, but in general
we
    > >found the ATM's much easier and less expensive than Traveler's Checks.
    > >
    > >A month ago I had to go to three banks in Munich to cash an American
Express
    > >Traveler's Check in the amount of $500 and had to pay a hefty fee. In
both
    > >Budapest and Prague I simply walked up to an ATM inserted my card and it worked
    > >like a charm. First question on the screen was what language
would
    > >you like? Of course I selected English and the transaction was simple.
    > >
    > >On our next trip, I am going to forget the checks and use only our ATM
card.
    >
    > Uhh, wait til you see your statement for the charges on those cash withdrawels. If
    > UK rates are anything to go by, it's probably about $5 per time. I wholeheartedly
    > recommend using ATMs, but beware the transaction charges, and pull out a good wad
    > of cash each time to cut overheads. Also, always use VISA in preference to debit
    > transactions (VISA being free).
    >
you need to review your banking arrangements: UK bank, no withdrawal charge,
wholesale exchange rate, what more can you ask for?