Traveller’s cheques, credit cards, cash payments: If you want to have a great holiday, you need a full travel budget. FOCUS Online tells you the best way to withdraw money abroad.
Anyone traveling abroad should never take too much cash with them because of the risk of theft. A sum of 50 to 100 euros in the local currency is usually sufficient to pay for the first taxi ride to the hotel.
If you need fresh cash afterwards, you should pay attention to the fees. These are the cheapest ways to get cash.
Paying with an EC card is difficult outside of Europe; travelers here need a credit card. In the USA, for example, it is almost impossible to travel without this plastic card. There is always a fee, the so-called foreign transaction fee. It is one to two percent of the invoice amount.
Example: You pay a hotel bill for 1,000 dollars with a credit card, your bank charges an international fee of 1.75 percent. The home bank will then first settle the amount in euros. In our example, 1000 dollars are currently around 953 euros. The bank then charges a foreign transaction fee of EUR 16.68 on this sum.
Withdrawing cash from an ATM with a credit card is even more expensive. In addition to the foreign transaction fee, there is also a withdrawal fee, which is usually three to four percent of the amount withdrawn. Exactly how much you have to pay varies from bank to bank.
Savings tip: Some online banks such as DKB or Barclays offer customers the opportunity to withdraw money worldwide free of charge with their credit card. At ING, withdrawals within Europe are free.
In euro countries you can easily withdraw money with the EC card. Cards with the “Maestro” or the “Cirrus” logo can be used worldwide at all ATMs with this symbol. However, holidaymakers have to be careful with EC cards with the “V-Pay” logo: You can only use these cards in Europe.
In the euro area, the fees must never be higher than if you were to withdraw money from a foreign bank in Germany; i.e. a maximum of five to six euros. If you pay with the EC card in restaurants or shops in France or Spain, you don’t have to worry about any additional fees.
Saving tip: Many German banks cooperate with foreign financial institutions. Withdrawing money from these partners is often free of charge. You should therefore ask your bank before you go on holiday who they work with abroad.
When withdrawing money outside the euro area, the question sometimes pops up on the screen: Should the amount be converted into euros immediately? You should definitely avoid this, otherwise you will have to shell out the exchange rates set by the machine operators themselves. These are usually cheaper. Without the conversion, your local bank uses the daily exchange rate for the amount withdrawn.
Just ten years ago, traveler’s checks were a popular way to get cash while on vacation. However, they are no longer accepted in many countries. In most cases, you pay a fee of at least six euros when you buy the travelers cheques. Additional fees apply when redeeming. Important: When you make your purchase at the bank, ask where you can cash the traveler’s checks in the destination country free of charge or at a low cost.
There are more and more countries where cash no longer plays a major role. In addition to the USA, these are primarily the Scandinavian countries Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Even the smallest amounts can be paid there with an EC card, credit card or EC card. Vacationers should therefore be prepared for the fact that cash is sometimes no longer accepted.
Anyone traveling abroad should follow a few tips: “Inform yourself beforehand about the exchange rate of the national currency,” advises Erik Schaarschmidt from the consumer advice center in Brandenburg. This is the only way you will be able to check the exchange rates when you are billed. It is also problematic when exchanging cash that exchange offices often call for lunar conversion prices, which are unfavorable.
And sometimes it’s better to go to a bank branch for cash. In Latin America, withdrawing money on the open street is not recommended for security reasons alone.
