Should You Carry Cash When Traveling?

TTT 53 - Cash
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Meggan: . Hey everyone and welcome back to Travel Tip Tuesday, where every few weeks Jenn and I share some quick topics to help you travel or help you plan to travel. How are you doing today, Jenn?

Jenn: I am good. How are you?

Meggan: Excellent. And this week I wanted to talk about cash money.

Jenn: Ooh, dolla dolla bills.

Meggan: Hotel Dolla bills, y'all! So most of us live where the card is king whether it's a debit card or a credit card. I honestly can't remember the last time I had cash in my wallet, why would I? What about you, Jenn? Are you somebody that actually has some cash on you at all times?

Jenn: I Typically do and mostly because I do work one day a week as a massage therapist And I do occasionally get cash tips.

And so it is nice to have but I don't tend to use it too, too much, but it is nice to have it just in case. We did have here in Canada yesterday, this will come out in a few weeks, but Moneris was down and debit and Credit Machines were down, so you never know.

Meggan: You don't. And, and when you are traveling, you also never know.

So, today we're going to talk about when traveling, you know, is cash something you should still consider? My definite suggestion to this is, is a big capital yes.

Um,

While most places take credit cards, although you should always check that your credit card type is accepted, as some brands, like American Express, aren't accepted everywhere.

So that's something to keep in mind too. And then cards in general sometimes just aren't always accepted. Some small businesses or remote areas may not have machines or the ability to take a card. And like yesterday here, what if the machines are down? You've already eaten your food at the restaurant and you need to still pay for it, right? What if you get a cab and the same thing happens? Cash would be really useful of course in these scenarios plus others and you might not need it Of course, but if you do you'll be super thankful one thing I do however need to stress is that taking currency from your home country and expecting to be able to Spend that internationally, just, just don't. Such as trying to pay for stuff in Italy, let's say as an example with US dollars. They don't want your American money. They would like the Euro, thank

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: But I guess when I think of it, like picture someone coming to Canada or the US and expecting to be able to pay in Icelandic kroners.

Jenn: Right?

Meggan: It would be like, what are you even doing, where are you from, and why are you attempting this? And really that's the same for every country in the world, unless of course it's in the EU, and they just want the Euro. So,

Jenn: for sure.

Meggan: there's that. So just keep that in mind, don't take your home currency, take the country's currency. So, to do this, really, prior to travel, ensure that you go to your bank in order or purchase the currency of the country you're going to.

So, you might have to do this in advance. If you're not traveling to a quote unquote more common destination such as the EU, the UK, or the U. S. Some currencies they might not have on hand at your bank. So you should plan to order it in advance. Now the question might become for some people like how much should I take? This is all about personal preference. how much cash you feel comfortable having on you, and also the length of your trip. So, we usually take a smallish amount, and then we use a bank machine in the destination if needed, and then mostly our credit card because I like the points.

But don't forget to pay if you are using card in local currency when you're given the option. But we do always try to have some on hand because you never know. So, Jenn, what about you in regards to cash when you guys travel?

Jenn: Yes, this is such a good topic. I can't believe we haven't talked about this before. I agree. It is really important to have some cash, but you don't want to carry too much, right? So we typically order currency from our bank ahead of time. Last time I didn't do it ahead of time and forgot that I lived in a town of 3, 000 people and they didn't have a lot of pounds.

So I planned to take... Uh 400 pounds, but I ended up taking 200 because that's all my bag had and it was like days before my trip Because i'm a procrastinator So here we are, but honestly like we really didn't need more than 200 pounds for we were there for two weeks We used it when we were buying smaller items and then sometimes we used it for like coffee and that sort of thing.

Tipping culture is not big in Scotland. We would just kind of round up a little bit generally, but if you're going somewhere where tipping is big, you're probably going to want to order some small bills and just so that you have those on hand. We typically don't take that much cash going to, like, Disney or Florida.

In the past, I have taken too much, and then you, I've come home with it. So, it, you know, it's annoying if you're not going back to that place anytime soon, and then they're like, what do I do with this? But yeah, have some. That's my, that's my recommendation.

Meggan: I couldn't agree more and, and I know some people, like, don't want to use their cards because they're scared of fraud, so they take a ton of cash, which, again, it is all about comfort level and whatever you feel comfortable carrying with you, just be careful,

Jenn: yeah. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable carrying a lot of cash

Meggan: Yeah.

Now if you are home basing it and have a safe that that could work. So you put, you know, just take out as you need. So that could be an option as well. But that's it for this week's travel tip Tuesday. Join us on social media. Let us know how you feel most comfortable traveling all cash, all card or a good mixture of both.

We'd love to hear from you on the topic. As for us, you can find us at travel mug podcast on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. As we do record video for all of our podcasts if you'd rather look at us. Hello

Jenn: Bye!

Meggan: You can do that as well. We are of course on our website at travelmugpodcast. com If you enjoy this show you can leave us a review on apple or spotify Buy us a coffee to help support the show The link is in the show notes or share the show with a travel loving pal and until next time. Bye