On a recent trip to England, Andrew Dodson, 35, and his wife, Erin, 32, who live in Traverse City, Michigan, had an unexpected problem. They brought.
“I traveled all over the country, including the Lake District and many small towns in the Cotswolds. I even received my card in a small pub,” said Dodson, content marketing manager for TentCraft, a manufacturer of customized tents and accessories. I am saying. “Many didn’t even accept cash. Near the end of the trip, we went to a nice dinner at this Indian restaurant, where we want to run out some of the converted cash. I thought, but they were told they wouldn’t accept cash anymore. “
Finally, at their London hotel, they were able to pay their balances in cash so they didn’t have to take the pounds home and convert them back into dollars.
For American vacationers, traveling abroad involved the ritual of acquiring local currency from their home bank or from their destination ATM or currency exchange before departure. However, the rushing transition by pandemics’ preference for contactless payments will allow them to travel abroad more and more, making it almost impossible to process physical invoices and coins such as pounds, krone and euros.
Juline English, 62, from Fairfax, California, traveled abroad for the first time since Pandemic, staying with her husband for three months in Italy, France, and “had the same 10 euro banknote for weeks.” I am saying. And England.
Both the consumer and the travel industry are part of the trend towards cashless travel. Charuta Fadnis, Senior Vice President of Research and Product Strategy at a travel industry research firm, said travel agencies and service providers “adopt technology that facilitates online transactions and payments” and consumers are “familiar with contactless payments.” I’m out. ” Phocas light.. “Tapping a card or phone to pay is an expected behavior that will continue.”
Of course, the transition to cashless travel did not begin with a pandemic. Michael Orlando, Chief Operating Officer of Global Payments Company, said the increasing use of digital payment options and mobile wallets has been a long-term trend in Asia for the past decade and elsewhere for the past three years. Yapstone..
“But there is no doubt that the pandemic helped shift that trend to high gear,” he said. LendingTree, Online loan company. When the pandemic began, consumers not only began to order more online and on their mobile phones, but also physical money, especially in the early stages when little was known about how the virus spreads. There was a dislike for dealing with. “People found it more comfortable to hand over plastic, use QR codes, mobile payment apps, etc. than to spend cash,” he said.
If you’re traveling abroad for the first time since the pandemic began this summer, optimize when you need cash (tips, toilets), when you don’t (shops, restaurants), and credit, bank, and digital payment options. how to.
Do not tap or swipe
Recently, many vendors outside the United States are only accepting contactless cards. While traveling, Dodson said, “I even tried inserting the tip that the waiter brought or even swiping the mobile card reader, but it reminded me that I had to tap.” Said.
CEO Ben Sopit Unifimony, According to the Digital Wealth Management Platform, contactless technology has been the “de facto standard for almost a decade” in many places outside the United States. In fact, Mastercard reports that half of the world’s transactions are currently contactless.
Check your card before you go abroad, and if you don’t see the contactless payment symbol (a series of four curves), ask your credit card company to exchange it before you travel.
Cards taken overseas should be exempt from foreign transaction fees. We don’t want to replace exchange fees with higher credit card fees, which can be as high as 3% per purchase.If you need a new card to avoid fees, content director Nick Ewen Point guy, Websites that cover issues related to award travel have said Capital One Venture One is a good choice.
Also, if you are asked if you want to charge in local currency or US dollars, please choose your local currency so that you do not pay the “high conversion fee”. Virtuoso Network Owner of the concierge agency Change Travel.
An additional advantage of contactless cards is that they can be used for bus and train fares in many locations (including New York City). You don’t have to pay extra for your ticket, guess how much you’re going to board, or navigate confusing instructions at the kiosk. Combining the ease of contactless fares with directions from the app, you’ll be able to use public transport like a native.
Make a digital backup plan
Nicole Gustas, 51, Somerville, Massachusetts, International Citizen Insurance, She sells travel insurance and other foreign insurance, saying she was “caught many times with flat feet” in New Zealand and Australia because her credit card wasn’t contactless and merchants couldn’t handle them. rice field.She installed to avoid her problem Google Pay On her phone.
In fact, before your next trip, digital wallet (Google Pay or Apple Pay) Connect to your bank account or debit card and get a good understanding of how it works if you need a credit card replacement.
Jenny Lee, 29, a California-based travel guide site blogger Wander, She said she was surprised to find a “cash not accepted” sign on her trip to South Africa this year. “Many countries were already heading into the cashless world before the pandemic, but Covid promoted the use of contactless payments via QR codes at checkout,” she said.
After scanning the QR code with your mobile phone’s camera, use your digital wallet or enter your credit card information to complete the payment. However, Ly said, “Be aware that malicious QR codes can be used to divert money, steal sensitive information, or install malware.” ..
You may want a little cash
Despite the widespread use of cashless payments, you may need real currency. “It really depends on how far you are from the way you go,” Jones said. “For example, if you’re in a city in London, or if you’re on a group tour, it’s 100% okay to rely on your card. But if you’re backpacking or going to a small store or restaurant, There is a good chance that you will have to spend your cash anywhere in the world. “
It also depends on the country. According to Jones, Germany was mostly a cash economy until the pandemic, but many vendors who were previously cash-only have signed that they “prefer contactless payments.” In contrast, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand are “super pro cards for the last decade.” Spain and France, like Germany, are still mixed, he said.
It may also be helpful to make loose changes at hand.Hana Pebney, 60, needs to use the toilet at a train station in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Wald Emerson Inn In Kennebunk, Maine, “we were forced to withdraw euros from ATMs” on a cashless trip to that country, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Using a car can also cause a need for cash. Toll roads do not always accept US debit and credit cards, and parking lots may require coins. Theola Tinny, 28, co-founder of a tech startup VinPitI recently traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I live in New York. Her credit cards were widely accepted in restaurants and stores, but when she and her family went out of Kuala Lumpur, they “withdrew money to get a small change in parking violation tickets. I had to buy a can of cola. “
Another use of cash: “Hints are very much appreciated and there may be places where you can only do it with cash, so for a hotel room maid or someone to help you, a small amount of $ 100 It’s important to have an invoice, “baggage,” said Pauline Frommer, editorial director. Frommer guidebooks and websites.
Pay attention to ATM fees
If you need an ATM abroad, please check in advance if your bank has an international partnership that exempts you from ATM fees. Ewen of PointsGuy said. “For example, Bank of America is affiliated with banks around the world.”
Jones advises clients to open for free Charles Schwab Create an account, deposit hundreds of dollars, and use your Schwab debit card to withdraw ATMs abroad. Schwab will refund the ATM fee. This protects you from greater loss if your data is stolen by an ATM skimmer.
Beth Harpaz is a copy editor of Forward, a Jewish news site.