Traveling in general is costly- we might as well make educated decisions to save money where we can. I would start this process four weeks prior to travel at the latest. That way, if you need to open up a new account to avoid unnecessary foreign transaction fees, you have ample time. Here are five tips for spending money overseas.

1. No Transaction Fees on Credit Cards- When traveling overseas, check your credit cards to see if any have no foreign transaction fees. Typically, credit cards charge a 3% foreign transaction fee on top of your foreign currency translation. Check out Capital One Venture Visa card or American Express Delta Card- those are the two I use. Don’t forget to call ahead and notify your credit card company of your travel plans so your card doesn’t get declined!

2. Changing currency – if you decide to exchange currency at home, check your banks first. They normally don’t charge a fee. Try to avoid the airport, hotels, and definitely any of the locations where they don’t charge a fee (excluding your bank). You typically get a worse exchange rate. I will exchange $100 or less if I think it’s necessary at my bank, but I usually wait until I get overseas.

3. Getting cash overseas – I find that for day-to-day cash purchases, I believe you get a very reasonable (and arguably the best) exchange rate using foreign ATM machines. Another plus side is that you won’t find yourself carrying more cash than necessary. Check your debit cards have any foreign transactions fees or service fees for using a non-affiliated ATM machine. Also, some banks will actually reimburse those service fees. I use Capital One 360 Checking – there’s no foreign transaction fees or service fees from Capital One; however, if the ATM machine charges a service fee, I do have to pay that. Also, I used to have an HSBC account that did not charge foreign transaction or ATM fees – there’s a lot of HSBC ATM’s in Europe, too (no additional service fees).

4. Tipping with cash – Always carry smaller bills in foreign currency for tipping at hotels, valet, tours, etc.

5. Always carry a couple hundred in your local currency with you for emergency cash- you never know what’s going to come up!

Normally, I’ll spend cash on smaller purchases, but I stick to my credit card on anything else. Safe travels!