Buck, quid, banks and cards!

Money doesn't buy happiness? But it does buy plane tickets and music festivals to see your favorite bands in Ireland. This is happiness to me!
Longitude Festival. Dublin, Ireland. July 2013.
General money and card information for travel:
Things you are going to need (hopefully obvious at this point): 
  • An ATM(debit) card 
  • One or two credit cards 
  • Paper money  
Things you must take into account:
  • Exchange rates- Study the exchange rate of your home dollar to that of the destination country a week before leaving so you know when you are getting a good exchange deal. 
    • Never exchange your money at the airport. That is financial suicide, just as you would never go to the airport solely to eat a dry or soaking-soggy $12 sandwich. 
  • ATM fees- In most cases, at least that I know of, you will be charged to withdraw money from any bank that is not your own. Both your bank (for cheating on them) and the ATM will charge you anywhere from $2 to $5. Getting charged for taking out money that belongs to you is just wrong to me.
    • Some major banks have ATM partnerships worldwide - meaning no fees.
    • If you are a US resident, Schwab Bank's High Yield Investors account debit card has a zero ATM fee protocol meaning they give back all money charged by ATMs at the end of each month. Sweet deal! I have created a second bank account with them and just transfer funds when needed from my chase account to avoid those stupid ATM fees. 
    • Watch out for ATMs that have been tampered with! Villains install devices on ATMs to get your account information and rob you.  I wish they would get a real job.
These ATMs all have skimming devices.
  • The best travel credit card: Capital One offers rates closest to the official exchange rate.
    • All credit cards charge a 3% fee when overseas except: Capital One's No Hassle Card, Chase credit cards and some American Express cards. I'm not sure about other countries sorry! 
      • Bringing a credit card along is crucial in case something goes wrong!
Do not forget to tell your bank about your travels!
You don't want your card to be blocked for suspicious activity. 
PS. If you know of a money tree near Arizona, USA please contact me ASAP. I must help with quantity control. 
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