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Dollars,
Francs, Pounds, But No Problem
By
Dan Suits
European travel used to involve endless hassle with foreign currencies.
In the first place, hotel, restaurant and other charges had to
be settled in cash, so you had to get two or three thousand dollars
in traveler's checks from your bank at home, carry them around
and keep them secure during your trip. The traveler's checks,
in turn, had to be exchanged for the currency of your host country.
Exchange rates varied with the kind of exchange office you dealt
with, and changing money usually involved shopping around for
the best rate. Regular banks with foreign exchange desks gave
the best rates, special foreign exchange offices for tourists
charged somewhat more, and hotels usually were happy to charge
the most.
Regardless
of rate, exchange was a time consuming and troublesome business.
It always involved hauling out passports and ID, usually after
waiting in line. To add to your problems, if you were visiting
several different countries you had to be careful not to convert
too many dollars at once, for every time you went from one country
to another you had to stock up on a new currency. If you had to
pay a new exchange premium to obtain, say, French francs with
leftover English pounds that you had already purchased at premium,
your exchange costs were doubled.
But
all that is gone from modern travel. These days, the financial
side of the trip to Europe is a little different from what you
find traveling around the United States. Restaurants hotels, and
stores accept credit cards as freely as at home. Indeed, in some
ways payment with plastic is easier in Europe. When you settle
a French restaurant tab with your credit card, the waitperson
brings to your table a little computer that appears to be radio-connected
to the bank. Your card is swiped, the amount punched in, and after
a short wait for validation, the receipt is printed out (Incidentally,
unlike the receipt you sign in an American restaurant, the French
copy has no space to record a tip, French meals are priced service
inclu or tip included). These little computers are even found
in many taxis, and rail and subway tickets can routinely be purchased
on your credit card.
Of
course, you still need cash. You can't use a credit card to buy
a newspaper or make small purchases, and small rural inns and
bed and breakfast places sometimes deal only in cash. But getting
cash is no longer a problem. Even in small villages practically
every bank features an ATM where you can get cash on your own
ATM card if your American bank -as almost all do- belongs to Cirrus
or one of the other international banking networks. Insert your
card and punch in your PIN just like you would at home. The screen
layout and the exact way you specify how much money you want may
differ somewhat from what you're used to, but you can select directions
in English. Merely follow the simple instructions and the ATM
delivers the amount you of local currency you need, charged against
your bank account back home at the most favorable rate of exchange.
Next year, with the arrival of the Euro as the common currency
of most of the countries in the European Union, travelers will
no longer even have to learn to use different coins and bills
every time they cross an international boundary.
It's
true that having currency exchanges used to be part of the distinct
experience of being abroad. But the reduction in hassle and worry
about money has made foreign travel more relaxing and a whole
lot more fun.
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