International Travel in General

[cy1229]

Hi y'all!

My older daughter is going on a 10-day trip to London, Paris (not DLP! Boo!), and Madrid next month, with a tour group through school. The tour website recommends $50 per day for lunch, snacks, and souvenirs. The teacher is recommending $20 per day. The last time I was in Europe it was 1985 so my knowledge of how much things actually cost in these countries is unknown. They're taking the train from London to Paris during the day, but taking the overnight train from Paris to Madrid, and (I assume) will be buying their dinner on the train.

So my question for all of you is, how much is a reasonable amount to take? I see that the Euro is currently trading at $1 = € 0.77 and the British Pound Sterling is trading at $1 = £ 0.65.

HELP!!!???

[sfein]

So no dinner costs? Just lunch? I don't have a lot of experience, but I tend to think of amounts in terms of New York City. How much would I give my daughter to do the same in New York per day? 20 sounds like plenty if it is just lunch and souvenirs. But adding dinner or entrance fees to sites, then 40 sounds closer to correct.

[Sleepy90]

Heavens above is this teacher living in the dark ages. Lets do the math (my don't. I sound like Sheldon) .65 to the $ that makes 12.50 in pounds for lunch snacks and souvenirs.
Depending on where you are buying lunch a sandwich alone could cost around 5pounds that would leave 7.50 for drinks snacks and knickknacks. I would say the website was maybe a little high but that teacher is too low. My suggestion make it a happy medium $35-$40.

We just calculated that a big Mac meal is $7.50 with the conversion rate as it stands.
Hope this helps cy.

[Amy]

I would tend to lean toward the higher amount. And maybe tuck in a few extra travelers checks just in case? My Mom was just reminiscing about one of my class trips in high school. She said she wished I had taken a little more money because I evidently scrimped and didn't eat normal meals because I was afraid of running out of money. Me being Dory, I don't remember this, but she is a pretty good historian, so I would guess it is true. If your daughter has a tendency toward worrying about funds, a little extra may ease her mind

[cy1229]

Amy you raise an important point. Meghan is EXACTLY the way you are.

The tour includes two meals a day, usually breakfast and dinner, but one day (the night train day) it includes breakfast and lunch. All their scheduled tours and activity fees are included in the tour price. That doesn't include things that she does during free time, but I don't anticipate that being a humungous expense.

Sleepy I appreciate your breakdown, makes things more manageable. Meghan is DETERMINED to have fish and chips while in London (and who could blame her, really) and I have admonished her to maybe try McDonald's once to compare Europe fast food to American, but to not do that any more often than once.

We'll probably lean toward $40 a day. Her teacher is recommending a debit card, which isn't a bad idea actually, but I also wonder if we shouldn't make use of the pre-paid American Express PASS card (it's a special thing for teenagers) rather than the card linked to her checking account. I'll go and talk to someone at the credit union about that.

So many questions!

[Sleepy90]

Tell her to avoid Macdonalds they are the same the world over.

I am not sure about Europe but not many places in the UK take American Express cards. Take a look at Fairfx we have used a card from them in the USA before and did not have any problems it is just like paying by credit card but it is already prepaid. Joe has just had look at the site and they are now doing something called an anywhere card maybe this is worth a look.

[Amy]

Tell her to avoid Macdonalds they are the same the world over.

I am not sure about Europe but not many places in the UK take American Express cards. Take a look at Fairfx we have used a card from them in the USA before and did not have any problems it is just like paying by credit card but it is already prepaid. Joe has just had look at the site and they are now doing something called an anywhere card maybe this is worth a look.

The McDonald's in Greece had some interesting menu items ~ different from what you could buy in the US. And of course the menu was in Greek which was fun. I just popped in for a Coke, but it was fun to see the regional flavors. And a very nice man insisted on buying me an ice cream ~ I tried a few times to say no, but he insisted and the ice cream came directly from the employees behind the counter so I figured he wasn't up to no good. Random acts of kindness

[TikiTikiRoom]

So this is really out of the blue, as it's been awhile since I've posted and well....it's a sort of random trip in general but something I've been wanting to do for months now, if not years. Picked up a one way ticket to Mexico City in January. Didn't bother with round trip, as I haven't fleshed out the details nor the timing and I'm hoping to bring a lady with me so I would need to talk to her as well. Only two friends of mine know. Either way, I'm excited beyond belief and stoked that I just decided to go for it. Why not, right? If all goes well, I'll be seeing a bunch of things in Mexico City spend at LEAST a few days there and then travel to Yucatan, as that's where this girl I'm seeing would want to go most of all (she's been dreaming of going back for a couple years now....so I basically said "Well, might as well make it for her").

Anyone travelled south of the border? I know a couple things that I'd like to do there (Arena Mexico for traditional lucha libre from CMLL and pick up some authentic bootleg action figures as I am currently producing my own....)

[Polynesian Princess]

I've only been to Cozumel on a cruise, but we enjoyed seeing the Mayan ruins that are near there. Our tour served lunch, but we were less than thrilled when we learned it was tuna fish. We were running low on time and the lines were too long at the other restaurants at the ruins, so we had to grab Subway. They had different bread selections than we do in America. I couldn't tell you what seasonings were on it, but it was the best I've ever had. We only had a little bit of time to spend in Cozumel, but enjoyed looking around the shops.