Quote:

---

Originally posted by rajcanada

Delhite, you never know how much they approve you for initially. Sears may have a low limit like $400 or $500 to start with as a new card holder. I do not know if it will be worth it for you then. You should call them and find out the range you could be approved for. You will probably not know the actual limit until you put in an actual credit application.

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------
A Delhite in Toronto

@Delhite -
I was checking credit cards with good rewards and found "Marriott Rewards® Credit Card ", they don't charge any transaction fee(same like Sears), also first year it's free and you ll get reward points with which you can stay in their chain of hotels for upto 5 nights or may be more depending on which card you select.

Best mode of payment in europe for Taxis, subways, tourist place & museum tickets - cash.
for long distance train travel , hotels, restaurants, grocery shops - credit card

crux of the story - carry both.
Must always carry some euro coins for using washrooms.
Beware of pick pockets in Italy. Hang your bags in front side than your back.

If you ask me include south of France ( Nice, Monaco, Cannes) in your list.

First - carry both.

second - estimate your total expense to be incurred while in Europe. So that will exclude airline tickets, hotels which you might have already booked and if any other bookings you have already made and paid for.

You will find that this will leave may be 30-40% of your total budget to be spent while in Europe. Take that amount and multiply by the difference between CC exchange rate+spread of cc company and cash exchange rate - and you will find that this comes to a very very small amount - almost negligible. On a total budget of CAD 15,000 for the whole trip, this would come down to less than $100 (35% of 15,000 times 1%).

And now compare it with the hassle of carrying cash/not using CC or not carrying cash/using CC. Most probably you will get an answer that it doesn't matter much and boils down to what is the cash amount you would consider safe to carry versus not carrying enough and getting stuck at places.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

Use CC's for only large payments and at reputed places(eg. Hotel-airline booking).

Cash for chota-mota payments and at less trustworthy places. As San Hugo mentioned, keep small change handy for washroom-use, batteries, etc. At restaurants, pay cash.

Thanks Chandresh, Elmer Fudd, San-hugo, TK & Lemon925 for tips. Actually all my major expenses are prepaid. It is an organized tour so air fare, hotel, transportation, food, entry fee etc are already paid. I just need some money for petty shopping and other misc expenses. I will be carrying cash under thousand bucks and Sears MC as a contingency. For cell phone, I got 50 minutes talk time, 150 MB data, 150 outgoing txt and unlimited incoming txt for CDN $ 50 from my current service provider. I will not miss any call. I think I am good on all fronts.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
A Delhite in Toronto

Bon Voyage .. have fun and keep your cash and other things secure ... I would recommend a cotton bag with a sling around your neck and under your shirt.

Got pickpocketed once in life and that also in Spain but due to the above safeguard the only thing that was in the wallet was minor change and a day pass

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fido.