Gadflyparexcellence
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Walked in "2016," "2018," "2022."
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Woops, I meant 4-5 weeks!Just a brief practical question. I will be on the Camino in the fall of 2017. I do not plan to carry too much cash on this trip. Should I be able to use my credit cards along the way? If not, how much of a minimum cash one should carry on a 4-5 trip?
Yes, cash is definitely king. There are a few places that you can use cards, but those will likely be the exceptions. Hotels usually accept credit cards, as do some restaurants in larger towns. But alberques, small shops, and small restaurants along the way probably won't.
I think that 20-30 euro per day is probably sufficient for most people - 10 euro for a bed in an alburque, 10-20 euro per day for food, laundry and incidentals. If you really enjoy wine, you want to stay in hotels sometimes, and or use pack transport, then you would want to budget more.
Most people take cash out of ATMs along the way as they need it - making sure to carry a few day's worth of cash to see them through rural areas or if the ATMs are out of cash.
Thanks zzotte for the information. Very useful. I will be arriving from New Jersey in the US and will be doing the camino frances route most possibly beginning in Logrono, if not Pamplano. Although I have been to northern Spain before, it was on pleasure. Fortunately I have been carrying credit cards which do not charge a foreign transaction fee. Thanks again.Hi Gadflyparexcellence welcome to the forum, I'm sure you will find some great information here, as for cash don't carry more then two to three days of cash and use your credit card as much as you can, lots of atm's if you are doing the camino frances, now I don't know where you are coming from but be aware that most credit cards from the US gets charged a fee plus transaction fee some even charge an exchange rate fee and that can add up, some don't charge any fee at all like Charles Schwab atm card and credit cards works best with a chip, by 2017 all american issue credit cards will have a chip so it should be ok and you need a pin number too.
zzotte
Welcome, most of the albergues accept only cash.Just a brief practical question. I will be on the Camino in the fall of 2017. I do not plan to carry too much cash on this trip. Should I be able to use my credit cards along the way? If not, how much of a minimum cash one should carry on a 4-5 trip?
Gracious me!!! With whom have you been speaking?!Thanks zzotte for the information. Very useful. I will be arriving from New Jersey in the US and will be doing the camino frances route most possibly beginning in Logrono, if not Pamplano. Although I have been to northern Spain before, it was on pleasure. Fortunately I have been carrying credit cards which do not charge a foreign transaction fee. Thanks again.
Annie when you do the Madrid walk can you let me know how the ATM situation is?
Keith
Thanks to all of you who provided such useful and practical information above. I will do as you have advised. May take from all your feedback is: carry sufficient cash at least for a week or two; have bills as small as possible; use ATMs when available, provided they work or have enough cash; use credit cards - most preferably VISA or MasterCard - in major cities.
Could not thank you enough. I'm graced with the spirit of the Camino already!
One or two more pieces of practical advice... take 2 Debit cards and 2 credit cards. Its never happened to me, but on my last trip the do gooder peregrina I was walking with had to assist a foreign gentleman who had his card "confiscated" by an unrulely ATM, left cashless in a smallish town, waiting for a bank to open, to beg for his card back.
Charles Schwab is an internationally used online bank and financial institution.
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It is an international financial institution so I'm assuming anyone can get an account.Are they only accepting US customers or also European ones? Thanks, SY
Hi Gadflyparexcellence welcome to the forum, I'm sure you will find some great information here, as for cash don't carry more then two to three days of cash and use your credit card as much as you can, lots of atm's if you are doing the camino frances, now I don't know where you are coming from but be aware that most credit cards from the US gets charged a fee plus transaction fee some even charge an exchange rate fee and that can add up, some don't charge any fee at all like Charles Schwab atm card and credit cards works best with a chip, by 2017 all american issue credit cards will have a chip so it should be ok and you need a pin number too.
zzotte
This is not universally true; the terms vary from credit card program to another. For example, some of the United airlines cards operated by Chase have a foreign transaction fee, while others do not. The BankAmerica Visa has a foreign transaction fee around 2.5%. Charles Schwab is a big bank that has no ATM fee for any withdrawal, worldwide (you pay the fee and then are reimbursed by Schwab each month). And the parameters change from year to year! So: do your research, read the fine print, and stay current.The big banks, Wells Fargo, Chase, etc. charge 3% foreign conversion fee plus a transaction fee.
The US banking rules have become very arcane and obscure since 2001, with regard to non-resident accounts. Talk to Schwab directly and let us know what you find out?Are they only accepting US customers or also European ones? Thanks, SY
Certainly the Schwab US site doesn't allow account creation from an Australian address on-line. I didn't bother trying their UK or HK sites.The US banking rules have become very arcane and obscure since 2001, with regard to non-resident accounts. Talk to Schwab directly and let us know what you find out?
Just a brief practical question. I will be on the Camino in the fall of 2017. I do not plan to carry too much cash on this trip. Should I be able to use my credit cards along the way? If not, how much of a minimum cash one should carry on a 4-5 trip?
Do you, like us here in the UK have travel companies that pre-load free ATM cards with your chosen foreign currency. They are not 'credit' or 'bank' cards but may be something to consider.
For US consumers, these cards are available, but come with a lot of fees - much more than the fees we encounter when using credit cards and ATM cards overseas, so they don't usually end up being a good value.
I think you got your answers here if not somewhere in this forum. You can download Camino related app which tells you which towns have ATM/bank facilities and you can then plan accordingly whether you need to withdraw cash or not depending on your schedule.Just a brief practical question. I will be on the Camino in the fall of 2017. I do not plan to carry too much cash on this trip. Should I be able to use my credit cards along the way? If not, how much of a minimum cash one should carry on a 4-5 trip?
I am also thankful for all this information, as we are leaving for SJPP on. Monday and had not yet resolved this topic.Thanks to all of you who provided such useful and practical information above. I will do as you have advised. May take from all your feedback is: carry sufficient cash at least for a week or two; have bills as small as possible; use ATMs when available, provided they work or have enough cash; use credit cards - most preferably VISA or MasterCard - in major cities.
Could not thank you enough. I'm graced with the spirit of the Camino already!
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