How you carry money with you on honeymoon really depends on where you’re going and the kind of honeymoon you’re having. If you’re at an all-inclusive resort then you’ll really just need a little bit of cash (or a credit card) for any extras (the amount will depend on whether or not drinks are included), which does make things nice and easy. For most other honeymoons, you’ll want to think about how much you’re likely to spend each day in terms of food, drink and sights, and then add a bit extra for safe keeping.
I never like to carry all of my holiday spending money in cash – it always feels a little bit risky, and I hate having wads of notes on me at the best of times. As a rule, I generally take a few hundred pounds in cash (providing I’m going somewhere with a currency I can obtain before I travel), put the rest of what I think I need into a special bank account that I just use for travelling (which has very handy low charges for withdrawals abroad) and then take a credit card for any large purchases or in case I spend more than I’d anticipate.
Generally, I find this works pretty well – even if you hate credit cards, I’d really recommend travelling with one as they’re a great standby in case you get stuck, and you’ll get more protection against your purchases in case anything goes wrong or you have any trouble. Do tell your bank that you’re going abroad, however – relying on your credit (or debit) card and then finding that you can’t use it because they suspect that there’s been unusual activity on your account is not what you want to have to worry about on honeymoon.
Of course, there are some exceptions to this. ATMs are now pretty common throughout the world, but if you’re being a little more adventurous on your honeymoon then you might find that they’re a bit of a rarity in some places. Get a good guidebook before you go away and read up about how accessible they will be – if they’re few and far between, you may find that you want to take more cash, or that you want to take travellers’ cheques. Travellers’ cheques can feel a little unwieldy in this day and age – but they can be very useful in some countries and, so long as you can be bothered to make trips to the bank to cash them in, they’re a good way of taking a fair amount of money with you while making sure that you’re protected if you lose any of it.
Do make sure you check out what your bank’s charges are for overseas withdrawals – they can vary quite widely and you might want to shop around for an account that won’t charge you too much if you think you’ll be using your debit card a lot while away. Don’t use your credit card to withdraw money from ATMs unless you have no other choice – such transactions are essentially considered loans by your credit card company, and so will incur rather steep charges.
Where to get your currency from
Don’t leave it too late to buy your currency – the booths at the airport will offer a much poorer rate than what you can get on the high street. Use this site to check where you can get the best exchange rate on the day – if you’re changing a few hundred pounds then it does pay to check for the best rates in advance.
For some countries you won’t be able to buy your currency before entering the country – in these instances find out before hand whether you’ll get the best exchange rate from sterling, dollars, euros or another currency (a good guidebook should tell you), take cash in the suggested currency and then change money to the local currency once you arrive in country. Try and avoid changing money at hotels as they’ll often have very unfavourable rates.
Photo courtesy of Spreng Ben
