cash/travel money question

[daz1985]

Hi I am not going to ask how much to bring as that is personal and dependant on circumstances but from experience of how things are paid for etc in USA how much CASH is it wise to bring for 2 weeks?

I am thinking £500 (roughly $800) is that too much to be carrying on you at any one time or is that about right?

the rest of the money I am going to put on a fairfx card.

thanks

 

[scoobydooby]

I think that partly depends upon the security of where you are staying. It's just a fact that a $50 a night room has less security that a $150 plus a night room. As for wandering around with a pocket full of cash you need to apply the same common sense you would while at home.

In more practical terms, £500 is more than enough. If there are two adults always split your cash between the two of you. And don't flash it all in public.

 

[wayneg]

Having once lost my wallet with over £500 in I now only take around £100 in cash ($200 max) I use a fee free credit card for everything I spend, only cash I use is for tolls.

 

[2Tiggies]

I check my travel insurance and don't take more in cash than the cash value we'd be insured for if anything happened to all of it.

 

[torsie24]

I take very little cash, maybe $1-200, mainly to make sure I have some small notes for a drink at the airport and any tips etc.

I load up a FairFX card (been a while since we last went to the States so there may be better pre-paid cards now) and then withdraw money as needed. But in WDW we tend to charge everything to the room and pay it off in one go at the end. Least fees that way. (We just check the account every couple of days so we now how much we've spent so far)

 

[pickers1982]

If staying on resort you dont need much. Most stuff i stick on card but like to take a fair amount of cash too. Not that i really need it with cards/magicbands. End up using most if it on the room bill

 

[daz1985]

I forgot to mention I am staying onsite at Disney pop century. Can you charge everything in Disney ie stuff in shops and food kiosks to the room? I guess if I load the card up I can always go to a cash point

 

[pickers1982]

I forgot to mention I am staying onsite at Disney pop century. Can you charge everything in Disney ie stuff in shops and food kiosks to the room? I guess if I load the card up I can always go to a cash point

Yeah everything on site is chargeable i believe. Just scan your magicband and your away.

They take the room balance off your credit card before you check out though so if you have cash u want to use up best do it the night before

 

[Elise79]

In actual cash we only use about $200 everything else is out on a card.

In Disney we charge everything to the room and offsite just use our PO cards.

 

[Kath2003]

£100 for the two of us - everything else on a card.

 

[flortlebap]

I check my travel insurance and don't take more in cash than the cash value we'd be insured for if anything happened to all of it.

That's actually really smart. I never thought of that.

We've always ended up withdrawing additional cash. Taxis, tips, snacks, small purchases... It soon adds up. I'd go with the minimum you need and withdraw from an ATM, it's cheaper than the exchange rate for converting back unused $$!

 

[2Tiggies]

That's actually really smart. I never thought of that.

We've always ended up withdrawing additional cash. Taxis, tips, snacks, small purchases... It soon adds up. I'd go with the minimum you need and withdraw from an ATM, it's cheaper than the exchange rate for converting back unused $$!

I don't take the full amount. It's just that policy cover and conditions vary and it is per person, so spreading the cash between members of your family also helps. We don't even draw cash there. I either buy Disney gift cards or use my fee free credit card and transfer the money back in when I go online again, or just use the FairFX. If you do draw cash, I still think the way you do it works best. It is only $2 per transaction on a FairFX. I dropped my purse once in a crowded MK during a parade and it reminded me why I don't carry more than I'm covered for. I did get it back but that was the longest half hour of my life!

 

[~Fisharefriends~]

We always take a few hundred dollars with us plus a commission free credit card each and an emergency card. This can in handy last year when do left his wallet on soarin and had to cancel his cards (though we did manage to get it back from disney lost and found a couple of days later) if we hadn't of got a spare card we would have been really stuck!

 

[BudgieMama]

I now only take around £100 in cash ($200 max) I use a fee free credit card for everything I spend.

Same for us. We took a lot of cash to NYC last year, and came back with over $150, and found we got the best rate on our fee-free card. DH now has one too, so we'll take those, and the money we had left.