dylanjosh Posted September 12 Report Share Posted September 12 Hey guys I'm planning a Israel and Egypt "Holy Land" trip in November. This will only be my second time traveling abroad. Last time my dad was there to take care of things but he's not there now. Any tips and advice will be appreciated. I have one question to ask right now that's on my mind. What to do about money and sim card. Can we use credit card? I have icici and HDFC. Don't want carry lots of cash if lose or get mugged 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Posted September 13 Report Share Posted September 13 17 hours ago, dylanjosh said: Hey guys I'm planning a Israel and Egypt "Holy Land" trip in November. This will only be my second time traveling abroad. Last time my dad was there to take care of things but he's not there now. Any tips and advice will be appreciated. I have one question to ask right now that's on my mind. What to do about money and sim card. Can we use credit card? I have icici and HDFC. Don't want carry lots of cash if lose or get mugged I personally used the Niyo global debit card - but I think thats not a good option anymore, so you might wanna get the fi card? i think @Bird Bird Birdmentioned it? Anyway, the point is you wanna incur the most minimum fees when you make transactions abroad/withdraw cash from an atm/etc. and of course, you can carry USD and get it exchanged there for the best possible rate. SIM card you can 99% buy at the airport when you get off/in local market. I always buy local SIM, haven't used international plans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnackChap Posted September 13 Report Share Posted September 13 20 hours ago, dylanjosh said: Hey guys I'm planning a Israel and Egypt "Holy Land" trip in November. This will only be my second time traveling abroad. Last time my dad was there to take care of things but he's not there now. Any tips and advice will be appreciated. I have one question to ask right now that's on my mind. What to do about money and sim card. Can we use credit card? I have icici and HDFC. Don't want carry lots of cash if lose or get mugged Try to convert cash over here and carry as much as possible. Don't use cards. There will be a forex markup of 2-3 %. Niyo used to be good but RBI banned their CC. The current one is not useful at all. Personally I use the RBL world safari card for international trips. 0 markup fees and decent offers. And I use it only when there is no option of paying in cash avb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Bird Bird Posted September 13 Report Share Posted September 13 5 hours ago, North said: I personally used the Niyo global debit card - but I think thats not a good option anymore, so you might wanna get the fi card? i think @Bird Bird Birdmentioned it? Anyway, the point is you wanna incur the most minimum fees when you make transactions abroad/withdraw cash from an atm/etc. and of course, you can carry USD and get it exchanged there for the best possible rate. SIM card you can 99% buy at the airport when you get off/in local market. I always buy local SIM, haven't used international plans. I use Fi extensively. My go to card for international transactions. Forex charges get refunded in 2-3 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRMNTR Posted September 13 Report Share Posted September 13 1 hour ago, Bird Bird Bird said: I use Fi extensively. My go to card for international transactions. Forex charges get refunded in 2-3 weeks. Hey doc! I'm planning a trip to South Korea end of this month. Worth it to get Fi over USD / local currency? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Bird Bird Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 6 hours ago, TRMNTR said: Hey doc! I'm planning a trip to South Korea end of this month. Worth it to get Fi over USD / local currency? I would say yes. Why waste money on forex charges ? Fi also charges markup, but returns in 2-3 weeks. You’ve to be in their Infinite plan though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRMNTR Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 3 hours ago, Bird Bird Bird said: I would say yes. Why waste money on forex charges ? Fi also charges markup, but returns in 2-3 weeks. You’ve to be in their Infinite plan though. Thanks! In SK, can I use Fi to take out money from the ATM in case I need some cash? Or would I need to carry some local currency for such scenarios? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Bird Bird Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 1 hour ago, TRMNTR said: Thanks! In SK, can I use Fi to take out money from the ATM in case I need some cash? Or would I need to carry some local currency for such scenarios? You can check the charges on Fi’s site. I have never taken cash via ATM in any country so far tbh. Since it’s a debit card, I’m guessing it should be cheaper than CC. Check their site or tweet them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRMNTR Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 43 minutes ago, Bird Bird Bird said: You can check the charges on Fi’s site. I have never taken cash via ATM in any country so far tbh. Since it’s a debit card, I’m guessing it should be cheaper than CC. Check their site or tweet them. Just checked: Quote International ATM charges You can use your Debit Card wherever VISA is accepted 💳 When you withdraw cash from an International ATM, there is a fee of ₹100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 10 hours ago, Bird Bird Bird said: You can check the charges on Fi’s site. I have never taken cash via ATM in any country so far tbh. Since it’s a debit card, I’m guessing it should be cheaper than CC. Check their site or tweet them. aree really? I can't picture that - even in Singapore I needed cash at the dock to buy ferry tickets or to shop in bugis. frankly, its amazing how basically you can pay literally anybody via UPI right now, we've done a class job with adopting digital payments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylanjosh Posted September 14 Report Share Posted September 14 (edited) What do you guys do for dirty clothes? It will be a 10 day trip and there probably won't be time to do laundry anywhere Should I just pack clothes for 10 days Edited September 14 by dylanjosh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante77 Posted September 16 Report Share Posted September 16 On 9/14/2023 at 11:10 PM, dylanjosh said: What do you guys do for dirty clothes? It will be a 10 day trip and there probably won't be time to do laundry anywhere Should I just pack clothes for 10 days Yes! Don't stress on laundry! Too much hasle! I always pack full. Besides, for us boys, we only need like couple of Jeans, few Shirts/t-shirts and just enough innerwear! Can easily fit in a small bag. Plus take one normal backpack. If going alone, more than enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KunjanPSD Posted September 17 Report Share Posted September 17 On 9/14/2023 at 11:10 PM, dylanjosh said: What do you guys do for dirty clothes? It will be a 10 day trip and there probably won't be time to do laundry anywhere Should I just pack clothes for 10 days Just give them for laundry. Build it into your budget. Depends on where you are going, you can get it done for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Posted September 23 Report Share Posted September 23 Took a short holiday to Lansdowne, Uttarakhand. Quaint and peaceful, and my first time driving into the hills. Average views, but good food and nice hikes in the region. Attaching a short video of the view from the main viewpoint. Already looking forward to the next holiday. https://imgur.com/KKxcAv6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Posted September 23 Report Share Posted September 23 On 9/13/2023 at 11:18 PM, Bird Bird Bird said: I use Fi extensively. My go to card for international transactions. Forex charges get refunded in 2-3 weeks. On 9/14/2023 at 7:05 AM, Bird Bird Bird said: I would say yes. Why waste money on forex charges ? Fi also charges markup, but returns in 2-3 weeks. You’ve to be in their Infinite plan though. On 9/14/2023 at 11:50 AM, Bird Bird Bird said: You can check the charges on Fi’s site. I have never taken cash via ATM in any country so far tbh. Since it’s a debit card, I’m guessing it should be cheaper than CC. Check their site or tweet them. On 9/14/2023 at 12:34 PM, TRMNTR said: Just checked: A office buddy of mine is taking his first intl trip at the end of the month. He wanted to know whats the best way to save on atm fees/ forex fees while withdrawing some cash. He has a hdfc regalia card which according to him has a 2% mark up fee. he will mostly be using his CC except when he need cash. Hes visiting Japan and SK what are his options? Niyo/Fi, HDFC forex card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Bird Bird Posted September 24 Report Share Posted September 24 8 hours ago, Snake said: A office buddy of mine is taking his first intl trip at the end of the month. He wanted to know whats the best way to save on atm fees/ forex fees while withdrawing some cash. He has a hdfc regalia card which according to him has a 2% mark up fee. he will mostly be using his CC except when he need cash. Hes visiting Japan and SK what are his options? Niyo/Fi, HDFC forex card? Japan has weird acceptance for some cards. Fi didn’t work for me at many places, and had to resort to using CC with forex markup (specially at 7/11 - Fi just refused to work). Always carry CC and cash. Japan is still very cash dependent economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Posted September 24 Report Share Posted September 24 2 hours ago, Bird Bird Bird said: Japan has weird acceptance for some cards. Fi didn’t work for me at many places, and had to resort to using CC with forex markup (specially at 7/11 - Fi just refused to work). Always carry CC and cash. Japan is still very cash dependent economy. So is it better for him to just use his Debit to withdraw cash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bird Bird Bird Posted September 24 Report Share Posted September 24 1 hour ago, Snake said: So is it better for him to just use his Debit to withdraw cash? I’m not sure tbh. Never withdrew cash at international places. Others will know better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KunjanPSD Posted September 24 Report Share Posted September 24 1 hour ago, Snake said: So is it better for him to just use his Debit to withdraw cash? Ask him to carry Niyo/Fi. Ask him to enable Global Value Program on Regalia via contacting CC, costs 199+GST but gives 1% cashback upto 1000/month i.e. 1L spends. Ask him to carry cash, use it as it is or use cash to load into a Suica card (prepaid card which is surprisingly accepted well). Use a combination of these and he should be set. Afaik Niyo/Fi doesn't charge forec on withdrawals as well except a small fee, so not a big deal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante77 Posted September 25 Report Share Posted September 25 Decided for Uzbekistan instead. Flights were cheap and wanted to go somewhere different. Apparently it is a very tourist friendly place. Anyone have been there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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