6/15/23 12:15 PM

Going to UK in August. Trying not to get caught out on anything prep wise.

Such as CC with no trans action fees, and travel protections so I don't have to but separately for airfare etc. Mobile roaming plan for Scotland.

Deciding on mix of Uber, car rental and Train travel passes.

Lodging, air BnB style or.. need to get this booked pretty much now, that airfares out of the way.

General Pointers, no traveled abroad since 80s??

6/15/23 6:07 PM

Have fun! Where are you going?

6/15/23 9:19 PM

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and some points between.

6/16/23 9:02 AM

Probably want to use a debit card for your cash. Otherwise using a credit card means paying interest on the cash advance. There will be cash points in the airport so as soon as you clear customs you can get your cash. Using a CC otherwise is not an issue unless you are hooked up with some janky credit card. The exchange rate is automatic in your card billing statement and if there is an exchange fee, it is tiny. What your CC supplies by way of protections is card specific, so call them to be sure.

I expect roaming plans are specific to your phone company. Otherwise things are pretty seamless. We were in that neck of the woods just before the pandemic and had a great time. If you do a car hire, having a navigation app on your phone is a pretty good idea. Lots and lots of "small roads" when you're trying to find things. Make sure you hit some of the prehistoric sites. They are amazing.

6/16/23 9:19 AM

" Otherwise using a credit card means paying interest on the cash advance."


Not sure I understand this. Do you mean if you don't pay the statement balance each cycle?

6/16/23 6:57 PM

Credit cards often charge fees for cash advances. so check with your company. Also, be sure to inform them of the dates that you'll be traveling and what country you'll be in. That way, they won't flag your purchases as suspicious and decline them.

If you can't drive a manual transmission, make sure you request an automatic or you'll be in for a rude awakening, or a quick learning experience! FWIW, I found learning to shift left-handed was actually pretty intuitive. Driving on the left side of the road required occasional reminders. Depending on how far into the countryside you get, you may encounter roads that are only one lane, wide, which makes it easier. ;-)

6/16/23 8:28 PM

More worried about shifting left hand than manual or not.

Our MGB is Left drive, but shifter is gated as in UK. I can't get my brain past that either.. Reverse is... where? ;)

We need Brit lb or EU, gotta figure that out. should we get x amount of exchange cash here to bring I am thinking?

Last edited by Sparky on 6/16/23 10:58 PM; edited 1 time in total

6/16/23 10:25 PM

Whenever I travel to Europe I port my mobile number to Vodafone, as I get roaming with normal data allowance for something like $5/day for any day that I use it. When I get back home I port my number back to Telstra, who have the best coverage here.

6/17/23 6:28 AM

Sparky, the shift pattern on right-drive vehicles is the same as in left-drive vehicles of the same make and model. That said, the location of reverse varies among brands, so you'll have to see when you get there. Given that you don't use reverse a great deal and the shift pattern will be on the shifter knob, it shouldn't be a significant issue.

You can get foreign currency at your own bank and they typically don't charge an exchange fee for it. However, local branches may not have it on hand, so check with them in advance so they can order it if necessary. I suggest getting a reasonable amount before you leave, then supplementing it in-country if necessary. Pounds would be more convenient in Scotland than Euros. That said, when we travel abroad, we pay for as much as possible using credit cards, so as to avoid the need to carry much cash.

We take extra precautions to secure our cash and passports, such as money belts or neck pouches. Perhaps it's not an issue in Scotland, but pickpockets are a real scourge in many popular tourist areas of Europe. In the countryside, not so much.

It's also a good idea to get familiar with the exchange rate, so you better understand exactly what things are costing you. The pound is currently around $1.30. I'm sure there are phone apps for doing conversions.

6/17/23 9:44 AM

Pretty much a walking calculator, so math on the fly is my MO pretty much.

I thought about getting a money belt. The picture of me wearing compression socks digging for my money belt isn't one my stuck thinking I am under 50 brain likes to picture. ;)

T-Mobile appears to be a good network to be on here to take to UK. Just a # day plan bump.

6/17/23 2:52 PM

Just went a couple months ago. ANy card you use, debit or otherwise, will ding you for forex fees. Call and call again to tell them you are traveling. My bank kept shutting my card off and it was bloody maddening.

Get an automatic, ffs. lol Seriously, having to drive consciously without relying on muscle memory will be mentally taxing enough. I would not want to also have to remember how to shift with the wrong hand.

Get your cash ahead of time. Your local bank will give you best rate you will get anywhere. Getting cash abroad is expensive. CC fees on top of that are outrageous.

Scotland is amazing. I need to go back and when I do I'm definitely going off the wagon. Best night of whisky drinking I ever had was in Edinburgh. And CHEAP compared to here. 36yo single malt for £12....though this was years ago now.

If you're going to the UK, they've never gone to the Euro so GBP is the way to go.

And get thee to a chippy. Never found proper fish and chips stateside.

6/17/23 4:14 PM

"And get thee to a chippy. Never found proper fish and chips stateside."


Got that covered well in my kitchen. You don't make 40 year married to a Brit without getting that down pat. ;) Seldom does Elaine say, "that is as good as yours" on the occasions we do an outing. And PDX has once of the best food of many many types here VS most other places I've lived.

6/18/23 5:26 PM

Many credit cards treat a cash withdrawal as a cash advance and you are charged both for the interest AND a processing fee. I got a cash advance on a credit card once and the effective interest rate was 58% (as stated on the credit card bill). With a debit card, you will pay a small forex fee, but nothing like you'll get hit with on a credit card.

6/19/23 6:39 AM

The problem with debit cards is that you're not insured if someone gets your card number and steals your money or makes unauthorized purchases. With credit cards, you have protection. For that reason, I've stopped using debit cards for anything other than getting cash at my bank's ATMs.

6/19/23 8:03 AM

We use our HSBC ATM card to withdraw local currency from wherever we are, being careful to use local HSBC ATMs whenever they are available. That eliminates much of the ATM fees that you get hit with using third party ATMs. Sometimes, we just have to grit our teeth and use other's . . . avoiding nonbank ATMs like a plague.

We don't have any debit cards. We rely on CCs exclusively for purchases and find minimal need for cash (tips and small purchases being the exceptions). We carry American Express platinum which has no forex fees, and our HSBC Visa cards have no forex fees (a premium relationship perk). And the foreign exchange rates they use to convert purchases to US$ seem pretty reasonable. I always wonder whether forex fees are buried in the forex rates.

I loved driving a manual in Scotland. It was fun shifting with my left hand. As for driving on the left, I just reminded myself "me in the middle" - my side of the car is towards the middle of the road. Judging where the left side of the car is was the toughest adjustment. I did clip a parked car's right view mirror once. The "passing places" on the one lane country roads took some getting used to. When two cars are approaching from opposite directions, the car that has a passing place on its side of the road should pull off into that shoulder and let the approaching car pass. Very simple as long as you remember that YOUR side of the road is on the left. On a couple of occasions, I found myself pulling into a passing place on the right to the bemusement of the approaching driver.

Verizon international roaming plan is $10 per day per device.

6/19/23 4:55 PM

What about Wise or Revolut Transfer cards?

6/20/23 7:23 AM

I had similar experiences driving in Shetland, such as pulling into a "lay-by" on the wrong side of the road. I could just about hear the other driver muttering "f-ing tourists". The only scary moment was when I encountered my first rotary and started to turn the wheel to go the wrong way around. We had arrived less than an hour before and I blame it on jet lag. ;-)

It took me a few times of opening the left-side door before I got used to going to the right side.

My USAA card doesn't have any exchange fees, either.