While at the Tower of London, a few of us ate a little restaurant, taking a break from touring the monarchy's torture chambers. This lovely little restaurant, filled with little British delicasies was where I made my horrific discovery. This is an IMPORTANT thing to remember. Please take this into consideration. You don't want to end up in the frantic position I was in, thousands of miles away from home.
**MAKE SURE ALL PREPAID VISAS CAN BE USED INTERNATIONALLY!!**
I know, it sound ridiculously obvious. I am ashamed to even say that I made this mistake. But, I tell all you lovely readers so that you may learn from my mistakes, and not make this foolish decision.
So here's how I discovered it:
Checking out at this little restaurant, I was greeted by a sweet little British accent who told me my total. I decided to use one of my prepaid visas, each with about $200 on them. (However, when converting to pounds, it's actually a lot less than that) Well, when I handed my visa to this British woman and she swiped it, a terrible little beeping noise emitted from the machine, and she said "I'm sorry, it's been declined." I said, "Oh, well that's strange. Could you maybe try it again?" She obligingly did, but the same thing happened again. She then inspected my visa closely and said, "I'm sorry ma'am, but this is only valid in the U.S." I gaped at the fine print on my card, amazed at how I (or my mother, who ordered the visa for me) could possibly have missed what seemed so obvious now. I began to feel frantic. What was I going to do?! I only had 80 pounds in cash to last me 3 more days! I paid for my food in pounds, found a table, and quickly began to call my mother's phone, aggravated at her not answering until I realized that of course it was still very early in the morning back in Arkansas.
Well, finally she and my dad answered my panicked texts, and set about trying to do something about it. But unfortunately, to my dismay, there was not much to be done. Since it was only valid in the U.S., it wasn't like I could go to an ATM and withdraw money (although I did try that a few times) and my parents couldn't wire money to me (although they tried). It seemed hopeless. That was until Carly, her mother and a few other girls in our group sat down with me, calmed me down, and Carly's mom Heather (one of the teachers in charge of the trip) insisted that she would help me if I ran out of money and I could just pay her back when we got home. Although I was still internally punching myself for my idiotic mistake, I began to think, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. And in all honesty, I was right!
A tip for traveling internationally: **You don't need as much spending money as you think you do.
I got by the whole time in England on less then 80 pounds, and I only had to borrow from Heather twice, for a 5 pound lunch and small shopping trip on our last day. And when in Paris, with my 150 euros, I didn't borrow any at all. Now, part of this might have been the fact that we really didn't have much shopping time set aside really at all, besides gift and souvenir shops of course. But my $400 on my visas definitely would have been overkill, and not all used.
I am thankful for this experience, because it taught me how to be smart with my money, and ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT! However, the only downside is the fact that getting a refund back in the States as been a real pain in the butt.
Aside from the money issue, Day 1 in London was a successful one! After our day tour, we headed to our hotel to unpack a little and rest. The hotel was nice, although small. But that's how it's going to be anywhere in Europe, really. Its true when they say: Everything's bigger in America. We just have the space to do it. When you're in a small city on a an island that would literally fit inside Texas almost 3 times, there's not a lot of room for simple luxuries like more then one wall outlet or floor space to get dressed in the morning! Hehe...(Not kidding about the outlets)
Already, I was experiencing culture I had never seen before and I was loving it! I can't wait to post more stories (and helpful tips through my mistakes) soon!
Cheers!
Em
**MAKE SURE ALL PREPAID VISAS CAN BE USED INTERNATIONALLY!!**
I know, it sound ridiculously obvious. I am ashamed to even say that I made this mistake. But, I tell all you lovely readers so that you may learn from my mistakes, and not make this foolish decision.
So here's how I discovered it:
Checking out at this little restaurant, I was greeted by a sweet little British accent who told me my total. I decided to use one of my prepaid visas, each with about $200 on them. (However, when converting to pounds, it's actually a lot less than that) Well, when I handed my visa to this British woman and she swiped it, a terrible little beeping noise emitted from the machine, and she said "I'm sorry, it's been declined." I said, "Oh, well that's strange. Could you maybe try it again?" She obligingly did, but the same thing happened again. She then inspected my visa closely and said, "I'm sorry ma'am, but this is only valid in the U.S." I gaped at the fine print on my card, amazed at how I (or my mother, who ordered the visa for me) could possibly have missed what seemed so obvious now. I began to feel frantic. What was I going to do?! I only had 80 pounds in cash to last me 3 more days! I paid for my food in pounds, found a table, and quickly began to call my mother's phone, aggravated at her not answering until I realized that of course it was still very early in the morning back in Arkansas.
Well, finally she and my dad answered my panicked texts, and set about trying to do something about it. But unfortunately, to my dismay, there was not much to be done. Since it was only valid in the U.S., it wasn't like I could go to an ATM and withdraw money (although I did try that a few times) and my parents couldn't wire money to me (although they tried). It seemed hopeless. That was until Carly, her mother and a few other girls in our group sat down with me, calmed me down, and Carly's mom Heather (one of the teachers in charge of the trip) insisted that she would help me if I ran out of money and I could just pay her back when we got home. Although I was still internally punching myself for my idiotic mistake, I began to think, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. And in all honesty, I was right!
A tip for traveling internationally: **You don't need as much spending money as you think you do.
I got by the whole time in England on less then 80 pounds, and I only had to borrow from Heather twice, for a 5 pound lunch and small shopping trip on our last day. And when in Paris, with my 150 euros, I didn't borrow any at all. Now, part of this might have been the fact that we really didn't have much shopping time set aside really at all, besides gift and souvenir shops of course. But my $400 on my visas definitely would have been overkill, and not all used.
I am thankful for this experience, because it taught me how to be smart with my money, and ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT! However, the only downside is the fact that getting a refund back in the States as been a real pain in the butt.
Aside from the money issue, Day 1 in London was a successful one! After our day tour, we headed to our hotel to unpack a little and rest. The hotel was nice, although small. But that's how it's going to be anywhere in Europe, really. Its true when they say: Everything's bigger in America. We just have the space to do it. When you're in a small city on a an island that would literally fit inside Texas almost 3 times, there's not a lot of room for simple luxuries like more then one wall outlet or floor space to get dressed in the morning! Hehe...(Not kidding about the outlets)
Already, I was experiencing culture I had never seen before and I was loving it! I can't wait to post more stories (and helpful tips through my mistakes) soon!
Cheers!
Em
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