USA Travel Tips 2024

[cushtybert]

I’ve finally booked my holiday to the USA for the spring and looking for some advice about money. I’ve been looking into getting a Monzo card to use on a daily basis instead of carrying cash but not sure if that’s the best way to do it. If anyone can give any advice or tips that would be fab

 

[LittleMy]

I’ve finally booked my holiday to the USA for the spring and looking for some advice about money. I’ve been looking into getting a Monzo card to use on a daily basis instead of carrying cash but not sure if that’s the best way to do it. If anyone can give any advice or tips that would be fab

I’ve used Monzo both times I’ve been in the US and will again next time we go. It’s very straightforward and saved a lot of hassle. We took some cash for tips but you can use both in most places.

 

[adviseplz]

One thing to note is that they use a lot of contactless/Apple Pay, but not Chip and Pin. When you’re paying in restaurants you usually hand your card over, they take it to the till and swipe it, then give you a recipt where you note in pen how much you want to tip and then the total. You can leave the restaurant after that and they’ll debit your account accordingly.

Would say bring cash for tips for things like tours so you can tip the guides etc

 

[cushtybert]

I’ve used Monzo both times I’ve been in the US and will again next time we go. It’s very straightforward and saved a lot of hassle. We took some cash for tips but you can use both in most places.

Is it the basic one you have used? I’ve seen there are a few choices, it wouldn’t be my main bank card
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One thing to note is that they use a lot of contactless/Apple Pay, but not Chip and Pin. When you’re paying in restaurants you usually hand your card over, they take it to the till and swipe it, then give you a recipt where you note in pen how much you want to tip and then the total. You can leave the restaurant after that and they’ll debit your account accordingly.

Would say bring cash for tips for things like tours so you can tip the guides etc

They take your card away? Yikes, thanks for the heads up! I would have wondered what was going on!

 

[DanaScully]

Portion sizes tend to run large! We (a couple) usually shared an entrée (main) and ordered an extra side depending on how hungry we were, and we always had plenty of food.

We also found lots of public places don't have customer WiFi so I'd recommend buying a roaming data plan in advance. The Three Go Roam is great value; I just swap my sim over as we're landing.

 

[LittleMy]

Is it the basic one you have used? I’ve seen there are a few choices, it wouldn’t be my main bank card

Yes, just the basic one. It wasn’t our main card either tbh, we had a Starling bank card which also doesn’t charge any fees and had a good conversion rate for the time we went (this was in October last year).