BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm planning a RTW trip in June, and spending 3 months in Europe, a few weeks in both Egypt and India, 2 months in China, and a month in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Since this is my first time traveling abroad, I'm inexperienced and don't know much about the Visa application process or how to handle money.

I know that in Europe I should only need a passport to enter a country, but do I need visas for the others? Can I apply for a visa in china for example, and activate it in October when I plan on being there, or is the visa good for 90 days as soon as it's issued? If anyone can share their experiences with obtaining and using their visa's I'd really appreciate it.

I've read quite a few posts that suggest using am ATM to withdraw money, but what cards do you use to avoid outrageous transaction fees? Do you recommend loading the card to the max, and withdrawing as you need it?

Thanks,
kyle

Here is the website for a company that assists in acquiring travel documents. Not that you should use them, but the website is good quick reference guide for document requirements. Also has a lot of links to other relevant websites.

http://www.traveldocs.com/

I would say that the majority of banks in America will charge something for withdrawing from an ATM or making a debit purchase...Typical fees range from 1-5 dollars for the withdrawal plus a transaction fee, which I have seen range from 1-3% in addition to the dollar amount.

The best I ever had was a local bank in New York that got bought out and then changed their international fees...Anyway you slice it you will have to encounter international ATM fees unless you bring enough cold hard cash and convert it along the way (which I strongly advise against for obvious reasons).

The plus to withdrawing from ATM's is that you will get a damn good exchange rate, pretty close to the national rate, so the hit on the fee could almost cancel it out, of course in Europe you are getting killed with the Euro anyway so what does a few more dollars do anyway...

My suggestion bring a credit card and an atm card and look into the american express or travelex cash cards and see what the rates are there...

Also with credit cards be careful as they could easily charge an exchange rate and transaction fee, I know capital one doesn't as they have "No fees" for things like that

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into the cards, but I have a question about the website you gave me Sophie. For the China visa for example, it states:

"The China tourist visa is usually valid for three months from date of issue, for length of stay not to exceed 30 days. Applications for a touristic stay exceeding 30 days are not usually granted, except from persons of Chinese origin."

I'll be in Europe for the first 3 months, then I'll be going to Egypt, India, and China (and eventually Australia). All 4 f these countries require visa's, so will it be easy for me to get them when in Europe or another country? Obviously I can't get these visa's while in the US. What do I do, just go to a Chinese embassy in France or Germany for example and apply there? Also, since the Chinese visa lasts 30 days, is it easy to renew it?

Zhang,

Having just come back from a 20 odd country trip in 5 months I have become a huge Travelex fan. It works out cheaper than just about anything, the vast majority of ATM,s (now found almost everywhere) will take them.

Over the years I have tried everything from Traveller's Checks and bank transfers to credit cards and Western Union. Nothing has been as convenient or economical overall as Travelex.

Lang

Ok, maybe I can help you.

Americans can get a visa on the spot for:

Egypt, austrailia.

China MAY require that you get your visa in the USA, as an American citizen.

YOu can get an Indian Visa of 3 months or several years multi entry from outside of the USA.

If you get an Indian 3 month visa, it starts the date of issue. Since you'll be in INdia for only a month, its not an issue.

The Internet appears to be telling me you can either get the visa from the usa directly, or through a visa expediting service that sends your passport to the proper embassies, and then sends the passport back. Maybe others have more recent information. Also, apparently you can get the china visa from Hong Kong, which has a different entry system.

I'd check on this if I were you.