My daughter leaves for Valencia in January for a semester at the Univ. of Valencia. I have a couple of money questions. Is it advisable to enter the country with a some Spanish currency, so that she doesn't have to immediately find an ATM machine? Also, is her ATM/credit card from her hometown bank going to present any problems, or do we need to get another one? One last thing...are cybercafes easily found and how much do they normally charge? Thanks for all the help.

Hi there! All these questions are answered on this board. just do a SEARCH under the topics you mention. Short version: having a small amount of pesetas is good. Having a WORKING ATM card plus back up traveller's checks is good. Internet cafes in Valencia, not sure...

[This message has been edited by rgf (edited 09-26-2000).]

What a coincidence my daughter will also be in Valencia for the Spring semester at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. She will reside at the student residence Galileo Galilei. If your daughter is staying here, each room is equipped with an ISDN connection for computer hookup. If not, I have been informed that its fairly easy to rent a computer on campus. Plus there must be plenty of cyber cafes around.

As for money matters the quickest and most convenient way to obtain money is by the use of an ATM card on the Cirrus or Plus networks. The charge will be the same as that charged for transactions in the States, the exchange rate is set daily. Thus, by keeping a U.S. checking account open it will be the perfect channel by which you as a parent can transfer funds quickly and safely in the US and from which your daughter can draw in Spain. By using this option, you will also avoid costly bank/exchange office conversion fees and only pay the charge assessed for making an ATM cash withdrawl. VISA, Mastercard, American Express credit cards will usually also work at ATM's abroad, although you may pay higher fees associated with cash advance withdrawls.
If you intend to use an ATm make sure your daughter has a PIN. It is advisable to make sure the ATM card works prior to leaving the States. Put money in the account and use the ATM card to access funds. Please note that most ATM's overseas do not have alphabetical letters on the keyboard, thus you should make sure that you can remember your numerical PIN.
As far as telephones calls are concerned, calling direct from Spain is expensive. Before she leaves the U.S. get an international calling card from your long distance carrier. With a calling card you can dial a special code on any Spanish telephone, place an international call through an English-speaking operator and bill it to your card. The access codes for AT&T (In Spain)is 900-99-0011, for MCI 900-99-0014, and for Sprint 900-99-0013. Be sure to bring the international access number of your calling card company and her PIN. For a copy of the AT&T International Calling Guide for Students Abroad call 1-800-972-0247.
Best of luck to you and your daughter!!

'...calling direct from Spain is expensive.'
Not! I bought a 'tarjeta telefonica' when we got to Spain on 9 Sep. I knew my wife would want to make a lot of calls (and I had to make some for hotel & bus reservations) so I bought the 2.000 peseta denomination (about $11). There was still alomst 900 pesetas credit ($4.50) on it when we left on 18 Sep. And we made at least 4-calls home. They are handy to have and easy to use.
P.S.
Most Telefonica Phones (Cabitel) have little screens that show how much (in pesetas) credit you have remaining on the card. It's updated almost continuously - it's not like a 30 or 40-min calling card that you buy here in the U.S. and you don't know how much you have remaining until it runs out. They have a similar system in Ireland - I've been thinking about trying to use my Telefonica card in Ireland.

[This message has been edited by Eddie (edited 09-27-2000).]

I don't doubt that purchased calling cards in Spain are convenient and inexpensive, but if time runs out on the card just when you need it...then your out of luck. As I see it,it's ok for mature adults to purchase these kind of cards, but younger adults just don't keep track of the time left on the card. I'd rather my daughter have one of the international calling cards and she'll have nothing to worry about (nor me). It's kind of frustrating to be cut off in the middle of a converstion. I got an expectional rate thru AT&T. They will only charge me 25 cents a minute for calls made from my home to Spain and when my daughter calls home from Spain, or from anywhere else in Europe for that matter. For some countries, like the UK it's even cheaper.
Again, you have choices, just pick the option that is more convenient and that will give you peace of mind.

[This message has been edited by afuegolento (edited 09-27-2000).]

[This message has been edited by afuegolento (edited 09-27-2000).]

I spoze this should go under "telephones" or something... my experience is that a plain old Master/Visa Card used in a public phone is a really cheap and convenient alternative! The only problem was the fickelness (sp??) of the phones... sometimes they said invalid card one second, accepted it the next. It was much cheaper than my ATT card. Sounds like Afuegolento has cleared the path for his daughter on a # of counts. All students should be so lucky! Now, dad, be prepared to give her more spending money than you thought! haha. actually, with the dollar exchange, she should be delighted at what she can do in Europe!

I liked the old phones that were prevalent in the early '90's, the ones where you stacked all your money onto the little runway at the top and then as it used it the coins dropped into the slot. Nice thing about those phones was that they connected and there was about one second before the money dropped in. That meant you could call home and hear a familiar "hello" and get one word in before it disconnected for free with no money on the runway. I got this down to a science and with a minute or two to kill I could have a quick conversation with someone from the US. The phones were bad in those days as they were often "broken" meaning, giving free long distance calls. I remember seeing several times large groups of Peruvians gathered around a phone booth and you knew it was a broken phone.

Leche

I wanted to reply to a query from last week. We were in Madrid in August and found the Cirrus ATM card the easiest way to get money. Also, MCI has great rates with the International Plan, but calling was somewhat challenging from our hotel. Do not forget to have the 800 access with you! We found all things to be reasonably priced: food, transportation, shopping.