BBG Communications: $27 for a 1-Minute Phone Call
I survived driving on the left in Ireleand, its narrow, winding, and bumpy roads, and what must be more than 300 roundabouts.
The GPS maps for Europe I bought for $110 turned out to be a good investment. My vacation would have been much more stressful without the GPS.
As far as money is concerned, things worked out OK. They accepted my World MasterCard for rental car insurance. That saved me about $300. There are a few stories and observations I'd like to share over the next few days. The first story is $27 for a 1-minute phone call.
Rental Car Insurance Options
By the time you read this, I'll be on vacation in Ireland. I will rent a car and drive around the country. Naturally I don't want to expose myself to losses resulting from a car accident while I drive a rental car in Ireland. I did some research in rental car insurance. I'm sharing this here with you.
1. Liability vs. Theft, Collision and Damages. On any auto insurance policy in the U.S., the coverage for liability and the coverage for the car are separate. If you have an older car, you may not have coverage for the car itself, but you should have coverage for liability, i.e. damage you cause to others. This liability coverage may or may not follow you worldwide. You have to call your auto insurance company to find out. If you are covered, there is usually no deductible on liability coverage. Theft is covered under comprehensive while damage caused by a collision is covered under collision. There are separate deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage. Your collision and comprehensive coverage from your auto policy also may not follow you worldwide. I called my insurance company. They told me I will be covered for liability worldwide but I won't have collision or comprehensive coverage outside of U.S. and Canada.
2. Primary Rental Car Insurance. Your own auto insurance usually covers you when you rent a car, at least in the U.S. If you don't want to use your own auto insurance (and subject yourself to premium increases in case you file a claim), you can buy primary rental car insurance. I found two places that sell primary rental car insurance:
Notes From an Overseas Vacation
I didn't post to my blog last week because I was on vacation in another country. It was really refreshing even though the weather wasn't 100% cooperative. Now, here are some random personal finance related notes from my vacation.
Exchanging money. The best way to get the local currency is still using the ATM card, as long as you don't pay a foreign ATM surcharge. Banks and money exchange services post two rates — a "buy" rate and a "sell" rate. The lower "buy" rate is used when you exchange US dollars into the local currency. The "sell" rate is used when you exchange the local currency back to US dollars. My Fidelity mySmart Cash account does not have any surcharge for using the ATM card overseas. Visa charges 1% extra on top its wholesale exchange rate, which is better than the retail rates posted by the bank branches. The all-in exchange rate I received from using the ATM card was close to the "sell" rate posted at local banks and money exchange counters. If I exchanged my US dollar bills at a bank, I would get the "buy" rate which is 2-3% less.
I charged a hotel bill to my American Express card. American Express charges 2% for foreign transactions. But because American Express also gives me a rebate for using its card, it evens out to a wash between the exchange rate surcharge and the rebate.
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