Spending money in Orlando

Pete.g

How much do people tend to budget for 2wks? We are a family of 3+2 inlaws. Most things are paid for so I was thinking about £1500 plus a credit card for clothes, gifts ect.

Can anyone recommend a credit card for spending in the states? Will my everyday Tesco card be fine for spending on over there?

Also cash wise would you tend to take say 800 in $ and 700 in £ or do people still prefer to take travellers cheques the the U.S.?

Thanks,

Pete.

jackieblack

Pete.g wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a credit card for spending in the states? Will my everyday Tesco card be fine for spending on over there?

http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/?_ga=1.34735969.1983829439.1377583539

tberry6686

Personally I would take about £3000 plus credit cards, but then I go to the states with empty bags and completely renew my wardrobe (Clothing is wayyyyy cheaper their than here so it is easy to get carried away). If you don't plan to do that then £2000 should be plenty with a bit in reserve as well.

*pinkchick*

Depends if you want to visit the theme parks or if you've already paid for those. They'll drain your budget pretty quickly! I went in September with my bf and we spent £1,500 each, on top of the hotel, flights and car hire. but we did travel around so we paid for petrol, some additional hotels, park tickets, and lots of shopping. Food isn't that cheap over there so we spent quite a bit on breakfast, lunch and tea every day. That was my 2nd visit to Florida and on both occasions I spent a fortune! It's so easy to do over there...

steve1500

You can buy virtually anything on CC , from a can of coke to ice cream in Disney.


We usually take about $500 in cash for 2 weeks

19lottie82

Hi OP..... this is really a how long is a piece of string question!

What have you paid for already? do you have park tickets? what do you plan on doing? do you have a villa? if so will you be eating in, or out most of the time?

£1500 isn't really a lot for 5 people for 2 weeks tbh, (if you only plan on using a CC for gifts and clothes shopping) but you could make it stretch if you had to.

That's just over £20 pp per day. Meals in most places aren't THAT cheap. For a decent chain type meal out I'd budget at least $20 per person for a main and a drink (inc tax and tips).

Re the credit card, apply for a Halifax Clarity. You don't get charged by Halifax when you withdraw cash from an ATM and there are no foreign transaction fees for purchases. Chances are your tesco card will charge you a percentage (3%?) on foreign transactions...... which can add up!

MovingUp

My husband and I visited Florida in March this year.

If you are going to the parks it is better to book your tickets before you go. Especially if you are planning on spending all of your two weeks going from park to park.


Cash wise - you can pay for (almost) everything by credit card. We took enough in cash for parking and snacks (around £300 but all in $ - travellers cheques are not useful) but found we had some left over. All food was put on our credit cards as were most gifts and my mountain of Disney stuff


We used our Halifax Clarity cards. We've used these when in the US several times and throughout Europe. Fantastic rates and never been refused.


It all comes down to what you want to do. Personally we didn't want to carry lots of cash and found carrying just one credit card (the other being in the safe at the hotel) worked best for us. Just remember if you are doing the theme parks it will cost you $17 a day to park if you are driving.


Have fun!