Backpacking around Eastern Europe - do we need a different cashcard?

MNrhubarb

Hello all. So as the title says, my husband and I are planning a 3 month sabbatical to backpack across Eastern Europe, starting in Turkey and then working our way up to Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, etc hopefully all the way to Norway.
We have a French bank card for when we need to pay in euros and I was wondering whether we should also take another card from a company like Chase? Our bank doesn't charge anymore for withdrawals or transactions in euros, however I am hesitant to take our debit card with us. So what would be the advice as far as money goes?
Cheers!

flaneurs_lobster

You used the term "we have", would that suggest a joint account?

If so, I'd have another bank account debit/credit card EACH, each with a different bank/institution.

My current pairing is a Chase debit card (£500/day up to £1500/mth ATM, fee free) and a Santander Edge CC (no fees).

Partner uses a Revolut card for spending/ATM and a Lloyds Ultra CC.

Online access to accounts to top up the debit card accounts is needed.

born_again

Always have more than 1 payment method (in case you lose/stolen) card. Ideally via different banks & one Visa, Mastercard or Amex.

MNrhubarb

Thanks all.
To clarify, we have one British joint bank account with Lloyds. Because of our account type they are no longer charging fees for withdrawals or payments in euros.
We have a credit card with Lloyds too.
We also have one French joint bank account.
Because our joint banks have debit cards, I wondered if the advice would be to push travelling cash into a separate account like Chase, and not take the debit cards. Ideally I would prefer to have a card that is not contactless, for safety.

flaneurs_lobster

Is the Lloyds CC fee-free for overseas transactions?

Non-contactless debit/credit cards are pretty hard to come by, they may be available from your bank(s) by special order. What is available (at least for the Lloyds accounts) is the ability to "freeze" contactless payments (along with other switchable restrictions). The Chase debit card can only be frozen from all use.

I don't take cards abroad (or indeed generally out) for my main bank accounts, but can get to them via apps if there's an unexpected need for funds transfer. Pretty much all my spend on last couple of trips (Viet Nam, Greece) have been on a Santander credit card. Not at all familiar with the end of Europe you are planning to visit nor how prevalent card vs cash use is.

MNrhubarb

Thanks. Yes it's fee-free for all European transactions.

I guess we could use our credit card and set up monthly payments to cover the balance. I usually do this manually at the end of every month as it prompts me to check the payments going out. But we might not have suitable wifi.

I think card payment is prevalent pretty much over all of Europe tbh, although we do always carry some cash around with us too.

Worried_fool

Be aware that you are going to need some cash in that part of the world…

And you will need to make payments in currencies other than Euro (Polish zloty; Turkish lire;…).