available at 7225 with a money changer the bank would charge around 7275 renowned travel agencies are at least a rupee higher than a money changer its most expensive to exchange currency at airports which are 23 more than the prevailing rate excluding taxes says a dealer with a money changer travellers can carry foreign currency either in the form of cash travellers cheques or card but a prepaid card scores over travellers cheques as the latter cannot be encashed after merchant hours and acceptability is still an issue further there is a fee on encashment the bank charges a onetime issuing charge of 110150 on a prepaid forex card if you use the prepaid forex card for withdrawal a charge of 1252 units of the foreign currency is also levied however if you run out of cash in the foreign land you cannot load the card from abroad you have to take help from your relatives on indian shores to reload the card which attracts a reload charge money changers offer plastic travel cards which are chipbased cards with enhanced security features and there is no fear of loss of value these cards can be used at any point of sale pos terminal and are widely accepted even by cab drivers in developed countries another advantage is the traveller can end up having one or two counterfeit notes without hisher knowledge not that a forex dealer deliberately hands over a counterfeit note to a customer but many travel agents have a licence to issue foreign exchange and such novice dealers dont have the expertise to do this due diligence before handing it over to the customer also if you use a debitcredit card issued out of india with global acceptance such as visa mastercard or amex banks bill on the basis of the exchange rate prevailing on the date of the transaction they also levy a crosscurrency charge of 3254 75 hence opt for a prepaid card as you would be spending at the rate as on the date you loaded your card which will give you an accurate idea of expensesbuy insuranceits mandatory to take an overseas insurance before visa application in all of the 15 schengen countries which include france germany and finland this cover could really come in handy as the cost of medical treatment in the us as well as europe is very steep as you are moving to a high price index zone from a lower one for example if an appendix operation in india will cost around 50000 a similar operation may cost you around 200000 in the us medical treatment is the most expensive in the us followed by covers for europe and neighbouring countries apart from medical and sickness travel insurance also covers you against a range of mishaps such as personal accident loss of checked baggage loss of passport personal liability trip delays or missed flights financial emergencies and even if your house is