Travel Suitcase - Author, Producer, Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

How do you avoid this growing problem? Well, one way, obviously, is not to travel unless you have to for some particular reason. As our last article stated, times are tough all over, and traveling is an expense many people are foregoing, for now, at least. However, some people just can’t do this, such as students, businesspersons, those with jobs that require travel, and those needing to visit friends or relatives. For these people, and for others who still want to travel, but need to do it as cheaply as possible, here are some more cost-cutting methods to use. Follow them, and they will save you money. These are designed for all cost-conscious travelers, and not just those going on vacation. If you combine these measures with those mentioned in our previous article, you can further, and considerably, defray the costs of travel.

FLYING: We’ve talked about researching airlines. However, no matter which one you end up with, as the saying goes, “it ain’t cheap” these days. Airlines are getting very good at tacking on hidden fees any which way they can. They do this by taking away free services, cutting employee staff, and generally charging more for existing services, as well as inventing new fees. These include fuel surcharge taxes, charges for reserving flights over the phone instead of the Internet, and added costs for checking baggage, among other things. Weight limits for luggage are being strictly observed by airlines these days. Why? Well, one reason is that if you slip up on this, “they” make more money. Go even slightly over that weight limit and it can really cost you! Checking extra bags will cost you. And for some airlines, even that first checked bag will have a charge coming with it.

Airline Travel Services - Take Off -Author MarekV, Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Also, some are charging for the use of headphones, even onboard food, and standard, non-alcoholic beverages. One friend of mine flew from Jamaica home to Raleigh. When he found out that he had to pay seven dollars for a measly cheese and tomato sandwich, and extra besides that for a beverage to go with it, he was so furious that he refused. Result? He arrived home thirsty and very hungry, after not having eaten anything of consequence for an entire day.

Yes, I know that most people don’t think seven dollars is very much. But add on drinks, add it coming and going, and add the costs of any other family members you are paying for, and believe me, that then becomes a substantial cost. What’s that old saying; “watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves?” The airlines, hotels, and everyone else are sure doing it, so you had better think about doing it, too, if only as a defensive measure. You don’t want to become the proverbial “plucked pigeon,” monetarily speaking, just because you want to travel abroad.

So Rule Number 1: Call or go online and find out what all air flight charges are going to be. I mean the TOTAL charges for that flight, including the return trip; from fuel surcharges, taxes, and costs for extra baggage,to prices for headphones, food, and anything else for which they may want extra money from you. That “low” advertised price for a ticket will have expenses added to it; believe me, and sometimes, a lot! To know the total price, you must take the time to inquire up front. Otherwise, you could be very unhappily surprised and only after you’ve purchased your ticket.

Author, Sfllaw, Hong Kong International Airport Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Check to make sure that things you assume are free are in fact, still without a charge. And, try to think BYOB, if you want to save costs and cut corners. That is, bring along with you whatever you can legally do so to defray costs. If they charge you for food, this can include some easy-to-eat food or prepackaged snacks. Beverages are a problem because of liquid prohibitions on planes, but you can supply your own headphones and such, at least. And remember to do this for both legs of the trip, coming and going. If they are charging for that little pack of peanuts, bring a package of your own for you, and for your family members. Again, these so-called “nickel and dime” costs can really add up, if you aren’t careful. The airlines know this, and so play this game. If it wasn’t worth their while to “nickel and dime” you, they wouldn’t bother – trust me!

Rule Number 2: After you have purchased your ticket, pay particular attention to your baggage. Again, airlines now often charge for extra baggage, and many charge even for that first piece of checked luggage. Go over the weight limits (or even the size limits), and you could be paying a hefty extra fee.

So remember that old adage; “he who travels light, travels quickly.” And remember, in this case, “he,” or “she,” will also travel more cheaply. So take stock of what you are taking. Consider the items carefully. When traveling to Europe, I pack layered clothing. By this, I mean I pack undershirts, shirts, sweaters, and a light jacket. Combined, all these can come to less than the weight of a single full coat, and yet offer the same warmth, if necessary. Also, this method is flexible. It allows me more choice in what I choose to wear, how much I wear, and when.

Combination Suitcase And Chair Public Domain, Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Think about what you really don’t need to take. Travel irons for pressing wrinkled clothes, hair dryers, even such sundry items as toothbrushes, razors, shampoo, soaps, and such, can usually be had at the destination hotel, most of the time for free. Almost all hotels I stay at (and these aren’t expensive ones, by any means), supply irons, hair dryers, shampoo, and soap. And if these aren’t to your liking, then local shops will supply them cheaply. Buy small quantities, enough to last your stay, so you aren’t wasting money in this respect. Better to do this than pay as much as $50.00 extra because you are just a pound or so over your weight limit. That would equal one very expensive bottle of shampoo! Even if there are two of you, airlines don’t average the weight of bags. If one is over a pound, and the other is still under by several pounds, it doesn’t matter. You will still pay extra!

Rule Number 3: Have a meal, if necessary, before going to the airport. Or, bring along a snack, even a beverage. You may not be able to take liquids on the flight, but if you haven’t passed through security yet, you usually can have beverages in the main terminal. Food and drink in airports can be enormously expensive, depending on the airport. And if you get hungry while waiting for your flight, or you are just in between flights, airline food can add on costs to your trip and in a hurry! For two adults, a simple meal with a beer, for instance, at some airports, can run you $60.00 or more. So try not to give in to temptation while at the air terminal. It can cost you. The simple expedience of bringing along a bag of trail mix, or a candy bar or two, could save you big bucks – coming and going!

GROUND TRANSPORTATION: When traveling to other countries, check ahead of time as to what ground transportation is available, where it is located (with regard to airports, points of interest, and hotels). Find out the different methods and ascertain which are the cheapest and most expedient.

Subways: Although subways are usually a great bargain just about anywhere, if you are lugging heavy baggage along, climbing and descending numerous flights of stairs, struggling to get suitcases onto trains, pushing through rush-hour crowds, then subways may not be a good idea. (This is another reason to travel light, baggage-wise.) However, subways are usually very cheap and I use them. If you are planning to stay in one city for a while, you can usually get multiple-day passes, which are a real bargain. Do it.

Buses: I also use bus lines. These, too, often have multiple-day passes. In London, I buy a pass that allows me to use either the “tube” or the bus service for several days. It’s absolutely the cheapest way to get to just about anywhere in that city, and even some points beyond it. Again, lots of luggage can be a problem for this method, struggling on and off buses with heavy bags, but it’s still a very good and cheap way to go.

Taxies: Taxies in Europe or the United Kingdom, as well as other places, are usually the most expensive way to travel, and sometimes the drivers can be a bit shady, although I’m sure most are not. However, as an example, I came out of the “tube” (subway) at Notting Hill Gate in London. I hailed a taxi to take me to my hotel, which was nearby (where exactly, I didn’t know). He didn’t recognize the name of the hotel and so couldn’t find it. I told him it had to be within a few streets of the station at most, according to the description the hotel manager had given me over the phone. Nine British Pounds Sterling later, we arrived at the hotel. It was around the corner from the subway station, not more than 75 feet away. Was the driver being honest in not knowing the location of the place? I just don’t know. But in American money at the time, that cost me $20.00 to find out my hotel was less than a hundred feet from where I had hailed the taxi. Why did I hail a taxi? Because I had lots of luggage on that trip, that’s why. See what I mean about traveling light? Yes…I learned the hard way.

eurostar european high speed train Author, Leon Brocard, Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Trains: Trains in Europe are generally a good bargain, and although not so much in the United Kingdom, they still are much better than here in the United States. Also, both mainland Europe and the United Kingdom have very good train systems. Although the British system over the last ten years has worsened some, in my opinion, they still travel to many places. Trains are often, and the rides are comfortable. You can “get there from here,” on them in mainland Europe, and the United Kingdom. However, as mentioned in the prior article, you might want to consider renting a car if you plan many long-distance trips, because train fares can really add up over time, especially if more than one person is traveling.

Car Rentals: First, please understand this; car rentals always cost more than the advertised price, almost without exception! This is true whether we’re talking about here in the United States, or abroad. Fees always are tacked on. These can include insurance fees, road use fees, surcharges of various sorts, extra charges for that “extra” driver, taxes, and fees for any type of navigational devices, among others.

So, here’s that BYOB rule again; if you have a navigational device, pay for a map of your destination before leaving home. Download it, and use it when you get there. Even though maps for such devices aren’t cheap, as I’ve found out, they are far cheaper than renting that navigational device from a car rental agency. On my trip last year, I was charged the equivalent of almost $32.00 USD a day for the device! And you know, it was still worth it. I saved countless hours of time in not getting lost and in gas savings. Europeans just are not great on posting street signs, or at least not where one can see them in time to be of any use. All that extra saved time went to see more things. But do check out car rental costs carefully. Know the total amount. It can be high. Still, for a family, as mentioned in the prior article, a car rental could very well be the way for you to go.

KNOW THE CURRENCIES: This is essential. Whether you are flying to locations that use different currencies, or your trip just involves one different one – know the currency! You need to know it by sight, so you don’t use the wrong bills for tips and such (as I did in Austria), and you need to know its current rate of exchange. If you don’t know that, then you don’t know what those meals, tourist sites, gasoline prices, hotel fees, souvenirs, and all are really costing you. And if you are using a credit card, well, upon your arrival home, and when that bill arrives, it can be an awful surprise. So again, know the currency, know its current rate of exchange, and be able to calculate costs so that you can translate them into your own money. This will save you money!

Currate.com: To be able to do all of this, I recommend Currate.com. It has images of almost all the world’s currencies; you can familiarize yourself with your destination ones. It has regularly updated conversion rates, so you will have timely information on what the exchange rate is. It has a Google Earth style map where you can point and click to your destination. Also, it has a currency converter calculator. Want to know what that souvenir is really costing you? Just use the currency converter calculator to find out. And with regard to that, if you are traveling and have a mobile phone with Internet browser capability, just go to http://currate.com/mbasic.php. For phones with more advanced features, use http://currate.com/menhanced.php. This way, you will have instant access to everything you need with regard to matters of currency conversion. Believe me, knowing this will save you money! And in the current worldwide economic situation, this is always a good idea.

We live in an age where corporate greed has turned craftier than ever. Again, it is the age of hidden fees, of having airlines, banks, credit card companies, hotels, and others  trying to “nickel and dime you to death.” So take my advice and fight back. And one of the best ways to do this is to know what all the costs are going to be up front. Then, you can at least try to defray them in some way. Otherwise, you are just a helpless victim. And really consider this approach, because these fees not only aren’t going away in the near future, they are going to get worse! Trust me. It will happen. And you don’t have to look into a crystal ball to know this. The future, in this regard, is sadly all too obvious.

Rob Shelsky, Currate.com Contributing Editor
Robert Rademacher, Currate.com Editor-in-Chief

References:

Ten Money-Saving Travel And Vacation Tips
http://goflorida.about.com/od/couponsdiscounts/a/moneysavingtips.htm

CNN 9 Money-Saving Travel Tips
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/traveltips/01/20/money.saving.tips/index.html

Money-Saving Travel Tips
http://www.parents.com/fun/vacation/planning/money-saving-travel-tips/

Money Saving Tips the Travel Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know
http://www.deliciousbaby.com/journal/2008/jun/19/money-saving-tips-travel-industry-doesnt-want-you-/

The Wend Perrin Report
http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/traveltips/11316

Amazing Money-Saving Tips
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/feb/07/budget-travel-guide-credit-crunch

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Europcar Counter – Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

And that’s one of two major reasons why we fly so much. The matter of time; we never seem to have enough of it. We often have to get where we’re going in a hurry. The second reason is distance. Our country spans the entire width of North America and beyond. You have few travel choices if you want to get to Hawaii, for ex­ample. It’s either by plane, boat, or swimming, and I don’t like sharks. And boats make a lot of people seasick (not me…). So to belabor an obvious point, that means having to fly there.

But truly, the scale of our country is remarkably large compared to most European countries. Have you ever considered the distance from Miami, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska, for instance?  It’s 4,005 miles!

Maui Uaoa Bay Hawaii – Authors, Forest and Kim Starr Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

I did a month-long tour of Europe that included England, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and it came to just about the same mileage as that trip from Miami to Anchorage. And that was the complete loop in Europe. Here in America that mileage only gets you to Anchorage, but doesn’t get you back. So, there’s no doubt about it, flying is often a necessity here.

Transportation In Europe - Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

But not in Europe; once you’ve arrived there, flying is definitely not the way to go in my opinion. Being so much smaller an area, having such incred­ible diversity in cultures and geo­graphies all crammed so close together, Europe calls to the traveler to actually traverse it by some surfaces means. So if you have the time, want to really see things, you should travel in this way. Europe has a marvelous train system, as well as great subway infrastructures in most major cities, and equally impressive bus networks in most countries.

But being Americans, and having had a long love affair with our cars, we do love to drive as well. Here, many people drive across country just for the fun of it. This sort of thing has been popular since the days of “Route 66,” and even before then. We Americans do love to drive when we can. And driving in Europe allows the traveler to get off the beaten path, to explore areas otherwise denied to them. So I highly recommend renting a car while abroad, but with some caveats.

Route 66 Road Sign-Fabio Pozzato Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

First, there is the problem of insurance. It can be expensive. And, reserving you own car by Internet, although often a good way to go, can be tricky. When going to Portugal, I rented a car online in advance, through National. Upon arrival at the Lisbon Airport I went to pick it up, only to find that they insisted upon my either posting a large sum of money as a “bond,” or paying over $200 for extra insurance. Nothing on the website had warned me of this. What I thought was a cheap deal turned out to be not so cheap! What could I do? I ended up by paying the extra money.

So when reserving your car, make very sure you know the full price of that rental. Also, be explicit about the car you want. Europeans seem to prefer standard shift. I don’t. So if you want that automatic, reserve early, assume you will pay more for it, because you usually will.  I was too late and so had to have a stick shift. Not having driven one in 25 years, and having to do it in a foreign country on steep hills – not so great. I’d forgotten how those cars can roll – backwards! So again, reserve your car early on to make sure you get that automatic if you want it.

Another point about insurance; get the full package. Do check with your credit card company, as well, because many automatically give you supplemental insurance when you use them. But the full package really is necessary. Remember, you are driving in a strange land, with unfamiliar signs, rules, and methods of doing things. Roundabouts (traffic circles) have rules you may not be familiar with and in Europe they do use a lot of them. In the United Kingdom, there is always the added fun of doing it on the left side of the road instead of the right. Plus, because you aren’t familiar with the car’s dimensions, it’s easy to scrape a hedgerow, or stone wall. Roads in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe can be incredibly narrow! I scraped a car on my last trip to England. It was only my left mirror, and very minor, but scraping it against a concrete wall of a covered car park didn’t do much for its look. So, full insurance is a very good idea, because that mishap didn’t cost me a thing.

Secondly, I strongly advise some type of navigation equipment, such as Garmin, Tom-Tom, or whatever please you. In Portugal, I had brought along an elaborate and expensive road atlas. It was great to use for traveling on their major highways, but the minute you leave those, enter any village or town, you can forget the maps. Road names are rarely posted in real life in these places. Once in a while, I spotted one at an intersection, inset into a corner building, but for the most part, they just seemed nonexistent. So a road map with names doesn’t help in a town without them. And there are lots of such towns.

For example, I became utterly lost in Lagos, Portugal. Again, there were very few street signs in town. Upon entering the place, within about five minutes, I didn’t know where I was. I kept trying to find my way “out,” only to find I was lost in a maze of smaller and smaller streets, some so narrow my car practically brushed the walls and it was a small car!

Casa di Cura Cottolengo, Meugliano, Turin, Italy – Laurom, Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Finally, when one street became so narrow as to be impossible to see ahead, I stopped the car. My father got out (only he could, because my door was within mere inches of a wall), and walked in front of the vehicle to see where the road led. That was nowhere, as it turns out. The road became, abruptly and without any signs or warnings of any kind whatsoever, a steep staircase down a hillside. It was very quaint, no doubt, but also very dangerous. Imagine if I had kept going a few more feet. I had to back all the way out. Not a pleasant experience, especially not after hours of driving south from Lisbon, and feeling desperately tired.

The next time I traveled and rented a car, I also rented a Tom-Tom. This was for nineteen pounds a day in England, which right now figures out to about $31.54 at current exchange rates. This was not cheap by any standards, but it worked beautifully for me, saved me tons of time and loads of frustration. England, like Portugal, seems very short on street signs once you are in a village or town. But with my trusty Tom-Tom, I always found my way. I even convinced an English friend of it’s worth. He bought one. Even the British have problems finding their way around villages, it seems.

There is also the matter of buying gasoline or “petrol.” Because my car was strange to me (a Mercedes), I had no idea how to release the gas cover. I asked two English people who were filling up to help me, but neither of them knew how either, although they really tried. Twenty minutes later, my father “stumbled” on the secret. Oh, and knowing the real price of gas isn’t easy either. In Europe, they sell it by the liter. Just trying to figure out how much that is a gallon was difficult, and then to try to convert the cost from euros or pounds to dollars in my head was even worse.

So besides that piece of navigation equipment, here is something else you should consider taking with you to Europe. If you have a mobile phone with Internet browser capability, bring it! With it, you can access Currate.com at http://currate.com/m.php. for their currency conversion features. If your mobile phone use more enhanced features, try going to http://currate.com/e.php. That way, you will always have, right at hand, the means to figure out just what that liter of gas is really costing you. And make no mistake, whether euros or pounds, their fuel stations can have very different prices. And also remember that Currate.com has actual images of over 180 currencies. This is a great feature for any traveler who finds they are moving from country-to-country with different currencies. Currate.com also has a Google-style world currencies map where you can just point and click to your destination and its currency.

USD EUR Italy World Currencies Map - Currate.com

Traveling requires preparation and that’s just as true for renting that car you want to use. And although most of us don’t like paying more, sometimes it is worth it. So, rent that car. Make sure one way or the other you have full insurance, and either bring along, or rent a navigation device to go with your car. And do remember that if you don’t like stick shifts, you should reserve an automatic well before your trip. And that expensive road atlas – well, they can be handy, but nothing replaces my Tom-Tom! I bought one as soon as I came home, and I’m downloading the European map into it for my next trip this coming March. To paraphrase, “I won’t leave home without it.” No more staircase streets for me!

Rob Shelsky, Currate.com Contributing Editor
Robert Rademacher, Currate.com Editor-in-Chief

References:

Currate Currency Tools:
http://currate.com

Travelmath
http://www.travelmath.com/flight-distance/from/Anchorage,+AK/to/Miami,+FL

How To Rent A Car Abroad
http://www.ehow.com/how_135792_rent-car-abroad.html

Renting A Car Abroad
http://www.greatgapyears.co.uk/renting-a-car-abroad.html

Road Signs In Europe
http://www.reidsguides.com/t_au/t_au_road_signs.html

Unhelpful Road Signs
http://blog.ivman.com/unhelpful-road-signs/

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Subway in Paris Courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Author, Pline Photo Personnelle

Do you want to rent a bicycle in Paris? Good luck! Your American credit cards probably won’t work, and even if it happens to, it will take repeated efforts on your part.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Velib Bicycles in Paris, France

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Velib Station in Paris, France, Author, Evan

Need to use a credit card at an automated ticket kiosk to catch the Paris Metro, that train to Berlin, or pay at an automated toll on a French road? Sorry, no can do! Or maybe you need to purchase gas?

Can you use that automated gasoline station up ahead? Again, you are probably going to be out of luck. You can’t use such services with American credit cards.

That is, you can’t use these and many other automated services unless your card happens to have an em­bedded chip in it, a version of the so-called “smart card.” And good luck with that idea, because as of this writing, it appears no American credit card company is using em­bedded chips for such pur­poses, at least not for Americans getting them in the United States. And the prob­lems don’t stop there. Many vendors, such as merchants, shops, restaurants don’t have, or worse, don’t know how to use, our “swipe” style ma­chines anymore. So, it isn’t just automated service that can be a big problem.

Sadly, although a few years back everyone was touting the “smart card” in the United States, it really didn’t happen for us. We have an older and reasonably reliable system that dates back about four decades, the “swipe” method of authorization for credit cards. And contrary to some remarks made by our European cousins that we should “catch up” with modern times, and do as they do, we really haven’t had the need.

SmartCard Used in Paris, France and Europe - Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

You see, the major reason for using such cards throughout Europe today is to stop, or at least considerably slow down, credit card fraud. In the United States, although we do definitely suffer from this crime, it hasn’t reached the level that it already has in Europe. So, American credit card companies haven’t felt the pressing need to switch. Also, we have an advanced infrastructure in the United States already dependent on, and using, the “swipe” card system. This would all have to be changed to work with such “smart cards.” It would cost billions of dollars to do this. It may be easy for a small country, like Belgium, to accomplish such a changeover, but for a continent-wide country such as ours, it is a major task, and would be at far higher cost.

However, the world does seem to be going the way of this new type of credit card. And, due to mounting international pressure to conform, we may soon have to follow suit as well. This would again make American plastic practical and easy to use all over the world.

But what do Americans do until then? Our options appear to be very limited. For the time being, we probably will just have to avoid using the automated services, and instead use our cards at bank ATMs and/or banks. Our cards are still good at such places and many others. Or we can choose to go back to an older method, and carry more cash with us to feed the automated machines.

Herein is a problem. If you can’t use that credit card to get the day’s best exchange rate automatically, then the need to know the current exchange rate becomes very important. As a smart traveler, you must be aware of the current rate of exchange. And for this, there is no better place than Currate.com . With reliable and daily updated exchange rates, an online currency converter calculator, a Google Earth type world map (http://currate.com/map.php) where you can just point and click to get the currency of your destination, and actual images of over 180 currencies, what could be easier?

Google World Map Based Currency Converter Tools with Currency Images

And remember what we said about many shops, stores, and restaurants in Europe not accept­ing our credit cards? This means your only alternative is to have cash on hand to pay the bill. But then what is the daily exchange rate for their currency and yours? What does that menu price in their currency translate to in costs in our money? How much should we tip? What does their currency even look like?

Well, if you have a mobile phone with Internet browser capability, you can access Currate.com simply by going to http://currate.com/mbasic.php. If your mobile phone is capable of using more enhanced features, go to http://currate.com/menhanced.php. This way, you won’t feel embarrassed, will be able to know the real costs of what

Currate.com Mobile Version - available on iPhone Web browser or any mobile phones with web browser built in.

you are buying, and can rest easy knowing you haven’t made some major and costly mistake. I find that Currate.com provides incredible peace-of-mind in this respect.

And there is some good news on this whole credit card issue; people do want us to be tourists in their countries, and they like it when we spend money. So many are taking steps to ensure their staff can also use the “swipe” machines, and they are trying different methods of allowing us to use our version of credit cards in lots of places. However, for those automated machines located around Europe, from using those Velib kiosks in Paris for bicycle renting, to those automated Esso gas stations, our cards just don’t work. So, keep some cash handy for emergencies, and remember Currate.com . And this way, your trip will be much less frustrating, much less annoying, and a lot more fun!

Rob Shelsky, Currate.com Contributing Editor

References:

Those Free Bikes In Paris? You Can’t Use ‘Em.
http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2007/07/lost_in_translation_parisian_b.html

For Americans, Plastic Buys Less Abroad.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/travel/04pracchip.html?_r=1&ref=technology

Best Payment Options For Travellers.
http://www.naviquan.com/page/best-travel-payment-options/1

Company News; Visa Will Put A Microchip In New Card.
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/21/business/company-news-visa-will-put-a-microchip-in-new-card.html

A Traveler’s Plea To Credit Card Issuers.
http://rdist.root.org/2009/09/28/a-travelers-plea-to-credit-card-issuers/

U.S. Credit Cards Becoming Outdated, Less Usable Abroad
‘Smart’ Chip-And-Pin Cards Catching On Worldwide, But Not Here.
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/outdated-smart-card-chip-pin-1273.php

Using an American Credit Card for the Paris Bike-Share System
http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/using-an-american-credit-card-for-the-paris-bike-share-system/

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