rroberts

Am leaving May 13th to pick up my new C63s. Here are some miscellaneous new items. I will try to add to this thread as warranted.

Am advised that car drop off in Bremerhaven will cut ~2 weeks off delivery time to the U.S., since MBZ ships cars from that port.

Ortel Mobile gets many good reviews for its SIM cards, options, and prices. Unfortunately, it does not ship SIM cards outside Germany and some web pages do not have English versions. Buying and then configuring at the last minute means you will not know your European phone number in advance and account and options set-up can be problematic. I am buying Lycamobile SIM cards locally and will simply configure these online with a 1-month plan using my home computer.

Sort of stupid of me but may help others. In booking a critical May 24th ferry out of Poland I could not get the web site to take my US mobile phone number (required). (01) 9999999, (01) 999-9999, (01) 999.9999, etc. did not work. (19)999999 finally did.

Advance bookings charged to a credit card can add up quick and start being rejected if you have a low card credit limit (as I learned the hard way on a recent trip to San Diego with a newly issued card). Go online and "pay current balance" rather then "pay amount on last statement," or simply pre-over-pay an amount approaching what you anticipate spending while away. Another option is to ask card issuer(s) to increase credit limit(s), but this can be problematic. For instance, I once asked for a higher limit and soon after had that card stolen. In the eyes of that bank that made me a suspect for a crook's $400 of purchases! (Stupid ex-bank -- I now have multiple 6-figure deposits in one of their competitors.) Remember, to use credit cards in Europe you may need PIN numbers (not commonly needed in the U.S. -- yet). Set these up in advance in the U.S., and consider advising card issuers that you will be traveling so they do not freeze cards when they notice foreign purchases they deem suspicious. Yes, all wise and covered in many travel books but worth repeating here because of the amounts typically involved in a prolonged European trip with a car.

On my way to Stuttgart I wanted to take a ring taxi at the Nurburgring. The company I planned on using no longer has an AMG GTR, so I am having to go in a Lamborghini (cheaper LOL).

All for now.

eurmail

We're picking up a wagon in early June and driving around central Europe for a week and a half. Thanks for the reminder about credit card PINs.

rroberts

Wells Fargo's website has some great options. It allows one to enter travel dates and destination countries, to register US and foreign contact phone numbers, as well as do some PIN operations (but you may have to complete PIN set-up with a phone call).

I noticed something else I did not know. WF will give you up to $600 of free cell phone loss/damage protection if you set your cell plan for auto-pay from one of their checking or credit card accounts.

AmEx is does not use PINs. Reminder to self, make sure I have no stock in AmEx.

ted_jane

ATM cards must have a chip. Mine didn't so I had to use credit card to get cash. Many credit cards charge a currency conversion fee of 2-3 percent. You can apply for a "travelers" credit card that does not have this fee. I got a BofA Visa that does not charge a fee, but some toll booths would not take Visa so I had to use a Master Card.

rroberts

Thanks ted_jane. Like most North Americans I am used to Visa and Master Card both usually being accepted anywhere either is accepted. I was planning to take just my Visa and AmEx cards. But I have a MC card that I rarely use and now I will take it too.