She’ll be doing a program in Denmark and then visiting a friend in Wales. She’ll be gone most of the summer. It’s been many, many years since I’ve been to Europe and I don’t know how to help her prepare.
For example, what should she do for cell service? Health insurance? I don’t even know what I don’t know.
My daughter was able to use her debit card to withdraw funds in the local currency. She also had a credit card but only needed to use it once (to buy a Chunnel ticket; for some reason her debit card wouldn’t work). The debit card is with her account at my credit union, so I could just add money as needed.
She bought the insurance plan through the program she was in. It was required, but she didn’t use it.
We have T-mobile and it has worldwide data and text for free. We found that to be enough. I think she also skyped with her sister and boyfriend. I didn’t get any skypes, I’m just the mother.
Let her bank or CC company know that she’ll be overseas, otherwise they may see a transaction and flag the card for fraud until they get confirmation. Some banks/cc companies let you set this on their websites for future dates so you can do it ahead of time.
Check what currency conversion or foreign country use fees are there for her credit and ATM cards. If large, it may be worth opening accounts with no or lesser fees of this type.
Check what costs there will be for international roaming with her mobile phone. If expensive, consider whether getting a local plan (which would require her phone to be unlocked) may be useful.
My daughter studied in Copenhagen last year so you can PM me for any specific questions. She bought a SIM card for her phone once she was overseas which are pretty inexpensive and she used her debit card to get local currency. Skype and iMessage all work over WiFi so we had no issue staying in touch. For health insurance, there is some registration you are supposed to do (it’s free! Imagine that!) but my daughter didn’t even do that and still went to the hospital to be treated for a badly sprained ankle and they treated her with no issue or fee. 
We had our daughter buy a local SIM card in England when she went. We also made sure her ATM card would work in country and gave her a credit card as well.
make sure that YOUR passport is up-to-date…should she have an emergency, you’ll be able to get over there in a moment’s notice.
check with your health insurance carrier. Our company plan covers emergency travel overseas.
She should have a credit card with a chip – preferably one without currency exchange fees.
We also had T-Mobile – unlimited data and text; phone calls 20 cents/minute but WIFI calling is free.
Didn’t need to use our health insurance; a trip to the ER with testing, treatment and a one-day stay cost ca. 100 euros for everything (less than our copay! Gotta love that socialized medicine!) Obviously, you’ll want to know that she’s covered in the event of something major.
If she’s going to travel a lot, you might want to consider a rail pass that will give a lot of flexibility to travel around or you should buy rail/plane tickets in advance as it’s much cheaper that way.
She might want to check out some of the youth hostels – they are great ways to meet fellow travelers (if indeed she’s traveling)
I added my D to my Capital One account (no foreign exchange fees). As others note, she uses her debit card from her American bank to get cash.
She also got a Visa travel card from AAA as a backup (in case credit card was declined or had her wallet stolen). It costs about $6 and can be reloaded in cash in person for free (small charge to add cash online).
We all switched to T Mobile before she left, which we’d talked about doing anyway. Unlimited 4G data is helpful for directions (I think she uses Google maps). Texts are free and she uses audio face time in place of phone calls (as noted above, they aren’t included for free in the t mobile plan).
Advise bringing an extra phone charger and extra adapter. One of hers broke off in the wall socket and it took a while to find another one of the correct size.
Daughter’s health insurance covered time for travel before and after the program,
Based on our experiences traveling overseas the things you should take care of are:
Here’s a link to the US Department of State which may have some other good suggestions as well:
Hope she has a great time!
A local bank will refund any ATM fees charged anywhere in the world! The policy has really helped my son in Beirut save a lot of money - the transaction fee is usually at least $3!
We had a friend from Denmark stay with us for about a month last year. She relied on something called What’s APP to communicate on the phone while here. She said everyone in Denmark uses it.
S used the Viber app when he was overseas. Is that still a thing?
Also, make sure she has some place secure to carry her money, passport, and cards. S had a little pouch with a strap that he wore inside his clothes. Purse snatchers and pickpockets are a problem in some places, including children.
Travel light. You don’t want to have to lug all that stuff around.
Make sure you understand the difference between converters and adaptors for plugging things in - you need both for hair dryers, but only an adapter for an iPhone
I won’t bore you here with a long answer. Check out my posts. My kid has been abroad all three summers after freshman, sophomore and junior year. She is currently in Korea on spring break. I chronicle it all there over the years.
WhatsAPP is the best for contact overseas.
Money: Get a Schwab account with a debit card. Schwab has no foreign transaction fees. Get her a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. Chase Sapphire is one of them.
Safety: This might not be as relevant for Denmark as it is for southern or eastern Europe, but she should get a money belt and a neck pouch. No matter how careful she thinks she is with her handbag, it does not matter. Pick-pocketing is a psychological maneuver more than a physical one. Keep her credit card in one place, her debit card in another, and cash in yet another – say, one in the money belt, one in the neck pouch, and one in the in the inside pocket of a jacket.
Phone: Get a local SIM card. You don’t even need an international plan if you both have iPhones. Otherwise, use Whats App or Viber.
Suitcase: Get her a carry-on that is sized for Ryan Air. That’s the airline all the students use inside Europe.
Electronics: She only needs an ADAPTER not a CONVERTER for electronics like phone, iPad and computer. These devices are dual voltage, meaning the work on European and USA voltage. I can’t think of anything she would need a converter for. If she uses a flat iron or blow dryer, buy it there.
Health insurance: Check with the program. They usually require it and have a vendor. Although I must say, I was in Copenhagen about 20 years ago and sprained my ankle. Went to ER. No charge. At all.
By the way, Copenhagen is VERY expensive. Be prepared.
My son has traveled in Europe and is now in Africa, he has a Schwab checking account and he’s used his debit card everywhere with no international transaction fees. He account was easy to open online and it has superb international customer service!
Yup. Schwab is the way to go. Our rep in the local office told us that Schwab intentionally started a policy of no foreign transaction fees and no minimum deposit to capture the upper-middle-class student and young-adult market who travel abroad. The average age of their customers is 60, he said. Kind of a brilliant strategy.