<p>My husband and I were in Europe this summer. We have two credit card accounts with Chase, both are “Sapphire” cards. One charges a foreign transaction fee, one doesn’t. The one that doesn’t is a “preferred” card. It says so in teensy tiny print on the back above the signature line. Who knew? Not us!</p>
<p>D was also advised not to bring her US hair dryer & flat iron; that even with the converter plug it can do damage to the appliance. So she waited & ended up buying a blow dryer over there for 12 pounds.</p>
<p>D is in Spain now. She bought a phone when she got there but she uses Skype phone more- it’s very cheap. We Facebook chat a lot (free). Make sure your son turns off the roaming on his U.S. cell phone or suspend it if he takes it (he may want it while in the airport going and coming home). On T-Mobile I was able to suspend her U.S. service for 3 months and am only paying $10 a month while it’s suspended. She’s mostly using her debit card- because we are Citigold clients there are no foreign transaction fees.</p>
<p>Many places will offer a student discount on production of student ID with a photograph from any school, anywhere. But occasionally, only ISIC is accepted. It is up to you to decide whether it is worth paying for an ISIC card just in case. Sometimes to use student travel agencies (such as STA int he UK) you need an ISIC card.</p>
<p>It will cost more to buy adapators and convertors for things like hairdryers than it will cost to buy a new hairdryer. It is a right of passage for US students to blow up a few electric items in Europe! If you need UK plug adaptors it is extremely easy and cheap to buy them here. At the airport or at any Boots or Argos store for example. If you buy them in the US they will probably sell you an “all of Europe” 2 pin adaptor. But the UK has 3 pins so this won’t work.</p>
<p>I would not recommend a Three phone as it has very poor coverage in the UK outside of London.</p>