How Much Cash Should You Carry?

Carry enough for arrival plus about two days, then top up from an ATM as you go. That is the answer for most destinations and most trips, and the two things that change it are how much of the local economy runs on cash and how reliable the machines are once you land. Carrying a whole trip's spending in notes is neither necessary nor comfortable.

What You Need to Know

There is no universal figure, and anyone offering one is guessing about your destination. What there is, is a method: start from arrival, add a buffer sized to the destination’s reliability, and plan to replenish locally rather than to carry everything.

Arrival money

The purpose is to get from the airport to where you are staying and through the first evening without needing anything to work. A transfer or taxi, a meal, a tip, and enough margin that a closed ATM is an inconvenience rather than a problem. In most destinations that is a modest amount.

The running amount

About two days of what you expect to spend in cash, replenished when it runs low. Two days is enough that a public holiday, a weekend or a broken machine does not strand you, and small enough that losing it is annoying rather than serious.

What moves the number up

• A cash economy. 26 destinations are described as running largely on cash or as not widely accepting cards.
• Unreliable ATMs. 57 destinations discuss ATM availability or reliability in their local circumstances, and the entries are specific: machines that only dispense local currency, run out of cash, or are limited to major cities.
• A rural or remote itinerary, where the last bank may be several days behind you.
• Tipping expectations, which are cash almost everywhere.
• Entrance fees, boats, local guides and markets, which are frequently cash-only even in card-friendly countries.

What to Do Before Your Trip

• Read your destination’s entry for how much runs on cash and whether ATMs are dependable.
• Work out your arrival amount: transfer, meal, tip, margin.
• Look at the itinerary for cash days: markets, rural sites, boats, guides, tips.
• Plan where you will draw cash and how often, rather than carrying it all.
• Ask for smaller denominations, since large notes are frequently unusable.
• Check the currency declaration threshold for the countries you enter and leave.
• Decide where the cash lives: on you, in a bag, in the safe.

Important Considerations

Declaration thresholds

Carrying cash is lawful; carrying it above a threshold without declaring it frequently is not, and thresholds apply on the way out as well as on the way in. The figure differs by country and in some places applies per family or group rather than per traveler, which matters if you are holding a group’s money. Check both your destination’s customs authority and the U.S. rules for the return journey.

Splitting it

A day’s spending in a wallet, the rest divided between a different bag and the accommodation safe. The point is not that anywhere is especially dangerous; it is that a single loss should not be a total one, and this costs nothing to arrange.

Denominations

The commonest cash problem abroad is holding money nobody can break. Ask for smaller notes when you withdraw, break large ones at hotels and supermarkets deliberately, and keep small notes accessible for taxis and tips.

The end of the trip

Aim to run down local currency rather than convert it back, since you lose on the spread twice. Where a currency cannot be exported, that is not a preference but a requirement, and it is worth knowing before your last morning.

Tips for Group Travelers

• Give the group a daily cash figure for the destination, with what it covers, in the pre-departure note.
• Say which days on the itinerary are cash days, and roughly how much each needs.
• Build one ATM stop into the first day.
• Remind people to bring small notes and to keep cash split up.
• Warn about the declaration threshold if anyone is carrying the group’s money.
• Do not carry the group’s cash yourself beyond an agreed shared fund.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Carrying the whole trip’s cash from home.
• Carrying almost none on the assumption cards will work everywhere.
• All of it in one wallet.
• Only large notes.
• Ignoring the declaration threshold, particularly when holding money for others.
• Being left with currency that cannot be exchanged or exported.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much cash should I take on an international trip?

Enough for arrival, meaning a transfer, a meal, a tip and a margin, plus about two days of expected cash spending, then replenish from ATMs. Increase it where the destination runs largely on cash, where ATMs are unreliable, or where your itinerary goes somewhere rural. There is no universal figure, because the answer is about the destination rather than the trip length.

Is it better to carry cash or withdraw as I go?

Withdraw as you go, in most destinations. It is cheaper than exchanging at home, it means you are not carrying a large sum, and it lets you adjust as you learn what things actually cost. The exception is a destination where machines are scarce or unreliable, and 57 of the destinations covered discuss ATM availability specifically.

How much cash can I legally carry?

As much as you like, but above a threshold you must declare it, and the threshold applies when leaving as well as arriving. It varies by country and in some places applies per family or group rather than per person. Check your destination’s customs authority and the U.S. rules for your return.

Where should I keep it?

Split: a day’s spending in your wallet, the rest between a separate bag and the accommodation safe. Keep small notes accessible for taxis and tips and larger ones out of sight. The aim is that losing one thing does not lose everything.

What do I do with what is left at the end?

Spend it down rather than converting back, since you pay the spread in both directions. Where the currency cannot legally be exported, converting before you reach the airport is not optional. Keep the original exchange receipt, which some countries require in order to convert back at all.

Related Travel Tips

• Money, currency and payments, the section this guide belongs to.
• Using ATMs Abroad. Where the running amount comes from.
• Cash vs. Credit Cards Abroad. What actually needs cash.
• Customs and Immigration Basics, for declaration thresholds.

Plan Your Trip With LABUSA Travel

A realistic daily cash figure is one of the most useful things a traveler can be told before departure, and it is entirely destination-specific. LABUSA Travel gives travelers a number that matches the itinerary rather than a general rule.

Talk with a LABUSA Travel advisor about a trip you are considering, or browse our destination guides for a specific country.

Verify Before You Travel

Currency declaration thresholds are set by each country and change; confirm your destination’s with its customs authority and the U.S. Department of State country information, and read U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Know Before You Go guidance for the return. This page quotes no threshold of its own, because the figure differs by country and by direction of travel.