STAGE 7: BANKING, INSURANCE AND PHONE

You have saved up all that hard earned cash, now let's dive into how to get your money, insurance and mobile phone organised. Click on one of the 3 specific focus areas below: 

Money: What banking cards do I need?

There are a number of options that you can use for having an international money card. Let's compare them:

Citibank Plus Transaction Account

  • No account or transaction fees
  • No ATM fees If you withdraw from a Citibank ATMs (nearly all 7-Eleven stores in America have a Citibank ATM). Otherwise you will incur normal ATM fees
  • Can transfer money into this account via normal Bpay transfer. Note: cash transfers usually take 48 hours to appear in the Citibank account

28 Degrees Platinum Card 

  • No account or transaction fees
  • Can be used as a credit card – note: you will be charged interest on cash withdrawals if the balance is below 0, but can get get up to 55 days interest free on purchases/transactions. 
  • Complimentary 24/7 complimentary concierge service – can be used to book anything from the likes of hotels, dinner reservations, concerts etc.

Qantas Cash Card 

  • Can be used to lock in a fixed rate if you are concerned with currency fluctuations
  • Can pre-load up to 10 local currencies onto 1 card
  • Earn bonus Qantas Frequent Flyer points for loading and spending money

Diversify

Why choose one card when you can take them all (remember no account fees!). It is extremely prudent to take all 3 cards but keep them in different places when you travel just in case you lose one of them. For example, 1 card in your main wallet, 2 cards in a spare wallet

Organise early

Sometimes the application for these cards take 1-2 weeks to be delivered to you. It's easy to neglect this but don't leave it to the last minute. Get it done out the way early to avoid the stress

Authorised Signatory

Before you leave, contact your card provider and add someone you trust (e.g. mum or dad) as an authorised signatory to your account. This way, if you are in a situation and are struggling to contact your card provider back in Australia, someone can do it on your behalf

Currency Fluctuations

Pay attention to the currency rate whilst you are travelling. If the AUD strengthens against the USD (meaning things are relatively cheaper for Aussies), you may choose to use a floating rate card. The opposite occurs if the currency weakens whilst you are travelling, where it will be better to used the fixed rate card 

But wait, aren't there any other card/banking options available?

Whilst there are some other options available, it is important you take into account certain considerations:

  1. Using a travel card from my local bank (ANZ, Commbank, NAB, Westpac etc...)
    • Whilst this may be convenient to organise, the banks usually take a nice juicy percentage (called a 'spread') from the currency conversion rate which will leave you worse off. The spread that the big 4 banks take are usually larger than the likes of Citibank and 28 Degrees 
  2. Opening up a bank account in the USA
    • Even though there are many student friendly banks in the USA (e.g. Wells Fargo, Bank of America), there could be a lot of red tape to go through and other complexities in terms of identification processes, contacting the IRS (equivalent of the ATO in Australia) by using a local USA bank

Insurance

Your Australian university will have comprehensive insurance included for you, but this will only be valid for the period of your academic studies on exchange. It is really important you ask your university department the dates you are covered by their corporate insurance policy. For any time before or after this period, you will need to buy additional travel insurance.

Lets take a look at an example. Meet Bec!

  • Bec studies Biology at UNSW.
  • She just got accepted into the University of Michigan for her exchange program in Semester 2. 
  • She notices UNSW's insurance policy for her exchange is valid from the 1st July to the 1st December.
  • However, she really wants to travel over the Christmas/New Year period and only come home on the 1st January

What does Bec need to do?

  • Bec will need to purchase additional travel insurance to cover her for the period until she returns home. This means getting coverage for the last 30 days of her trip
  • There are many quality travel insurance providers to choose from:

Alternatively, Bec may have a credit card with complimentary travel insurance. If she books her international return flight using this card, she may be able to get insurance coverage. However, she will need to check her credit card's terms and conditions to see if the trip duration will meet the criteria for complimentary travel insurance.

What is the 'Insurance Waiver Process'?

USA colleges have different requirements for health insurance for all students. They may have their own insurance policy which you will be required to meet. Since you already have your insurance from your Australian university, you will need to apply for a waiver to your college by showing proof of your travel insurance policy.

IMPORTANT POINTS

  • Your current insurance cover may not be sufficient to meet the requirements and have the insurance plan waived. Hence you may be required to pay the additional fee at the your college even if you are covered by your Australian university insurance
  • It is your responsibility to check your USA college's insurance requirements and apply for waivers if applicable

Mobile Phone Plans

In order to send texts and tweets, make phone calls, and most importantly snapchat your friends back home making them jealous, you will need to acquire a mobile phone plan. Note: you can only organise this when you arrive in the USA.

There are 4 main providers of mobile phone plans in the USA:

So who is the best one to use?
Given the competitive phone market in the USA, most carriers have pretty comparable services. Key factors to think about:

  • Text, calls and data – most of these carriers offer packages that includes unlimited texts & calls and then decide how much data you would need
  • Network coverage – check the network coverage map of each of these providers in the city you will be staying in to ensure the coverage is strong. AT&T is known for having the best coverage American-wide
  • Cost – price can range anywhere from $35-$100 a month depending on how much data you want. Sprint and Verizon are usually the cheapest
  • Bundling – many of the carriers offer special deals if you get a bundle (i.e. multiple lines). So if you are travelling with some buddies, you should consider this option to save some money

As many of you will be bringing a smartphone with you, make sure this phone is unlocked. Also, do not forget to freeze/put on hold your current mobile plan back in Australia. Just call up your telephone provider to find out how to do this process. This way you aren't paying 2 set of mobile phone bills. In fact, dont forget to freeze other regular expenses that you will not need back home such as gym memberships too.