First girls holiday abroad.

[LittleEsme]

DD18 is off to Zante this weekend with 5 other girls. She's fairly sensible and not overly interested in drinking but her friends are and I'm stressing.

Amongst other things, they're all taking £1k in cash and DD has nowhere near that amount.

How much would you take for 1 week in Zante, self catering?

A grand in cash is just mental. Your daughter sounds sensible. Try not to worry. I would say £500 should cover it easily. But I would be taking some cash and the rest on a card like Revoult.

Jesus £1k each?! When I went, perhaps, 8 years ago I only needed £350! How much are they thinking of spending?
It's a relatively safe place OP. There's lots of police around guarding the strip and as long as your daughter is sensible, she will be fine

I used to take £400 for a week and that was 20/25 years ago. Don't underestimate how expensive it can be.

Surely teens aren't taking that much money in cash ? Barely anyone uses cash nowadays.

Thanks everyone. When I say 'cash', I just mean 'budget'. She's working on about £400 but maybe I'll tell her that there'll be emergency money if she runs out.

She knows she has to budget so I'll trust her to be careful.

2 of the girls have worked loads of hours in their part-time jobs so they have quite a bit saved up - they're big spenders on alcohol - I'm so worried.

If she has a bank card then she doesn’t need to have £1k with her. Try a pre loaded post office travel card. Then she can add more on if she banks online. I’d be more worried about spf.

Get her to open up a monzo or Starling account. That way she can just pay by debit card. Tell her to be sure to select "pay in local currency" when paying. Much safer. She defo won't £1k either!

Oh god don't get me started. They're all dark skinned and are already bronzed with fake tan and DD is a fair auburn head. I'm reading about the Greek heatwave and dreading her going. Aaaargghh.

Thanks everyone.
Re money, if she uses Apple Pay, is that as good as the Monzo thing?

I would have a word with her about safety at night - not drinking loads just because everyone else is, not going home with strangers etc. In a non lecturing way, if at all possible:) Maybe throw in a few horror stories you heard to give her a little scare! I'm just trying to think what would have worked for me as a not v sensible 18 year old. Oh and also, make sure she has v good SPF 50 which she tops up regularly - I am fair skinned and on a holiday during uni days, I used cheap stuff and got badly burned. Besides that, tell her to have a great time!!!:)

Just back from Laganas in Zante a couple of weeks ago and was taken aback by how expensive meals and food were. In the supermarkets a single banana costs 2-2.5 euros, a pack of feta 4-6 euros. There are a few cheaper sbackbar type places to eat but we didn't really pay less than £20 euros each for lunch and dinner. A sunbed with umbrella costs from 5-20 euros per day. Or if she wades around from main Laganas (assuming she's staying there) towards the island the two places there are cheaper and good.

Why are they taking cash at all 😵‍💫😵‍💫 what’s the benefit? Far easier to lose/steal surely.

She's going to have an amazing time, overall it felt safe and friendly with a big contingent of partying teens but older couples and families as well.

My DS 20 is in Cyprus currently and their room was robbed of all cash/cards etc on day 3 whilst they were out (after my warnings of don't take cash).

I'm convinced it was a hotel inside job as the reviews would suggest this isn't the first time something like this happened. This is a 4* all inclusive spa resort so not exactly a slum either.
Not worth the risk, use cards only and ensure they get a safe for passports etc.