Credit Cards for Studying in France

Hello! It's Yoko, a food blogger who struggled with high food costs while studying in France, where everything is expensive.

Eating out in France is expensive (T_T) so after several months there, you really do spend a lot of money...

If you're thinking about studying in France, I recommend taking a few credit cards with you.

That's because paying by credit card is the norm in France, and carrying a lot of cash is dangerous!

Plus, with a card you can earn points.

But many people have never made a credit card, or don't use theirs much.

So in this article I'll share which cards I took to France and how I'd recommend using them.

Carrying lots of cash makes you an easy target!

While I studied in France, I never carried more than €20 in cash.

People say Japan is the safest country in the world, and France, like most countries abroad, is generally less safe than Japan.

In Paris especially, pickpocketing on the metro is rampant, and near tourist spots there are kids who pretend to be collecting signatures for some mysterious petition,

surrounding you in a group and lifting your wallet from behind while you sign.

That's why French people don't carry cash. Except at markets, you can pay for everything by card, even train tickets.

Even when you split a bill at a restaurant, each person can enter their own share and pay, so there are hardly any times you need cash.

Recommended credit cards for studying in France

I recommend taking several cards like these.

Credit card	Annual fee	How to use it
Rakuten Card	Free	A second main card for when the SPG Amex isn't accepted.
Epos Card	Free	No annual fee, yet it includes ¥20 million of liability insurance.
Booking.com Card	Free	Gets you Genius membership and a ¥3,000 cashback.
Manepa Card	Free	A credit card with a cash withdrawal (cashing) function at ATMs.
SPG Amex Card	¥31,000 + tax	Used as my main card.

The one I mainly used in France was the SPG Amex! I recommend it to anyone collecting ANA miles. I'm an ANA miles collector too, so I use it all the time.

The SPG Amex has a high ANA mile return rate of 1.25% (up to 7.7%).

The annual fee is high, but from the second year on you get a free hotel night every year, which is handy for an annual trip.

I racked up so many miles with this card that I paid for my flights to France with the miles I'd earned on the SPG.

At shops that don't take Amex, I used the Rakuten Card. Its ANA mile return rate is only 0.5%, but Rakuten points can be used at places like McDonald's, and there's always a sign-up campaign worth ¥5,000 or more.

If you want airport lounge access, the Rakuten Premium Card is also good, though it has an annual fee.

I barely used the Manepa Card as a credit card and mainly used it to withdraw cash.

Incidentally, JCB has the best conversion rate among the international brands, at 1.60%. If you don't care about miles or points and just want card payments to be as cheap as possible, JCB is the one to pick.

Cover your overseas travel insurance with several credit cards!

If you're going to study in France, you're naturally thinking about overseas travel insurance in case of accidents or illness.

But I got by on the travel insurance that comes with my credit cards, so I went to France without buying a policy!

If you pay for your plane ticket to France and your local transportation with the card, you don't need to apply for separate overseas travel insurance.

With the Rakuten Card, the condition is that you pay before leaving Japan, and you get three months of coverage.

With the SPG Amex, payments made locally count too, with coverage for 90 days from the payment date, so those two cards got me through (lol).

For cash, just use a card cash advance!

You can get cash by exchanging currency or wiring money to a bank, but a card cash advance has the lowest fees, and you don't have to carry Japanese yen around, so it's safer.

In fact, the only times I needed cash while studying in France were "the market," "rent in Paris (handed to a private person)" and "small restaurants."

I probably didn't even use ¥100,000 worth...?

When you use an ATM, watch your surroundings so nobody sees your PIN from behind. Also, it will probably give you €20 notes in most cases.

When I withdrew €700 for rent, 35 banknotes came out and I panicked (lol).

It's dangerous to walk around town like that, so when you withdraw a large amount, plan to go straight home!!

How to manage your credit cards

When you're in France, stay alert.

If you can, don't carry a wallet!

If you're studying in France, and especially if you're going to Paris, I recommend not carrying a wallet if you can.

I know I'm repeating myself, but carrying cash is dangerous.

I put a few credit cards and €10 directly into the inside pocket of a crossbody bag I bought at Galeries Lafayette in Tours.

And I always kept a hand on top of the bag.

With a wallet, it's over once a hand gets into your bag, but with credit cards, it ends there if the thief doesn't know your PIN.

Take proper precautions against pickpockets.

Write down emergency contacts, just in case

In case I was ever pickpocketed, I noted each card company's emergency contact on my phone and in the cloud.

If you don't prepare for what you'd do if it actually happens, your first response will be slow when something does happen.

Note down each card's number and password, and a number that connects from overseas.

Don't carry a copy of your passport together with your credit cards!

Hands up if your PIN is your birthday! Yes, that's very dangerous!

Don't carry a copy of your passport with your credit cards. Absolutely not.

There's a risk someone could guess your card PIN from your date of birth.

Change to a PIN that's hard to guess, and don't reuse the same one across several cards.

So that was a rundown of the credit cards you really need when studying in France.

Keep them safe and use them wisely!

Summary: Recommended credit cards for studying in France

Here are the credit cards covered in this article.

Credit card	Annual fee	How to use it
Rakuten Card	Free	A second main card for when the SPG Amex isn't accepted.
Booking.com Card	Free	Gets you Genius membership and a ¥3,000 cashback.
Epos Card	Free	A card with no annual fee that includes ¥20 million of liability insurance.
Manepa Card	Free	A credit card with a cash withdrawal (cashing) function at ATMs.
SPG Amex Card	¥31,000 + tax	Used as my main card.