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#52
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Beware - credit card rip-off
On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 06:37:12 +1000, Alan
wrote: On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 14:31:22 +0300, "Markku Grönroos" wrote: I am not a "regular". However, your claim is groundless. For instance I will use traveller's cheques on my holiday next May and June. My plastic cards are not backed up decently when they get lost. I do have them along with me though. As you said, paying is beneficial by credit cards. For instance in Mexico you need cash too. G'day Posting from r.t.a+nz. Hi there and thanks again to those who helped me plan my trip from r.t.e and r.t.u-c. Forget TCs. Use ATMs. I don't know where you travel to, but you'll find very few traders outside the major cities in Oz who want the hassle of a TC. I agree about an ATM being a better choice, but a TC isn't really any 'hassle'. They can pay it straight into their bank account, just the same as they would with any other type of cheque. On the occasions when I've done that the account has always been credited with the full face value of the TC, with no additional charges made. |
#53
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Left overs
On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 02:03:19 GMT, Miguel Cruz wrote:
Alan wrote: "Frank F. Matthews" wrote: Finally there are charities that are grateful for coins. the local charities in Pottsville Beach wouldn't get any benefit from coins they can't exchange. At many (most?) international airports there are receptables (often pretty small and hard to spot) put up by worthy local charities, precisely for depositing miscellaneous coins, which they somehow manage to turn into money. A lot of airlines now participate in UNICEF's "Change for Good" program. An envelope for donating your left over charge can usually be found in the aircraft seat pocket, which you hand it to the cabin crew. |
#54
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Left overs
Too late for you but three generic suggestions for reducing left over
currency. I was rather happy to find that some shops in airports can take their national currency and give you back change in another currency. I generally do not buy anything in airports, but last summer in Denmark we had some crowns left (one banknote), so I decided to buy some food. The cashier asked me whether I wanted change in crowns or euro, and I was obviously quite happy to take euro. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- is a newsreading account used by more persons to avoid unwanted spam. Any mail returning to this address will be rejected. Users can disclose their e-mail address in the article if they wish so. |
#55
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Left overs
Raffi Balmanoukian a wrote in message news:BCADEC6C.230AD%walkabout@TAKEOUTTHETRASHTORE PLY.ns.sympatico.ca...
If I have any intention of going back to a place (like Australia), I simply keep it - very useful for layovers and also in case the ATMs on arrival are down. Gets me into town via shuttle, etc. if necessary. Much better than taking a bath on the exchange. I try to save a representative banknote and coin of each country I visit. Never had a problem getting rid of excess at places like airports. In Vietnam, where the currency is nonconvertible, I happily take departing visitors' leftover VND off their any hands in exchange for any excess THB, HKD or SGD I might have accumulated, depending on their next destination. George W. Russell Hanoi |
#56
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Left overs
Frank F. Matthews wrote:
Alan wrote: snip Our biggest currency cost came when we arrived home and tried to convert the left-over cash in US$, euros, czech crowns, Swiss francs, Pounds Sterling and Singapore dollars back into AU$. That's when they hit us with fees, and refused to touch the coins at all. Doesn't sound like a lot, until you realise that a single 2 pound coin is AU$5. So I have about $150 in "souvenir change". Too late for you but three generic suggestions for reducing left over currency. First, if you are on a tour or boat where tipping is expected give the tip in your left over currency. Since guides move thru similar areas they can usually manage easily. Second, if you are interested on airline stuff they will manage a purchase in multiple currencies quite easily. Third, get new money using the left over cash from the last place. Usually it's easier there and you would be paying some fee to get money from a home account. Finally there are charities that are grateful for coins. FFM Use it to pay your final hotel bill. Hold back enough to get to the airport (if not pre-paid), then hand over the rest to the hotel clerk, and say you want to use that to pay your bill and then your credit card for the remaining balance. They see this a lot. -- Evelyn C. Leeper http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper Separate is not equal. The right time to do the right thing is always now. Those who say "wait" usually mean "never." --Bonnie Tinker and The Rev. Cecil Prescod |
#57
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Beware - credit card rip-off
Alan muttered....
Our biggest currency cost came when we arrived home and tried to convert the left-over cash in US$, euros, czech crowns, Swiss francs, Pounds Sterling and Singapore dollars back into AU$. That's when they hit us with fees, and refused to touch the coins at all. Doesn't sound like a lot, until you realise that a single 2 pound coin is AU$5. So I have about $150 in "souvenir change". Your tale reminded me of an annual event at our oldest daughter's elementary school's "May Fete" back in the mid70s. One of the booths, always manned by a couple of us who were frequent travelers and preferred it to "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" or the "Ducking Booth" was the "Foreign Money Store". Several weekes before the May Fete, the school would send homea note with each child soliciting contributions of foreign coins (or currency) brought home unused from trips (especially in UK coinage). Amazing amounts would be brought in by little nippers whose parents were travelers and supportive of an easy, painless fund-raiser. Come May Fete day, I'd take off at Noon and join a friend to separate and count the take. We'd chalk our version of acceptable conversion rates for each major country's cash for prospective buyers on a chalkboard beside the booth (and note possession of strange money to be bargained for). Then at the opening bell, we would be busy for an hour of two with folks planning foreign vacations or business travel. With the entire take going to the school, we could be generous, however there always arguments over what to do with old devalued coins and currency and the occasional contribution in Occupation Marks or Yen. Something interesting like a Maria Theresa thaler would always show up, and a couple of coin collectors would always show up to paw through the remains. Any unsaleable "leftovers" could be saved for future years, and the strange, unsaleable coins - often those big iron Chinese sort with the square holes - could go to classroom use. The booth always made "big" money for the school, when compared to more fun-oriented activities. Even today, such a scheme might work at a Charity Fair, although those Uropeens have certainly spoiled the broth, leaving all those assorted old coins and nowhere to spend'em. TMO |
#58
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Left overs
-- "Evelyn C. Leeper" wrote in message .net... Frank F. Matthews wrote: Alan wrote: snip Our biggest currency cost came when we arrived home and tried to convert the left-over cash in US$, euros, czech crowns, Swiss francs, Pounds Sterling and Singapore dollars back into AU$. That's when they hit us with fees, and refused to touch the coins at all. Doesn't sound like a lot, until you realise that a single 2 pound coin is AU$5. So I have about $150 in "souvenir change". Too late for you but three generic suggestions for reducing left over currency. First, if you are on a tour or boat where tipping is expected give the tip in your left over currency. Since guides move thru similar areas they can usually manage easily. Second, if you are interested on airline stuff they will manage a purchase in multiple currencies quite easily. Third, get new money using the left over cash from the last place. Usually it's easier there and you would be paying some fee to get money from a home account. Finally there are charities that are grateful for coins. FFM Use it to pay your final hotel bill. Hold back enough to get to the airport (if not pre-paid), then hand over the rest to the hotel clerk, and say you want to use that to pay your bill and then your credit card for the remaining balance. They see this a lot. -- Evelyn C. Leeper http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper Separate is not equal. The right time to do the right thing is always now. Those who say "wait" usually mean "never." --Bonnie Tinker and The Rev. Cecil Prescod Use it in Airport duty frees, you can pay for single transactions with multiple currencies. then make up any difference with your cc- well thats what I do. Jan |
#59
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Beware - credit card rip-off
"Alan" wrote in message ... No cost is not correct. ATMs, security and bank softwares, machines to do transmission of data, lease lines, networks..... All that's built into the cost of credit card processing which is charged to the retailer and is incurred even when there is no currency conversion. How do you think these costs are met when people buy stuff in their own currency? The retailer typically pays around 2% of credit card receipts. The DCC markup is *on top* of all that. -- Andy |
#60
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Beware - credit card rip-off
On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 08:23:45 -0500, Olivers
wrote: Alan muttered.... Our biggest currency cost came when we arrived home and tried to convert the left-over cash in US$, euros, czech crowns, Swiss francs, Pounds Sterling and Singapore dollars back into AU$. That's when they hit us with fees, and refused to touch the coins at all. Doesn't sound like a lot, until you realise that a single 2 pound coin is AU$5. So I have about $150 in "souvenir change". Your tale reminded me of an annual event at our oldest daughter's elementary school's "May Fete" back in the mid70s. One of the booths, always manned by a couple of us who were frequent travelers and preferred it to "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" or the "Ducking Booth" was the "Foreign Money Store". Several weekes before the May Fete, the school would send homea note with each child soliciting contributions of foreign coins (or currency) brought home unused from trips (especially in UK coinage). Amazing amounts would be brought in by little nippers whose parents were travelers and supportive of an easy, painless fund-raiser. Come May Fete day, I'd take off at Noon and join a friend to separate and count the take. We'd chalk our version of acceptable conversion rates for each major country's cash for prospective buyers on a chalkboard beside the booth (and note possession of strange money to be bargained for). Then at the opening bell, we would be busy for an hour of two with folks planning foreign vacations or business travel. With the entire take going to the school, we could be generous, however there always arguments over what to do with old devalued coins and currency and the occasional contribution in Occupation Marks or Yen. Something interesting like a Maria Theresa thaler would always show up, and a couple of coin collectors would always show up to paw through the remains. Any unsaleable "leftovers" could be saved for future years, and the strange, unsaleable coins - often those big iron Chinese sort with the square holes - could go to classroom use. The booth always made "big" money for the school, when compared to more fun-oriented activities. Even today, such a scheme might work at a Charity Fair, although those Uropeens have certainly spoiled the broth, leaving all those assorted old coins and nowhere to spend'em. TMO Sounds like a great idea. Not sure how well it would work in our little village though. We don't tend to be frequent overseas travellers here, being such a long way from the rest of you. Bearing in mind that I got my coins from my one-and-only trip-of-a-lifetime, and few of my friends have travelled further than Bali, Noumea, Nadi or Auckland. In fact, most have never been overseas. But a good idea, worth pursuing. Cheers, Alan -- |
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