Beware - credit card rip-off

"Padraig Breathnach" wrote in message
...
simon wrote:

I assume from your response that it's not worth bothering with
travellers cheques?

I know this is crossposted to other groups, but I think I can safely
say that the travellers' cheques question is just about the only thing
that regulars in rec.travel.europe agree on: they are not worth the
hassle. Use credit cards and ATMs for the best deals. We need now to

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.

Padraig Breathnach wrote:

simon wrote:


I assume from your response that it's not worth bothering with
travellers cheques?


I know this is crossposted to other groups, but I think I can safely
say that the travellers' cheques question is just about the only thing
that regulars in rec.travel.europe agree on: they are not worth the
hassle. Use credit cards and ATMs for the best deals. We need now to
add the proviso that you watch which currency your CC transaction is
denominated in.

In any case, be sure to have some extra cash or TCs for if/when the ATM
network fails. (We had problems in Turkey--bad phone lines--and in
Sweden--general ATM failure.)

--
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

"Alec" wrote in message
...

Use credit card for purchases. DCC is in use at some Australian terminals
so
it may be worth insisting before your card is swiped that you want to be
billed in Aus$. Or you can just pay cash.

As I understand it, the rip-off comes in converting foreign currency to
Aus$. So you want the charge slip to show the local currency.

I went to England cold turkey (without traveler's checks) for the first time
last year. No problem, just hit the ATM in Heathrow. In case of emergency, I
have a pin number for getting cash from my credit cards. If the whole
electronic banking system breaks down, I doubt I'd have enough in traveler's
checks to cover. So maybe just get a little extra from your first ATM and
secrete it away for temporary emergencies.

Marianne

Miguel Cruz wrote:

Bizarrely, I still see huge clumps of people at exchange booths in airports
everywhere - even Americans in the DEPARTURE section of US airports, where
it makes the least sense -

In what way- the cost? Practically, it's where people tend to have the
spare time, waiting around- thinking about the trip, and what they're
going to do for currency, etc. On the very few occasions I've exchanged
money, it's been at the airport, usually just a small amount for a taxi
or something at the other end.

David

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

David Horne wrote:
Miguel Cruz wrote:
Bizarrely, I still see huge clumps of people at exchange booths in airports
everywhere - even Americans in the DEPARTURE section of US airports, where
it makes the least sense -

In what way- the cost? Practically, it's where people tend to have the
spare time, waiting around- thinking about the trip, and what they're
going to do for currency, etc. On the very few occasions I've exchanged
money, it's been at the airport, usually just a small amount for a taxi
or something at the other end.

Cost, of course, is the big one, especially given the extreme
non-competitiveness of US airport currency exchange booths.

There's also time. I guess it's fun for some, but I'd rather spend the time
wandering around than standing in line - when I know it'll only be a minute
or two at the ATM on the other end. In many airports there are ATMs in the
baggage collection area so if you've checked a bag you can get money in the
true dead time while waiting for your bag.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu

In rec.travel.europe Miguel Cruz wrote:
everywhere - even Americans in the DEPARTURE section of US airports, where
it makes the least sense -

In what way- the cost? Practically, it's where people tend to have the
spare time, waiting around- thinking about the trip, and what they're
going to do for currency, etc. On the very few occasions I've exchanged
money, it's been at the airport, usually just a small amount for a taxi
or something at the other end.

Cost, of course, is the big one, especially given the extreme
non-competitiveness of US airport currency exchange booths.

There's also time. I guess it's fun for some, but I'd rather spend the time
wandering around than standing in line - when I know it'll only be a minute
or two at the ATM on the other end. In many airports there are ATMs in the
baggage collection area so if you've checked a bag you can get money in the
true dead time while waiting for your bag.

A few years ago I had to go to Munich at the last minute, because my daughter
was in the hospital (appendicitis). When I arrived in the Munich airport,
ALL the ATMs were down. Network was down. It was fairly brief, by the time
I tried again in the Hauptbahnhof it was up again, and the same ATMs worked
fine on another trip. AT that time I also had travelers' checks.

I don't carry TC any more, but I always get $50 or so in the local currency
not a lot, but enough if this happens again.

Julie
--
Julie
**********
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

Miguel Cruz wrote:

Cost, of course, is the big one, especially given the extreme
non-competitiveness of US airport currency exchange booths.

There's also time. I guess it's fun for some, but I'd rather spend the time
wandering around than standing in line

Departure halls look very similar after a while. It's still dead time,
and there frequently isn't a line. I haven't experienced any anyway, and
if there was a big line, I probably wouldn't bother.

- when I know it'll only be a minute
or two at the ATM on the other end.

Oh, I don't know that at all. It's not uncommon at UK airports to have
lines, and for our great machines to be out of service. Relatively rare,
true, but it happens. Last time I arrived at Bergen, Norway, not a
single machine was working. On the return flight- no problem. In most of
those cases, I already had cash, and just wanted some more, but it's
happened enough that- if I want a quick getaway at the other end- I make
sure I have local currency when I arrive. Before the flight, I'm more
likely to be refreshed than after it, though it depends on the flight.
It also really varies by airport- getting to some ATMs can entail a bit
of a detour- everything is getting better, not worse, however.

In many airports there are ATMs in the
baggage collection area so if you've checked a bag you can get money in the
true dead time while waiting for your bag.

And when I know the airport already, or can find out online, I usually
wait until then.

David

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

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.

Last Year I went 'round the world for nearly six months - US, USVI,
Puerto Rico, all the EU (euro) countries, Czech, Switzerland, UK,
Singapore. I carried a Visa and Bank Debit card in my wallet, and a
Mastercard in my "secret wallet" with my passport. My wife carried her
MC in her purse, and the Visa in her "secret wallet". The logic was that
if one of us had something stolen, we always had a back-up. It proved
valuable when a bank error back in Oz put a freeze on the MC for two
weeks; we were able to use the Visa in the interim until it was
corrected. Things could have become very embarassing without that.

We used the bank debit card to withdraw a few hundred dollars or
equivalent from ATMs in each new "currency change" country but used the
Mastercard or Visa for all our purchases whenever possible. I think the
only time we had any difficulty was finding an ATM in Czech near Tabor;
we did eventually.

Just make sure it's a debit card recognised in your country of travel.
Ours was the Oz NAB. Also ignore balance statements on your receipt -
they aren't designed to handle the currency conversion. And although you
could use your credit cards to withdraw at the ATM, the debit card
ensures that you don't get slugged with interest charges.

When I got home and checked the records, the average combined extra
charges from the CCs/banks converting it all back to Oz dollars was
rarely worse than 1.5 % on the best www.xe.com rate on the day. This new
nonsense wasn't happening then.

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".

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Alan
--

"Alan" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 14:31:22 +0300, "Markku Grönroos"

Forget TCs.

No, I don't do so.

Alan wrote:

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".

That seems like enough to justify planning another trip.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED