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#51
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Beware - credit card rip-off
On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 08:24:29 +0800, "Alan"
wrote: If you want to cash out on an ATM in a foreign country, it is advisable to use a ATM that is outside the bank. Not at shopping malls, maybe not even the airport or those independent ATMs. If your card got stuck in the machine, you may waste lots of time to trace the bank to get back the card. Good advice. Just dropping in to show that there's two of us :-) Where's com.my? Malaysia? Cheers, Alan -- |
#53
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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. |
#54
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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 $150 in "souvenir change". Too late for you but three generic suggestions for reducing left over currency. First, if you are on a tour or boat where tipping is expected give the tip in your left over currency. Since guides move thru similar areas they can usually manage easily. Second, if you are interested on airline stuff they will manage a purchase in multiple currencies quite easily. Third, get new money using the left over cash from the last place. Usually it's easier there and you would be paying some fee to get money from a home account. Finally there are charities that are grateful for coins. FFM Use it to pay your final hotel bill. Hold back enough to get to the airport (if not pre-paid), then hand over the rest to the hotel clerk, and say you want to use that to pay your bill and then your credit card for the remaining balance. They see this a lot. -- Evelyn C. Leeper http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper Separate is not equal. The right time to do the right thing is always now. Those who say "wait" usually mean "never." --Bonnie Tinker and The Rev. Cecil Prescod |
#55
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Beware - credit card rip-off
Alan muttered....
Our biggest currency cost came when we arrived home and tried to convert the left-over cash in US$, 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 |
#56
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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 |
#57
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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 |
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