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| Thread ID: 84281 | 2007-10-31 06:12:00 | Taking money overseas when travelling | somebody (208) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 606833 | 2007-10-31 18:32:00 | Travellers cheques always did it for me. And a helpful hint is to email yourself at your Gmail address the cheque numbers, in case of loss. Travellers cheques are a good idea, in US dollars. But they may be difficult to use in 3rd world countries. Currency from major countries will be easier to exchange than travellers cheques but currency can be stolen. Using GMail to store important data is also good. Scan air tickets, passport, etc, and put it on GMail. 'somebody', take photocopies of all important items and put them in various places in case one piece of luggage goes astray. |
Morpheus1 (186) | ||
| 606834 | 2007-10-31 18:53:00 | Thanks everyone. I'll probably carry a small amount of cash in NZ$ as a backup - there won't be any issues getting it changed at the airport. CYaBro - I'll have a look at that Cash Passport thing - looks quite good. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 606835 | 2007-10-31 20:13:00 | Be careful using CC in Asia. Local merchants have exhorbitant fees. Travellers cheques a nuisance. You must have your passport with you and show it in most places before they will cash the cheque. My way is to buy the currency you need from your bank here in NZ. I usualy get US$. They are accepted everywhere. Costs are reasonable, and much cheaper than overseas. Always take a small ammount of the local currency with you. To pay taxi fare from airport. You can get this from the airport here. Taxi drivers have an aversion to foreign currency and they have very funny exchange rates. And if you are going to worry about carrying large ammount of cash. Don't go! |
JJJJJ (528) | ||
| 606836 | 2007-10-31 20:30:00 | Visitors arrived last night just as I was posting. The example was from my daughter's ASB account. By not organizing a UK account before leaving here she has paid out a small fortune in ATM fees. $5 each time she withdrew. She finally sorted a UK account a week ago and transferred her remaining money to it (and I can no longer track her spending!) We've had a couple of trips to Bali. Took Visa and cash in $NZ100 notes. Not a lot of ATM machines there but a lot of money changers (TIP: If seeing money changers work out in advance how much you expect, which notes are which, and be the last person to count and touch the money. Changing $100 at a time is easy on the maths). Used visa for hotels and meals, cash for spending. We also took our cashflow card as backup but didn't use it. The hotels had safes in the rooms and we used them. If you are going to use Visa to withdraw cash put the account in credit before you go. Expensive otherwise. Photocopy all relevant documents - passport, tickets, travel insurance, visa cards, drivers license etc. Write down travellers cheque numbers. Take a copy and leave one at home with a (trusted) friend. Also post to your self on email. We met a well travelled couple in Spain many years ago. They had been on a bus when some local gangsters held them up. Ripped the guys shirt open and grabbed his travel wallet from round his neck. They also pinched his wife's external waist bag. The couple weren't actually all that fussed about it. All the robbers got was a bit of spending money, a lipstick and a comb. The major stuff was in internal waist belts that they missed and hotel safes. If anything the couple were quite pleased with themselves. Their preparations had worked and it was an experience to remember. Also don't forget stopovers. 4 hours in Brisbane coming back from Bali involved a coffee at the airport. The cafe took a $NZ20 and gave us change in Aussie dollars. Basically plan for the best but prepare for the worst and have a good time. |
Mercury (1316) | ||
| 606837 | 2007-10-31 20:44:00 | Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I've had a look at various fees, and it seems like the Cash Passport is not a good idea - currency conversion rates between 4-7%, plus transaction fees. My National Bank Visa card charges 2.5% currency conversion, plus $7.50 transaction fee, which is much more reasonable. What I'll probably do is carry a couple of hundred dollars in NZ$, and use my Visa to withdraw cash in local currency when I get to the airport. I'm going to go and talk to the bank today, just to make sure there aren't any hidden fees etc. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 606838 | 2007-10-31 22:18:00 | DEFINATELY organise a 2nd credit/ATM card to take with you. I worked in ATM support for a few years. The number of people (tourists) who had thier card eaten by ATM machines while in NZ was scary. The big banks can usually organise a replacement card within 24 hours, but at least you're covered while waiting. cheers... |
tingle (6539) | ||
| 606839 | 2007-11-01 00:28:00 | One other thing to bear in mind. When we were in Central Europe last year, the cash we had with us ended up being spent about a third of the way through the trip (which was what we were expecting, so no drama). However when we tried to withdraw largish amounts (a thousand Euros at a time) via an ATM with our Visa, we forgot to take into account the exchange rate (1 Euros around NZ$2) and the NZ bank withdrawal limit (NZ$1000 per day). So we had to withdraw smaller amounts more often - more fees!! | johcar (6283) | ||
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