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advice on travellers money

  • 18-06-2011 8:04pm
    #1
    Aishae
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,800 ✭✭✭


    hi, im going to central america later in the year and have a question regarding money safety.
    ive travelled before (new zealand) - but things have changed. i realise i was lucky nothing happened to my money then! (as i had cash only)

    im going for 2 and a half months starting in mexico and flying home from panama <- so there's a need for several currencies.

    all of the advice tells y ou not to carry large amounts of cash and bring an atm card. but the advice is a bit conflicting as it also tells you that you may only find atm's that will accept your card in the more touristy/builty up areas. so you DO need to carry cash. and always have some US dollars on you.

    so my question is - what do others usually do? a lot of cash would be bulky so theres a limit as to how much you can carry under your shirt and for personal safety you need backups.


Comments

  • #2
    blorg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,995 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    €50/$100 notes are not bulky, even if you are carrying thousands. Having said that I have only carried it all on cash to countries that are completely cut off from the international financial system (eg Iran.) Note Iran is a very safe country with extremely low crime levels... I would not be comfortable carrying thousands in cash around Central America.

    Elsewhere you can find an ATM; sometimes five don't work but the sixth one does. My experience is with the middle of nowhere in India/Nepal but I doubt it is radically more difficult to find a working ATM in Central America. Look for the Visa/Cirrus logos.

    I then take it out of the ATM to cover periods where I might not see another... maybe two weeks worth at a time.

    Places that are not touristy enough to have ATMs accepting international bank cards tend to be pretty cheap in my experience, so you don't have to carry that much in the first place.

    Bring at least two cards (eg debit and credit) - sometimes one will work but not the other, even if they are from the same bank. AIB has recently applied a ridiculously low €100/day limit on its Cirrus cards so don't rely on that alone if you are unfortunate enough to bank with them.

    Store the cards in two different places, do the same with your emergency cash. I imagine US dollars will be easier to change where you are going but you will lose out buying them in Ireland... Euros will probably do for emergency cash if you plan on using the ATMs to get local currency.


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