[alphaspiraton]

For those on this forum who do a lot of travelling from US/Canada to the rest of the world, say Eastern Europe, how do you gents carry your cash? I've read about the different options online such as debit card, traveller's cheques, credit card, etc., and I was wondering which is the best method.

[johnwu]

Bring some cash just in case, then just withdraw as needed from atms. You usually get the best exchange rate that way.

[Menace]

ATM Card. Get a Charles Schwab ATM Card and you will not be charged foreign ATM fees. Do they even make travelers checks anymore? Sometimes I exchange a little bit of cash at the airport so I have foreign currency right when I land (rip off but no big deal for small amount).

Call your credit card company before you leave and tell them the countries you will be in and the duration of your stay. That way they will not flag any cc purchases as fraud and disable your card.

[alphaspiraton]

(12-17-2013 10:16 PM)johnwu Wrote:  

Bring some cash just in case, then just withdraw as needed from atms. You usually get the best exchange rate that way.

Would you set up the debit through your home country or when you land? I'm not exactly sure that there will be many "TD Canada" banks around in EE.

[travolta]

cash in a money clip, credit cards in a wallet. How do you carry cash in the US?

[Tail Gunner]

If you are talking strictly cash, this is what I use for larger amounts. It attaches to your belt.

http://pacsafe.com/coversafe-125-secret-belt-wallet


Do not use a debit card in Latin America if it does not have a chip. There is too much card cloning there. No one really uses traveler's checks anymore.

[Menace]

(12-17-2013 10:23 PM)alphaspiraton Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 10:16 PM)johnwu Wrote:  

Bring some cash just in case, then just withdraw as needed from atms. You usually get the best exchange rate that way.

Would you set up the debit through your home country or when you land? I'm not exactly sure that there will be many "TD Canada" banks around in EE.

Your TD bank card will be able to get cash in foreign country as long as it's on the same network Cirrus, etc. Certainly no problem in any Euro country. I did have issues in Russia when I used Siberian Bank ATM's: no cash dispensed.

[johnwu]

(12-17-2013 10:23 PM)alphaspiraton Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 10:16 PM)johnwu Wrote:  

Bring some cash just in case, then just withdraw as needed from atms. You usually get the best exchange rate that way.

Would you set up the debit through your home country or when you land? I'm not exactly sure that there will be many "TD Canada" banks around in EE.

It doesn't matter, as long as your debit card is a mainstream card it can be used at most atms around the world. If the location you are going to could be classified as "4th world" then you might want to go all cash.

Call your bank just to be sure, and also to let them know not to freeze your account when they see activity for the period of time that you will be out of the country.

[Tail Gunner]

(12-17-2013 10:23 PM)Menace Wrote:  

Call your credit card company before you leave and tell them the countries you will be in and the duration of your stay. That way they will not flag any cc purchases as fraud and disable your card.

Definitely do this. But if you are relying mostly on credit cards, be sure to bring at least three. You can have problems with credit card use -- even if you alert the credit card company in advance. Here is an excellent article on the topic:

Quote:

Strategies And Caveats For Moving Money Around The World
April 16, 2012
Panama City, Panama

Living an international lifestyle used to be for the rich and famous only. Travel was expensive, but, more important, moving money around was also expensive…and complicated.

When I took my first trip to Europe more than 25 years ago, I didn’t have a credit card. Even if I’d had one, it wouldn’t have helped me much. Many places in Europe back then didn’t take credit cards. ATMs didn’t exist. You traveled with cash or traveler’s checks.

Traveling with cash is a risk. A friend took a month long trip to Europe with enough cash for the entire trip. On his first stop, in the U.K., he hooked up with some other travelers. At the second stop, they stole all his money and disappeared. That’s a true story from 20 years ago.

It’s a new world today. In today’s electronic age, you don’t even have to meet someone for him to steal all your money. He can do it long distance…electronically. I get scam e-mails every week from the high-jacked e-mail accounts of people I’ve corresponded with, saying that my friend or acquaintance has been robbed of everything, including his credit cards, in a foreign country, and the hotel won’t let him leave without paying. Can I send some money to help cover the hotel bill?

The scam must work because the e-mails keep coming. The reason it works is because, today, it’s much easier than ever in history to move money around the world. Today, we have Paypal, e-gold, Western Union, credit cards, and ATMs, all providing options for how to pay your bills and access cash while traveling or living around the world. Today, it’s almost impossible to cash a traveler’s check. They’re all but obsolete.

All these new, easy options for moving money around have created new issues and risks. One of the biggest is overzealous credit card fraud departments. Living overseas and using U.S. credit cards can be a big headache. Especially if you don’t use the cards regularly.

Credit card companies tell you to call them to let them know you’re going to be traveling. Take my word for it, that doesn’t work, not if you’re traveling abroad on vacation and especially not if you travel regularly or are living outside your home country. Credit card systems just aren’t built to deal with a perpetual traveler. At least one of our credit cards is cut off (“for our protection”) at least once a week.

To ensure you aren’t stranded somewhere unable to pay your hotel bill (like the imaginary person in the scam e-mails), you need to do the following…

First, have at least two and preferably three or four different credit cards active and with available credit lines. I’ve been shopping in a country where the first credit card I used was shut off after the first purchase, a second credit card was shut off after the next purchase and a third was shut off after a third purchase. That is, each of three cards was cut off after but one use apiece.

A couple of weeks ago in Colombia, one credit card I have worked once and then didn’t work the rest of the trip, despite calling the credit card issuer, as had been requested in the memo the merchants had received when I’d tried to use my card the second and subsequent times. The first time I called, the guy on the credit card’s side of the conversation told me that he couldn’t see anything in the system. No charge had been denied…because no charge had been submitted. Try again.

The next day, I tried again, this time in five different stores. Didn’t work anywhere, and, in every case, I got the same message: Call the credit card company.

This time, the person on the other end of the conversation seemed to have more of an idea what was going on. It seems that Visa is now requiring some new chip for their cards to work in Colombia. My card doesn’t have that chip. Bottom line, the guy was surprised my card had worked in the first store. That was a fluke, he told me. He was sorry he didn’t have better news, but I should forget about using that card in this country again anytime soon (until my bank complies with Visa’s new chip requirement)…

Which is why you need several credit cards. The more the merrier (although that brings up another issue that I’ll speak to in a moment).

In addition, you want to have at least two debit cards, which means having two bank accounts. Debit cards can get cut off as easily as credit cards, and do, so it’s safer to have two. The trouble is that most people (most Americans) have only one bank account.

Debit cards are also riskier than credit cards when it comes to cloning. I used one of mine last summer in Italy, and it was cloned. Whoever cloned it used it for several days in a row, taking cash out day after day before the bank suspected fraud and cut the card off. Fortunately, U.S. banks protect you from fraud, and my bank put the stolen cash back in my account once I completed some paperwork. Unfortunately, banks in other countries don’t. A friend had his Panamanian debit card cloned. Thousands of dollars were siphoned out of his account before the fraud was detected…and none of that money was ever recovered.

Which leads to another important piece of advice: Don’t keep a lot of money in any account for which you have a debit card. With all the options you have for moving money around online these days, set up a system to keep the bulk of your cash in an account with no debit card associated with it. Then move money from that account to others that you can access using debit cards as you need it.

Finally, make sure you have online access set up for every credit card and bank account you have. And link accounts for payments and transfers before you start traveling.

Some things you might want to do with your U.S. bank accounts (including something as simple as checking the account balances) aren’t possible from outside a U.S. IP address. That’s why something else you should think about doing before you start traveling (or move overseas) is to set up a VPN (virtual IP address…try http://www.usproxy.tv). The cost is about US$9 a month.

Then you can use the online access to check your accounts regularly. I check each account at least once a week. This is how I caught the fraud with my debit card. They cut the card off the same day I checked it, but they hadn’t contacted me yet. I was able to get them started on the reimbursement process immediately, before they’d even sent out the alert to me.

With several credit cards, debit cards, and eventually bank accounts around the world, you need to be organized. Online access to each of those accounts means user IDs and passwords for each one. You don’t want to use the same user ID or password for any of your accounts, but that means you need a system for keeping track of all this. Most straightforward is a password-protected spreadsheet.

Most important, probably, is to accept that, no matter how diversified and organized you are when it comes to this stuff, you’re still going to end up in situations when you won’t be able to use a credit card or a debit card, maybe more than one. When I was in Colombia a few weeks ago trying to pay for some mattresses, the credit card I wanted to use didn’t work. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with the fraud department for that card. I didn’t answer one of the questions correctly (because I got confused as to which credit card I was answering questions for), and they shut off the card immediately. Good thing that I had a couple of other options in my wallet.

http://www.offshorelivingletter.com/how-...-overseas/

[johnwu]

(12-17-2013 10:23 PM)alphaspiraton Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 10:16 PM)johnwu Wrote:  

Bring some cash just in case, then just withdraw as needed from atms. You usually get the best exchange rate that way.

Would you set up the debit through your home country or when you land? I'm not exactly sure that there will be many "TD Canada" banks around in EE.

In addition to the advice about what to bring yourself, make sure you have someone who can wire you cash if you end up losing everything.

[Antifeminist One]

Only two things I'll add..

If for whatever reason, you intend to spend a lot of money, make sure your bank might be able to give you a deal where you can minimise currency exchange fees. That shit can add up.

Word up your bank. For security reasons, some banks will automatically cancel your card if you access it in x countries in x period of time. This happened to me even after I spoke to my bank. Having more than one point of failure is better than getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with no phone or money.

[johnwu]

(12-17-2013 10:52 PM)Antifeminist One Wrote:  

Only two things I'll add..

If for whatever reason, you intend to spend a lot of money, make sure your bank might be able to give you a deal where you can minimise currency exchange fees. That shit can add up.

Word up your bank. For security reasons, some banks will automatically cancel your card if you access it in x countries in x period of time. This happened to me even after I spoke to my bank. Having more than one point of failure is better than getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with no phone or money.

No one on this forum is going to have their banks giving them a special deal on exchange rates.

Here is a link to cards that don't have any international exchange fee
http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credi...edit-card/

[Mentavious]

I get email notices for every charge or withdrawal that is over 50 dollars. If you check your email as much as I do (8-10 times a day) then you should catch it within 24 hours.

[Tail Gunner]

(12-17-2013 11:00 PM)CThunder86 Wrote:  

I get email notices for every charge or withdrawal that is over 50 dollars. If you check your email as much as I do (8-10 times a day) then you should catch it within 24 hours.

I am unfamiliar with that. Is that option available on most credit cards?

[Mentavious]

(12-17-2013 11:09 PM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 11:00 PM)CThunder86 Wrote:  

I get email notices for every charge or withdrawal that is over 50 dollars. If you check your email as much as I do (8-10 times a day) then you should catch it within 24 hours.

I am unfamiliar with that. Is that option available on most credit cards?

I've got it with all my banks. That includes CC that I received through them. I did it through online banking but I'm sure a teller/bank rep should be able to hook you up if you ask

[Sourcecode]

I budget.

Budapest for the weekend?
Google the exchange rate.
Take out 400 in the local currency.
pocket 200 for the day
leave the rest where im staying

i have 2 debits. one stay with me, the other with the cash.

[paninaro]

(12-17-2013 10:52 PM)Antifeminist One Wrote:  

Word up your bank. For security reasons, some banks will automatically cancel your card if you access it in x countries in x period of time. This happened to me even after I spoke to my bank. Having more than one point of failure is better than getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with no phone or money.

Yeah had a similar situation. Alerted my bank, but the card "security" is handled by Visa and they can't/don't notify them. So Visa fraud services leaves a voicemail for me about how I need to call back right away due to suspicious transaction in country X (which I had already informed my bank of). And of course they leave an 800# which you can't call easily from outside the US.

New tip I do from now on -- when alerting your bank, ask them for the local number of Visa (or whoever issues your ATM card) in the country you'll be in. Then if you trigger a fraud alert, you can call the local number easily.

[username]

(12-17-2013 10:23 PM)Menace Wrote:  

ATM Card. Get a Charles Schwab ATM Card and you will not be charged foreign ATM fees. Do they even make travelers checks anymore? Sometimes I exchange a little bit of cash at the airport so I have foreign currency right when I land (rip off but no big deal for small amount).

Exactly what I do. I have the same card and it's awesome that they refund the ATM fees.

[Clunge]

If you don't have a credit card/debit card with favourable terms for withdrawals then there are other options.

Many countries in Eastern Europe for example charge you very little money to exchange foreign currency, so what I do is take cash into the country and then change once I am there, otherwise i'm paying my bank not only a withdraw fee of about £3, but also a percentage of the amount, and the exchange rate they give.

Other options include prepaid cards, you can find sites where they do a comparison of all the prepaid cards so you can find out which ones are most favourable for the country you are going to and your spending habits.

Other "off the radar" options include gold/silver coins and trading bitcoin

[eradicator]

(12-17-2013 10:56 PM)johnwu Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 10:52 PM)Antifeminist One Wrote:  

Only two things I'll add..

If for whatever reason, you intend to spend a lot of money, make sure your bank might be able to give you a deal where you can minimise currency exchange fees. That shit can add up.

Word up your bank. For security reasons, some banks will automatically cancel your card if you access it in x countries in x period of time. This happened to me even after I spoke to my bank. Having more than one point of failure is better than getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with no phone or money.

No one on this forum is going to have their banks giving them a special deal on exchange rates.

Here is a link to cards that don't have any international exchange fee
http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credi...edit-card/

Do NOT get a capital one card under any circumstances. One of the provisions in their fine print when you sign up for a capital one card is that they will give your name, addy, phone, email and social security number to third party advertisers and will continue to do so even after you cancel their card. Capital One is the worst.

[big poppa]

(12-17-2013 11:19 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

I budget.

Budapest for the weekend?
Google the exchange rate.
Take out 400 in the local currency.
pocket 200 for the day
leave the rest where im staying

i have 2 debits. one stay with me, the other with the cash.

Agree

I spent 2 months in SE Asia and went over with roughly 800 in cash, 1 debit card and 1 credit card.

Credit card didn't leave the room, used it to book accomm only.

Bought enough cash for the day out with me, kept the rest at hotel. When I ran out I just made withdrawals of large amounts sporadically and kept most in the hotel room.

Maybe I was lucky but didn't have any issue with either card after I told my bank where I would be going.

[alphaspiraton]

(12-18-2013 05:54 AM)username Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 10:23 PM)Menace Wrote:  

ATM Card. Get a Charles Schwab ATM Card and you will not be charged foreign ATM fees. Do they even make travelers checks anymore? Sometimes I exchange a little bit of cash at the airport so I have foreign currency right when I land (rip off but no big deal for small amount).

Exactly what I do. I have the same card and it's awesome that they refund the ATM fees.

Awesome, thanks guys. I'll look into the process of getting it and get on it.

[Beyond Borders]

Another nice thing to get your hands on if you work online is a PayPal debit card.

Any time you're hard up for cash or just need some extra, all you have to do is grind out some work and you can put some extra dough in your hand almost immediately, without waiting for it to transfer to your bank account (assuming you've done the groundwork ahead of time so you can do this sort of thing). Preferably, you should have your shit together enough that you're never hard up for cash.

But for the rest of us...

...there's Paypal debit.

[birdrussell]

Credit and cash in my wallet, in my pocket with a button. Also my shirt hangs a little low.

last time I got beat out of my wallet it was in New Orleans and I had my wallet out. There was a front man asking for a couple of bucks and a snatch and grabber. The snatch got off with my wallet. I caught the front man as he was fleeing and beat him either to death or a state of crippled on a median on Rampart St.

Take the measures you can and if you ever catch someone trying to beat you out of what's your's then you beat them, with out mercy. It may change their life and prevent them from hurting others. Oh then I cancelled my credit cards.

[Mentavious]

(12-18-2013 05:54 AM)username Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 10:23 PM)Menace Wrote:  

ATM Card. Get a Charles Schwab ATM Card and you will not be charged foreign ATM fees. Do they even make travelers checks anymore? Sometimes I exchange a little bit of cash at the airport so I have foreign currency right when I land (rip off but no big deal for small amount).

Exactly what I do. I have the same card and it's awesome that they refund the ATM fees.

Which account are you using?

High Yield Investor account? Global account?