As I said, your work is cut out for you, so you might want to think about studying up.

Or not. In the end, none of it really matters--you can take advances on your credit cards and pay the fees, if that's what you want, or carry however many thousands of dollars you please in cash. People do that. I've done that. You can even phone home and have someone send money by wire or Western Union. But there are reasons almost all of us choose otherwise.

That's probably all I've got on offer. Enjoy your trip.

Mark

I took a swag of USD, hidden around the bike and clothing, for my recent trip through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. I also carried a credit card and a debit card.

I used the cash for day-to-day stuff like borders, fuel, food and s, and the card to pay for the larger one-off costs like hotels.

It worked perfectly. Although, I did lock-up the bulk of the cash every night in a hotel/motel/pension safe!

I found the exchange guys that hang around borders offered a decent rate and alot less hassle than banks.

I think credit/debit card charges depend on a number of variables - your bank, card type, type of account, etc. My credit card was cheap to use - 2% on foreign purchases (incl. cash advances), no ATM fees (unless the foreign ATM charged) and the wholesale rate of exchange. On the very rare occasion I withdrew cash from an ATM I was sure to withdraw from my deposit account, otherwise it's treated as a cash advance accruing interest immediately at a high rate.

Beware of dynamic currency conversion if you use a card. Always make the purchase in the local currency, google it.

I thought about a pre-paid card, but my credit card was a cheaper option.

Have a great trip.

Thanks Kalahari,

This is the kind of info i was looking for. I did think of a prepaid credit card that would be the same as cash. American Express has a new one called "Serve" that has no extra fees except a $2.00 ATM fee which isn't bad. Also, it can be instantly loaded online daily from your checking account for no fees.

I found the exchange rates to load a pre-paid card were terrible, much worse than my credit card, and like you said, they need to be topped-up. Too much maintenance for me.

But, they're good if you want to lock-in an exchange rate.

I've read warnings about the exchange guys at borders. I found them invaluable, and their rates weren't too different to the bank rate. They saved me alot of hassle, for a small price.

Kalahari,

The American Express Serve card is a perpetual card and you just load it from your US bank account when you need the money from your online account with your laptop or even a smartphone. Again, no charge. You don't need to load it that often if you start out with a couple thousand on the card. I would probably choose to keep less on it and load more often just in case it gets lost or stolen. Then you just use the card anywhere that takes cards. Also, Amex does not haircut whatever the international exchange rate is that day to convert the purchase to the local currency from US dollars. I realize it does not entirely replace cash in the local currency, but it will allow one to carry less cash. Just a thought.

Worth taking a Visa and a Mastercard if you can. Some places only accept one or the other.

In Argentina you would be "crazy" to use any official means of getting pesos simply because the black market rates give you 70% to 100% (and rising) more pesos for the dollar.

Not much point if you are travelling very light, but assuming you need to finance several weeks in Argentina it would be worthwhile looking into the Blue Dollar.

DolarBlue facebook page https://www.facebook.com/dolarblue is very active and there are plenty of people arranging meetings to swap clean large-denomination dollars into pesos. Exchange rate recently got up to double the official ATM/bank rate. Currently around 9:1 vs official rate of 5.5:1.

see DolarBlue.net - precio diario del Dolar Paralelo en Argentina for "official" exchange rates.

As others have said - swapping unused pesos back to the dollar can only be done if you have an ATM or bank receipt for the original swap, or you can swap them at the blue rate++.

__________________
Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map

For what it's worth here are general rules I have followed all over the world, with very high degrees of success.

1) I bring a mix of payment options. I always have at least one Visa, one MC, and one Amex card. I have a debit card (sometimes 2 - Visa and MC) Depending on the length of my trip I may have a few hundred to a few thousand in USD.

2) I use my credit cards wherever and whenever I can for a few reasons :
a. There are always cards available that charge no FX fees, like Chase Sapphire, Capital One cards, ect.
b. I get ~30 days of free float on the card and the OPTION to not pay it all off if something is to happen (if I pay in cash, both of these are off of the table)
c. Fraud protection. Debit cards with Visa/MC do offer protection, same as the credit card, but with debit, the money is already gone from the account, with CC, I can easily get the charge reversed before money has ever left my account
d. Frequent Flyer points can be earned so that I can continue to travel :-)

3) Research FX rates often and make sure you know what constitutes a good vs. bad deal and if a country has a govt rate vs. a black market rate. If you are armed with the right knowledge, you have a lot more bargaining power.

4) Utilize a credit union that will offer out of network ATM usage with no fees. This will save you a few hundred dollars on a long trip through multiple countries.

5) Use cash as a last resort or if you can get a significantly better price.


Hope that helps!

I would have though that everyone would know this...

AI assume by now the original poster has left for his trip, but still wanted to share a few thought gained from the road.

1. Exchange small amounts at the border. In any case, only exchange enough money at the border to the pay processing fees and have a little more left over for gas and food. There is almost certainly an ATM in the town ahead. PS: If you want to sound like a seasoned traveler, call it the "frontier."
2. Add a currency conversion app to your smart phone and learn how to use it before you hit the road. I travel with my iPhone even though I don't use the telephone system. I use it for lots of other things and on a daily basis I use 'Currency', that's the name of the free iPhone app. Something comparable must be available for Android. With a currency conversion app and a little street toughness, you will know roughly the right amount you should be getting when exchange money on the street or from one of the cambio hustlers. Some guys will try to give you a bad rate. Surprisingly you can just shake your head and propose a more reasonable rate. Often it works. When they refuse to provide reasonable exchange rate I walk away. Typically there is more than one cambio guy working a given frontier.
3. Carry multiple debt and credit cards. On my last trip I had debts cards from three banks and three or four different credit cards. On Costa Rica a Bank of America ATM refused my Bank of America debt card. Yeah it pissed me off to have to use a Chase Bank ATM card instead... Even though I contacted each of my credit card companies and registered my travel dates and countries, one of the credit card companies or banks (can’t remember which) kept putting daily limits because my usage pattern different. Duh. While I was getting the security department straightened out I was using an alternate card.
4. If you are planning to riding through Mexico, and assuming you are from the US, open a Bank of America account before you leave home. While in Mexico you can withdraw pesos from Santander Bank with zero fees. It like you are back home, but instead of withdrawing green backs, you get pesos. I looked into opening accounts with Chase, HSBC and Scotia, but they all have fees for ATM withdraws at foreign branches. Only B of A and Santander are truly partners, offering ATM withdraws without fee.
5. Like others have posted, manage your money. Don't exchange too much or too little. Too much means you have "foreign" currency left over. As you leave a country you can exchange at a cambio booth or on the street, either way you will losing a little in the transaction. They are exchanging as a business, not as a social service. When I had way too much local currency as I was getting close to the border I stock up on food, gas and gifts, saving a little to exchange for the border fees and pocket money in the next country.
6. Take care of your folding money. I have had hotels refuse bills that were torn, had writing or stamps on them. In Cuba the bank charged a commission of torn bills and Western Union would not exchange them at all. Buy a small change purse for coins. Keeping all the coins in one place will assist paying with exact change. If you actively pay with coins you won't have piles of them in each pocket and hidden place, only to be found two countries away.
7. When you are two countries away, most cambios won't exchange the currency from a distant country. Example, you will have difficult exchanging Mexican pesos in Honduras. My local bank exchanged small stack of bills from multiple countries in Central America, but the rate wasn't very good. After the trip was over, recovering funds by exchanging foreign currency was basically a salvage operation.
8. In Mexico you have to pay cash for gas. Someone may know of an exception, but I never once saw different. That said, if and when you can pay with a credit card (one w/o FX) then do so. Save your cash for when you need it. I was able to negotiate a lower rate for a family run B&B in San Salvador by paying cash...and not using the AC.
9. Cash advances using a credit card is for suckers, the transaction fees will kill you. Two trips through Latin America, combined length 13 months, 21 countries, ~44,500 miles -- zero cash advances with a credit card.
10. Traveler’s checks are a pain to cash in Latin America. I took them with me in on a trip in 2008-09, never again. Large banks will take them, sometimes the process is quick, and sometimes it sucks up way too much time.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Hope someone benefits from the tips above and from the other members.

__________________
Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Us cache is allways good and will be accepted in ecuador and most of the other countrys but you can also withdrow money from ATMs as Southamerica is not Africa ;-)
Ａｄｖｅｎｔ&# xff55;ｒｅ experience Peru - Machu Picchu & oasis Huacachina

I was going to start a new thread but the info here is worth adding to. Changing money would be more or less the same worldwide. I'll be taking cards with me and cash......now my question, I live in euro land, having just sold my car I have 500€ notes, can I change them at banks or will I have problems with such a large bill. I'll have them purely as emergency backup

Nick

Signature;- Current bike, 1991 Africa Twin RD04

These 500s are reputed to be the notes that are most forged in the Euro denomination, for the obvious reason - therefore, I have found that some places, in some countries, will not accept them.
Apart from that, many places don't want them because it is a very large note and giving change can clear out their till!
As for banks changing them; in an emergency, you may not be anywhere near a bank.

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Dave

a EUR500 note may not be refused - ever.
However, many shop, stores, hotels, etc do not abide by the rules, and still do not accept these notes.
A bank, however, will accept them, and will check if it's not counterfeit. Provided, of course, you are a customer....

BTW, the most forged note is the EUR50... (according to Bloomberg)

__________________
Our website: tenhoope.net
Not all those who wander are lost. Usually, however, I am...

The most forged is the five.....and they have just recently had a facelift to try to stop it. I'll carry one or two as they are easily concealed. Good to hear other peoples views and I'll get a few smaller notes
Thanks. Nick

Signature;- Current bike, 1991 Africa Twin RD04