Foreign Currency
 

I will be making my first trip by moto to Central America crossing the Texas boarder in June. I plan to travel through several countries. Is it best to get a few hundred dollars of each country's currency before i leave the US or just exchange money at each boarder? Of course, i will have US cash and credit cards.

Change money at borders (small amounts), not in the States. After that use debit cards, not credit. Don't get stuck holding excess of any currency after leaving that country or you may own it forever (except El Salvador and Panama, for obvious reasons). Carry a reserve of US dollars for emergencies.

Same wherever you go in the world.

Mark

+1 on Mark
Bring your BANK cards, have a number with different logos of services for delivering money to cover in the event one or another service is temporarily off line.
Most border fees will be accepted in US dollars or the national currency, Moneda Nacional. A few fees can be paid only in that MN. For those you can exchange some dollars at any of the itinerant money exchangers or if available at a Casa de cambio.
Getting all types of money from your home bank is not advised, it would be far too cumbersome and costly with long lead time as they have to order it in.
For the same reason do not expect to exchange leftover amounts of foreign currencies at your home bank. Use it up and / or exchange it as you exit a country which you do not plan to revisit on the trip.
Now, get on your computer and alongside your Spelling Checker app install a program to watch for and alert you for incorrect use of homophones and homonyms. Too many people arenot paying attention to what they write and like you write " boarder" when they really mean BORDER.:innocent:
There is a big difference between the two

Debit vs Credit Cards ?
 

Why use debit a card instead of credit?

Read the terms on your cards. For starters, cash advances on credit cards are ridiculously expensive.

Hey Sjoerd,

"Now, get on your computer and alongside your Spelling Checker app install a program to watch for and alert you for incorrect use of homophones and homonyms. Too many people arenot paying attention to what they write and like you write " boarder" when they really mean BORDER."

Thank you for the spelling and grammar lesson.:thumbup1: Oh, by the way, should the words "arenot" be be separated into two words: are not. Or alternatively could one use the contraction aren't.

Touché , but my failure to space the words was strictly a typo from hasty work on the small key pad of my iPhone.I should have caught that before submitting. Boarder on the other hand is repeatedly used by many orher writers of posts and it is obvious that they are not aware of the wrong spelling. Meanwhile " spell check" ( spell Czech ?) allows it to go because it is a correctly spelled word - but the wrong word.I mentioned it not as a " lesson" but only as an alert, in the belief that we all have some interest in correct spelling and syntax.

As for credit cards , it is recommended to use a CC to simplify payment of the Mexican TVIP and the associated mandatory Security Deposit and the Tourist Card may also be paid thus at the same time.
But if you wish you could fulfill all these payments in cash , where the Security Deposit would then require strictly US DOLLARS. The refund for same in that case would also be made in US DOLLARS.
A CC might be handy for big expenditures like tires and bike repairs but in the daily run of small purchases at the small restaurants and shops a CC
is next to useless .You are in for a heap of paper slips to check against when your CC bill finally comes around and if you are late you get to pay 28% or more( not ghetto pay!)
in interest.

Thanks Sjoerd,

Just having some fun with you. Of course, you are right. Border and boarder are two completely different words. However, in the context of this website, i think most people will understand what was meant. Anyway, thanks for your advise on credit card/cash use. You have a wealth of knowledge on Central American travel and it is much appreciated. :clap:

Sjoerd, I have tremendous respect for your contributions here.

However, if you're going to find fault with the spelling of others, you might as well get adjusted to others critiquing the faults in your posts. From my perspective, confusing "borders" with "boarders" is no more or less awkward than failing to leave spaces between words....or after the ends of sentences. Best bet: either get it right yourself, refrain from criticizing others, or (ideally) both.

(Insert your choice of mis-spelled, ungrammatical, auto-completed mish-mash here.)

Mark

Hi Mark , I get your point and I take no offense if somebody points out errors I make. Astockjoc also is proving he is not over-sensitive and can handle remarks like mine with humor ( humour in Canada :innocent:))

Back to topic, Astockjoc, you mention the choice between debit card and credit card. I hope you are not thinking that in place of a CC that you will be able to whip out the debit card to pay for those same items .
Note that when I refer to bank cards I mean that their ONLY function will be to
access your bank account funds by way of ATM withdrawals.
I do not know about US bank cards, but with my Canadian bank cards I have never ever been able to do a payment anywhere in Mexico or Central America and not in the USA by using the debit function or the direct payment function.
Maybe the US banks are different, I don't know.
The big stores and hotels and restaurants can do CC payments
but for the vast majority of purchases cash is the fastest and most practical.
So just get a suitable zippered baggy wallet to hold the daily usage paper money and coins. Keep a supply of coins and USE them .Don't hand over a big bill every time and then complain that all the change weighs too much.
Remember the working phrase in every shop is " no tengo cambio" so if you have the monedas you can pay exactly .

In the US, most places take debit or credit cards. However, in Central America i would prefer to use a credit card. I can pay off the card balance frequently by online transfer. I feel the debit card has more risk since it is tied to a checking account and, therefore, if lost or stolen the thief would potentially have access to the checking account.

In Central America (and lots of other areas of the world), most places I go do not even accept credit cards. Unless you favor high-end travel, you're going to get some blank looks when you try to pay by credit card. What then?

Markharf,

I get your point. I plan to have plenty of daily cash. However, I plan to be on the road for at least several months and i don't want to carry too much cash at any one time. Do most people just get their cash from a bank ATM in whatever country they are in?

Been that way since the eclipse of travelers checks. It's true in most--but not quite all--countries in the world, and of most--but again not all--travelers, with or without motorcycles.

If you really didn't know this, your work is cut out for you. Everyone starts somewhere, but if you're really leaving next month you probably want to think about what else you haven't thought of. A look at the guidebook of your choice might be helpful--Lonely Planet, Bradt or Rough Guide, or Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

Mark

Hey Mark,

Quite the contrary. I am a fairly seasoned traveler. Have been to Europe, South Africa and to Central America (Belize, Guatemala and Costa Rica) several times. It's just that i have never done it for an extended period with all my stuff on a motorcycle. I was just in Costa Rica last fall and had no problem using my credit card. However, that was mostly tourist type locations. This time i will be on my bike and visiting many small towns throughout Central America for a much more extended period.

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

Cash and a backup card
 

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 beers, 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++.

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!

Does this really need to be said?
 

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

My $0.02
 

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.

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.

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)

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

HPost #25 by Peter Bodtke contains an excellent summary
May I expand a bit on several of his points and several other
posts which followed.
# 3 . The bank machines can be very capricious , depends much on the quality of the computer link to their main servers , be prepared to be denied service at any time . Going to multiple different banks the same day is often futile since all are operating from the same network, wait a day and try again.Best to not wait until all your cash is used up before topping
up.
# 8 there are indeed some big modern PEMEX stations which advertise that payment by credit card is possible ' but I always pay cash too everywhere
An other possible way to economize at hotels is to ask if they have a price
" Sin factura" . This is a tax dodge used at some hotels in Mexico where they
will rent you the room at pre-tax rate if you will pay cash and forgo having a paper receipt issued.

# 6 actively use your change ALL the time even when you are in
your home country . Nothing is sillier than somebody who whines about
the weight of coins in his pocket or is too vain to use " small change"

The Euro notes may not be refused in European countries that use them
but private businesses in any other country are free to reject anything they
please.If they do take them as a courtesy they are free to charge whatever
fee they want so don't complain about being ripped off.
Stick to going through bank machines to get the cash you need.If you bring wads of
exotic paper money you will have to exchange them at exhorbitantly high service fees
and often long annoying waits at local banks. The same holds for travelers cheques which are
now holdovers from a bygone era.

Don't give away foreign currency without explaining to the recipient
that it is real and what it is worth in his home currency.I stayed in a hotel in Esquintla ,GT and got into a long conversation with the clerk.He had a funny story , a few years before a European guest was checking out and asked for help to haul his stuff , a lot of it,down to the taxi.Then as a tip he handed the clerk a colorful item of paper money which the latter had never seen before.The clerk told me that he thought is was some cheap foreign store coupon or worthless play money . Feeling somewhat taken advantage of he said he crumpled it up and tossed it in the garbage. Only later did he learn about Euros and recognized that what he had been given was a really big denomination Euro note equal to several weeks of his regular pay . Now he laughed about it , buts what a shock it must have been.doh