I am taking off soon to China and then Europe, traveling both with and without a group, and I will be gone for a total of 12 weeks (10 China, 2 Europe).
What is the best way for a poor student to buy the necessities and frivolities of life in foreign lands where the USD does not reign?
sorry for the vagaries.
my bank and the other people's bank who i'm going with are each giving different answers as to what form travel funds should take. I'm figuring they're all pushing whatever supposed to push this month. I'm hoping to get some practical, impartial advice. so far i've heard...
travelers checks
travelers gift/credit cards
your own usual credit cards
changing dollars to local cash when you get there
barter everything will handfuls of rice or possibly chickens
never been to china, but i had no problem using my usual atm card in india or most of europe. spits the money out in the local currency and the great supercomputer in the sky does the conversion. was only charged my usual fee for using a bank that wasn't my own local bank (about $2/transaction, the bastards).
if china is anything like india, barter for everything sold in the street and some local stores (obviously department/chain stores probably not).
In China, once you've exchanged travelers checks or cash for yuan, you may not be able to change it back. Use credit cards for major purchases or hotels. I haven't used an ATM in China yet.
I'd recommend using ATM's in Europe, you may get a better exchange rate than at banks or AMEX.
simplest way
most convenient
most offer English as an option
best exchange rate (generally)
fraud protection (at least with my bank)
don't carry too much cash. if you use your ATM, call you bank to let them know where you are going.
I once went to Mexico one day and then flew to London the next day and my ATM was cancelled by the fraud department because they thought my number was stolen. Since you're going to two continents- I'd advise calling them so that they can note it in your account.
I’m jealous. I’m spending the summer in a physics class :(
China has many, many ATM machines but 90% of them are stictly for Chinese accounts and do not recognize foreign banks. If you stick your ATM card in it, it will eat it.
When I lived there, I only had a handful of ATM machines in the city that I could use to withdraw from my US account. I recommend browsing a travel book and reading what banks typically offer international withdraws. I remeber that I could only use Bank of China and Chinese Commerce and Agricultural Bank for my US withdraws.
Although it might not be the best rate, I'd bring cash to China. My friends that came to visit had insane problems with traveler checks. We finally left mainland China and headed over to Hong Kong to use those. About my last month there, Shanghai opened a Bank of America. It was my savior.
Just got back from a month in China: Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzen, Dong, Guan,...and HK. Before that a short tour thru Europe.
Used my ATM everywhere but advise you to talk to your bank beforehand re: fees for both credit card and ATM use. They can differ on the following:
-what the ATM machine charges for the trnx
-what you bank charges you for not using their designated ATM machine
-exchange rate for purchase or cash withdrawl
-trnx fee for doing a foreign currency exchange
-fee based as some percent of the total purchase amount.
Make sure you know these amounts for both your credit card and ATM card so you can make an informed choice about what's best and you should be fine.
Taking out lots of small amounts thru your ATM card to minimize the amount of cash you have on hand can be convenient, but over 12 weeks, you can loose a couple hundred dollars in bank fees.
in china
use credit card for hotels and big purchases
only use ATM at big banks and prominent and safe locations, there has been lots of crimes relating to that
exhange local currency with USD
in europe you should be able to use ATM easily and of course credit card!
hey vado you can go to Cuba. And without much hassle...but we better not discuss that here, as the US still has a standing embargo with the tiny, near harmless Caribbean island that has been suffering nearly in silence since the 60s
does that sound awfully sympathetic or should I inject the tears now?
World Travel $$$
I am taking off soon to China and then Europe, traveling both with and without a group, and I will be gone for a total of 12 weeks (10 China, 2 Europe).
What is the best way for a poor student to buy the necessities and frivolities of life in foreign lands where the USD does not reign?
Well it looks like you'll be using the yuan for about 10 weeks and the Euro for about 2, so good luck with that....
No really, what do you mean, "what is the best way..."? They do have stores over there you know.
sorry for the vagaries.
my bank and the other people's bank who i'm going with are each giving different answers as to what form travel funds should take. I'm figuring they're all pushing whatever supposed to push this month. I'm hoping to get some practical, impartial advice. so far i've heard...
travelers checks
travelers gift/credit cards
your own usual credit cards
changing dollars to local cash when you get there
barter everything will handfuls of rice or possibly chickens
hope this makes at least a little more sense
never been to china, but i had no problem using my usual atm card in india or most of europe. spits the money out in the local currency and the great supercomputer in the sky does the conversion. was only charged my usual fee for using a bank that wasn't my own local bank (about $2/transaction, the bastards).
if china is anything like india, barter for everything sold in the street and some local stores (obviously department/chain stores probably not).
have fun. sounds like a great trip.
simply using your atm card for as many transaction as possible is a good idea > best conversion rate.
In China, once you've exchanged travelers checks or cash for yuan, you may not be able to change it back. Use credit cards for major purchases or hotels. I haven't used an ATM in China yet.
I'd recommend using ATM's in Europe, you may get a better exchange rate than at banks or AMEX.
ATM...
simplest way
most convenient
most offer English as an option
best exchange rate (generally)
fraud protection (at least with my bank)
don't carry too much cash. if you use your ATM, call you bank to let them know where you are going.
I once went to Mexico one day and then flew to London the next day and my ATM was cancelled by the fraud department because they thought my number was stolen. Since you're going to two continents- I'd advise calling them so that they can note it in your account.
I’m jealous. I’m spending the summer in a physics class :(
If you have Bank of America, there are branches in the major chinese cities with ATMs that will dispense RMB at no charge.
China has many, many ATM machines but 90% of them are stictly for Chinese accounts and do not recognize foreign banks. If you stick your ATM card in it, it will eat it.
When I lived there, I only had a handful of ATM machines in the city that I could use to withdraw from my US account. I recommend browsing a travel book and reading what banks typically offer international withdraws. I remeber that I could only use Bank of China and Chinese Commerce and Agricultural Bank for my US withdraws.
Although it might not be the best rate, I'd bring cash to China. My friends that came to visit had insane problems with traveler checks. We finally left mainland China and headed over to Hong Kong to use those. About my last month there, Shanghai opened a Bank of America. It was my savior.
Just got back from a month in China: Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzen, Dong, Guan,...and HK. Before that a short tour thru Europe.
Used my ATM everywhere but advise you to talk to your bank beforehand re: fees for both credit card and ATM use. They can differ on the following:
-what the ATM machine charges for the trnx
-what you bank charges you for not using their designated ATM machine
-exchange rate for purchase or cash withdrawl
-trnx fee for doing a foreign currency exchange
-fee based as some percent of the total purchase amount.
Make sure you know these amounts for both your credit card and ATM card so you can make an informed choice about what's best and you should be fine.
Taking out lots of small amounts thru your ATM card to minimize the amount of cash you have on hand can be convenient, but over 12 weeks, you can loose a couple hundred dollars in bank fees.
Happy, safe, exciting travels!
in china
use credit card for hotels and big purchases
only use ATM at big banks and prominent and safe locations, there has been lots of crimes relating to that
exhange local currency with USD
in europe you should be able to use ATM easily and of course credit card!
good luck
its ricockulous that you can go to china and not cuba.
hey vado you can go to Cuba. And without much hassle...but we better not discuss that here, as the US still has a standing embargo with the tiny, near harmless Caribbean island that has been suffering nearly in silence since the 60s
does that sound awfully sympathetic or should I inject the tears now?
I used it and it was great
I love that "ricockulous" has caught on so well.
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