GoRoundTheWorld.com - RTW Travel - Checklist Before Departure

Cash, Credit Cards, and Travelers Checks

ATMs may be found in most major cities these days, which is highly convenient for RTW travelers. However, that should not stop a traveler from planning ahead for a variety of circumstances:

- In many rural settings it may be difficult to find an ATM.

- Your pin may not work with the bank networks in a given country.

- You may lose your ATM card, in which case you will need to have a backup source of spending money. It takes time to get a new ATM card forwarded to you overseas, particularly if you are constantly changing locations.

- Exchange rates for cash or travelers checks can be negotiated in many instances, whereas that is not possible when using an ATM. In such instances, you may want to have travelers’ checks or cash handy.

Essentially, you want to have a variety of money sources with you, and, further to that, you should segregate them in various places on your person and in your bag. You will want to carry a Visa card and a MasterCard, if possible, along with U.S. currency and travelers checks.

It is advisable to carry both a Visa and a MasterCard in case one of the cards does not have an affiliate network in an area you are traveling. In such cases, you will be able to use the card which does have an affiliate network.

U.S. currency is generally accepted worldwide. Be sure to take a mix of denominations - one dollar bills come in very handy when bargaining with street vendors and owners of small shops. The bank notes should be current; that is, issued within the last two years if at all possible, to ensure maximum acceptance.

The Euro is gaining in popularity in many places, but its acceptance in any given area is still hit or miss.

Travelers checks (cheques) should be issued by a well-known, international bank or by American Express; otherwise, you may have trouble cashing them overseas.

The main things to keep in mind about money sources are:

Make sure you have a four digit PIN for your ATM, debit, and credit cards. If you current PIN is five or more digits in length, change it to four if your bank will let you. The banks in some places will only accept four digits a their ATMs, and if your bank is expecting five or six, you won’t be able to get any cash.

Get a zippered money belt . If for no other reason, you can keep most of your cash and travelers checks in it if you have to sleep in a group setting such as a camp ground, airport or train station. A money belt will also ensure that you don’t lose your cash when being transferred around busy terminals or stations.

Do not keep all of your money sources in one place, even if that one place could be a money belt. You will experience great difficulties should you lose everything at once. Segregate your money sources among pockets, your wallet or purse, your money belt, and your bag.

Keep the issue receipts for travelers checks with you. Some places will want to see the receipts before they will cash your checks.

Make photocopies of all your travelers checks and credit / debit / ATM cards and keep them separate from where you keep the originals. As you use your travelers checks, cross them off the photocopies you have made. If you run into any problems which require travelers checks to be replaced, you are going to have to know exactly which ones were lost, stolen, or damaged. By marking off those you have exchanged, you will be able to narrow down the serial numbers if you need to.

Call each of the credit card companies you plan to use while overseas and have them make a note in your file that you will be traveling and changing locations frequently. Otherwise, your cards may be temporarily suspended when the data processing systems detect that your card has been used in one location one day and a far different location the next. Many card issuers will temporarily suspend your credit privileges under those circumstances because their systems may think there has been a high likelihood of fraud or that your cards have been stolen. Needless to say, this can be an extreme inconvenience. Be sure to read “The Myths Surrounding Call Collect Numbers” at right for further issues which you may encounter related to your bank cards.

Some countries have restrictions on bringing in foreign currency or leaving with local currency. Be sure you are aware of any particularly stringent regulations for each country you visit.

When you are leaving a country, use any coins you have toward the end of your stay to buy a souvenir, or give them to a charity. Unlike bank notes, you will generally not be able to exchange coins outside of the country where they are issued.

In Namibia, watching the Sun set over South Africa

The Myths Surrounding The “Call Collect” Numbers on The Backs of Your Credit Cards

Credit card issuers will often provide several telephone numbers or a web address for service. There will typically be a toll-free number accessible within the country where the card was issued and a “Call Collect” or “Reverse Charges” number ostensibly for use when traveling outside the country where the card was issued. A number of problems arise when trying to use the latter: (1) in many countries you will have trouble getting locals to understand what you mean by placing a “collect” or “reverse charges” number, and so you will have corresponding difficulty in trying to figure out how to place such a call; (2) many countries do not have a functional way to reverse the charges in actuality, so you will wind up paying for a call, and (3) if the countries concerned do have a way of placing collect calls, you will have to find a phone which is associated with a phone line that is permitted to do such a thing. This can be quite difficult. Plan on calling those numbers directly and paying cash on the spot. To save yourself time and money, ask the issuing bank for each card you intend to use overseas whether they have a directl line other than the one listed on your credit card. Ask them if they have one dedicated for overseas customers which will ensure a short wait. It is extremely aggravating to have to keep putting coins into a pay phone at foreign operator-assisted rates while waiting on hold for a bank to answer your call.

Travel Tip

Trouble with the ATM? Take photographs of (a) each serial or other identifying number on the machine, (b) the screen just after the error occurred, (c) a sign showing the name of the bank concerned , and (d) street signs at the nearest intersection to the machine location. The photographs will provide information that will help you to resolve the problem, especially if the machine is located in a country which uses an unfamiliar alphabet or writing characters.