The ATM is hungry

While in Egypt I learned about the hazards of ATM machines. I arrived on a weekend and the ATM at my hotel was mostly empty, I managed to get about 70 pounds out of it. I also came home to find a $50 withdrawl from my bank account on the same day when I tried to get more money out but when no money actually came out. My bank did reimburse me for that money. I was thankful that I had brought a fair amount of cash with me as well as some travelers cheques. My roommate Tara (not the one that I'm going to Hawaii with) had much bigger problems...

The day she left she notified her bank that she was going to Egypt so that they wouldn't block her ATM card, they failed to mention to her that they already had a fraud alert on the card and the card was already blocked, opps! She came to Egypt and couldn't get money out of the ATM, at first she thought it was just the 1 or 2 ATM's, but finally in Aswan she checked the internet and realized that she had this block on her account.

 I went with her to get a phone card to call the bank and we tried to figure out how to work the thing, but it wasn't happening. Then we tried Ed's cell phone, that didn't work either. Finally she as able to get through using my international phone - the 20 minute conversation only cost $60. The bank straightened it out and assured her that her ATM card would work, though there would be a lower then usual daily limit. We waited a few hours and went to the ATM machine - it ate her card - it went in but it didn't come out and neither did money.

 Tara took it like a trooper and after figuring out the hours of the bank we went shopping. Back on our ship a little while later we ran into our Tour Manager and one of the ships crew. We were told that "the ATM was hungry," not an uncommon thing at night in Egypt - ouch! The next day we used our little bit of free time before our ship left Aswan to get the ATM card back. We seemed to be interrupting the bank guy who was counting piles of cash, but we kept nagging him and finally got it back - but not before he made us walk across the street twice for photocopies. But Tara got her ATM card back and the next time she used it she actually got money out, she also got reimbursed for the cell phone call to the bank.

The lesson: don't count only on ATM machines.

Worry before your trip, go with the flow on your trip

One of the things that I do in my free time is moderate Contiki's Message board. On the message board people discuss all sorts of stuff about their upcoming (or past) trips. Often the same questions come up, around this time of year there are often a lot of new people getting ready for their first trips abroad. We get questions about what to pack, plug adapters, what to see, who to fly with, what's the best way to convert money. The money question is one that always sticks out at me, because it's one that I find you worry about so much more before your trip, but once you're on your trip you realize their aren't as many options, and if their are you have to balance time verse money.

The best exchange rates are often from ATM's. Travelers Cheques are usually a pain (and time consuming) to exchange, a lot of people don't accept them. I consider Travelers Cheques as a nice back up incase of emergency, otherwise they're not worth the time. It's nice to go to a country and already have some local currency. That can be done by going to your bank or going to an exchange place, such as American Express, in your home country. The problem with your bank is that you'll often have to order money, which requires planning, and not all banks offer this service. The problem with American Express is that they charge $4 (last time I used them) for each currency. You can bring cash from home and once you're in the country you can use exchange places, some will charge a fee but others will not. Or, you can just use ATM's once you're in the country. Depending on your bank you may pay an extra fee to use an ATM in another country on top of the conversion fee.

What does it all come down to? Before my first trip I did a lot of research on my trip and exchangeing money, and in the end I had to just go with the flow. When I got low on money I would estimate what I needed and go to the most legit looking ATM I could find. Or when I was in a more off the beaten track location I would exchange money when the opportunity presented itself since they don't come that often. Once you're away you use all that knowledge to do your best at saving money, but most of the time you just have to go with the flow.