Currency question for long cruise

[sambamama]

My credit cards do not charge foreign transaction fees, (and yes, I have an AMEX platinum), but they do charge ATM fees. So my buying food or souvenirs is free, but if I need foreign cash (as I found out to my dismay in the Azores), I kept getting whacked. The tour operators there only would take cash and not credit cards. Not to mention that sometimes you can barter better prices with cash that you cannot with a credit card. Therefore, the first card packed on any foreign trip is my Schwab debit card.

[Hlitner]

My credit cards do not charge foreign transaction fees, (and yes, I have an AMEX platinum), but they do charge ATM fees. So my buying food or souvenirs is free, but if I need foreign cash (as I found out to my dismay in the Azores), I kept getting whacked. The tour operators there only would take cash and not credit cards. Not to mention that sometimes you can barter better prices with cash that you cannot with a credit card. Therefore, the first card packed on any foreign trip is my Schwab debit card.

 

We used to have ATM cards (from a large commercial bank) that charged ridiculous fees (along with other fees often charged by larger banks). We finally wised-up, dumped the large banks, and joined two excellent Credit Unions. Now we have several ATMs that not only have no fees, but actually reimburse us for fees charged by other banks where we might use the ATM card. And rather then hitting us with lots of other fees, our main Credit Union actually pays us an annual dividend. I do know that Schwab also offers some excellent fee free cards.

 

Consumers have the ability to make choices (at least here in the USA) and have only themselves to blame if they choose to deal with banks or financial institutions that nickel and dime their customers. U

 

We also agree that cash can often be "king" when it comes to bargaining. This is just another reason to have no-fee ATM/Debit cards as an easy means of obtaining local currency.

 

Hank