Access to Cash in South America [2014]

[Bogieman]

Afternoon all

Need help, my daughter is off to South America next week for a years travel and we are trying to find the best way for her to access her money. I was going to get her a a 28 Degree Mastercard but those rules are changing. I can't get her a credit card now as she leaves in a week. So was wandering if anybody can offer any other ideas outside of using her debit card each time.

Appreciate any assistance.

 

[serfty]

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....avel-money/citibank-plus-no-fee-no-34155.html

I applied and received the card in 5 working days.

That may be to late.

In the short term, maybe use on the of the Load and Go type Card you can get from post.

(This one is at least free to buy instore: Load&Go Travel Card - Australia Post)


It will cost a little to use but once the Citi Card arrives you can forwardit to her wherever she may be.

 

[Bogieman]

Thanks Serfty appreciate your words of wisdom

 

[eric2011]

Other option in the short term is to validate and load qantas cash card if she has recieved one. Funds do take 48 hours to appear after trandfering, but at least she will get 1 point per $ while using it overseas

 

[dk4]

Some South American countries have economies in complete crisis. The "official exchange rate" (imposed by the government) can be far removed from the "real exchange rate" (true market value available on the street). Withdrawing money from your AUD account, converted into local currency, through a financial institution in these countries would greatly limit spending power compared to exchanging cash on the street. (But be aware that in many of these countries counterfeit and other fiscal frauds are rife.)

For example, there is simply no way I would withdraw money through a financial institution in Argentina. I would book a tour with a reputable tour company, and during the tour ask the guide for a good place to exchange cash. I would be expecting the real market rate to be at least 30% better than the official exchange rate in that particular country. (Additionally some places will charge foreigners in USD anyway, completely avoiding transacting in the local currency.) YMMV

 

[doctau]

I think the best answer depends greatly on the specific country and how much you are spending there.


I was in Peru about two and a half years ago, and they have a two-currency economy with the Nuevo Sol very stable with respect to USD. Big touristy things (like tours) will probably be in USD directly. My advice for getting soles is to use an ATM in a reputable bank to withdraw USD, and then walking inside to change it to soles. If you withdraw over the counter in a bank you'll need ID, which means carrying around your passport, and is tedious. Changing cash on the street will get you a slightly different rate (1-2%) but the fake currency makes it not worth the risk.

Many shops will accept USD since they are so easily convertable, but at a worse rate. I think it was around 2.5:1 rather than the official 2.81:1 when I was there.

I suggest also doing a bit of basic research on how to tell fake currency from real stuff. Note that ATMs that are not part of a bank sometimes have a small account of notes replaced by fake currency by the people who fill them. I got caught by that, when I used a ATM that was on the corner of the bank but run by a third-party

 

[timon]

I took an NAB Travel Card loaded with USD with me to South America. I would withdraw USD from the atms and then exchange USD to local currency on the street, which was at a fairly competitive rate. Getting USD out of atms wasn't much of an issue, even in the Andean countries. I wasn't charged any ATM fees by NAB nor by the atm operator so that worked out quite well. I assume this would be same with the other bank travel cards (Westpac is part of the global ATM alliance which always free use of Scotiabank ATMS in Chile and Peru). Agree with dk4 especially about the Argentine peso.. the rates it was traded in in Argentina was about 30-40% lower than in Bolivia!

 

[Bogieman]

Thx all, I think you are just making me concerned she is going at all!! lol. So all bank ATM's allow you to choose the cureeny to withdrawal?

 

[timon]

Thx all, I think you are just making me concerned she is going at all!! lol. So all bank ATM's allow you to choose the cureeny to withdrawal?

in my experience, they all give you the choice of US or local currency, but the occasional one had no USD to actually dispense.

 

[doctau]

Thx all, I think you are just making me concerned she is going at all!! lol. So all bank ATM's allow you to choose the cureeny to withdrawal?

All the ones I saw in Peru (4 weeks around the country) did. I don't remember about Bolivia or Chile (only 1 week each, close to the capitals).

 

[kpc]

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....avel-money/citibank-plus-no-fee-no-34155.html

I applied and received the card in 5 working days.

That may be to late.

In the short term, maybe use on the of the Load and Go type Card you can get from post.

(This one is at least free to buy instore: Load&Go Travel Card - Australia Post)


It will cost a little to use but once the Citi Card arrives you can forwardit to her wherever she may be.

As serfty says, I would apply for this card (as it is free of Fx fees) before she goes....and send it to her by registered post when it arrives; you can give her the PIN by phone, email later...

In the last 3-4 years, I have withdrawn local currency from ATMs in each of the following countries without a problem: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru....also went to Ecuador but I brought US cash from the US as I was passing through, and Ecuador uses USD as its currency. A year in South America...I can only dream!!!

 

[justcallmeryan]

I spent 4.5 months backpacking around South America two years ago and never had a problem withdrawing local currencies using my Australian ATM card. I travelled from Colombia down south ending in Argentina. I would recommend taking a VISA debit card which she can use to withdraw either USD or the local currency, and also either a spare debit or just her EFTPOS card. She won't be able to use her EFTPOS card to pay for anything but it can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs. I carried my main VISA debit in my waller and left the spare one in my suitcase, to be used in case of an emergency, which never eventuated!

Cash is the way go to in most countries as many merchants don't accept cards. This changes as you get to the more developed countries (Chile, Argentina). Another recommendation would be to take a medium sized amount of cash out of an ATM at a time (say around the $200 - $300 mark) to save on fees.

The only place I would be very weary about taking out cash from an ATM is Venezuela as the 'official' exchange rates are pretty terrible.

Finally - I wouldn't be too worried, most countries in SA are pretty safe and in general very pleasant places to travel.

 

[Prof Henry]

I've not had major problems in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile using my Australian ATM card; in Brazil, I often had to try a few different banks or even different individual machines in a couple of banks (when I asked, I was always pointed to the 1 or 2 that would work with foreign cards even though they had no distinguishing marks!). In short, occasional nuisance but never a significant problem.

She'll enjoy it!