Re: usd money....

[Otis Wright]

Just a bit of caution here.  From personal experience, I can say that 
you can have trouble with the Visa/Master cards here in the US and 
elsewhere, especially when travelling,  due to profile exceptions 
showing up in the automated fraud prevention programs.   Sorting it out 
can range from a simple phone call or frustratingly difficult series of 
communications and delays depending on access to a sane, intelligent rep 
and the nature of the exception.  In one case someone had started to use 
my card no. in another country.  The card co. just shut the card off 
including in process charges which I had to clear one by one in the 
following days.  But, I'm not complaining: very few of the bad charges 
ever got to my account and those that did were reversed on the following 
statement -- no questions.   I was offered  a replacement  new account 
card by "express courier", but that wasn't practical due to my 
schedule.  Fortunately, I had other cards.  I believe there was an 
accounting of similar experiences by a few persons in one of the recent 
"Electronic Design" columns.
American Express has never been a problem for me, except once in a 
country where all credit card transactions were suspended for awhile 
throughout the entire country.  (That was an interesting experience to 
say the least.)    I try to get by on credit cards when traveling, but  
I always carry some "emergency" cash and some other backup source of 
funds like travelers checks, letter of credit, etc. just in case --- 
however,  I  really hate being hung up chasing funds when I'm traveling 
--- so I take more precautions than most would find necessary.

Otis Wright

Peter J. Alling wrote:

We invented it.  It used to be called BankAmeracard, I remember when 
the name was changed.  You shouldn't have any
trouble using it but I'd look into  the conversion rate your bank may 
charge, it's usually quite competitive but I've only been
changing from US dollars.

Tanya Mayer Photography wrote:

Just wondering - with regards to my USA trip - I was thinking of not
bringing any cash at all, and just paying my spending money off my 
visa. It
will be a great help for tax purposes etc, and I rarely carry cash 
here any
more, I usually use EFTPOS for everything. How widely accepted is 
VISA in
the States?  Are you able to pay taxi's etc with VISA?  Or should I 
carry
some cash with me?  What about on GFM?  Are there any teller machines 
that
will allow me to withdraw cash from my VISA?  I have a pretty large 
purchase
that I will be making whilst I am over there and will need to get my 
hands
on at least USD$650 whilst I am  on the mountain (or beforehand to bring
with me)....

tan.