going to central and south america and not sure what currency is the best to take.....
My partner and i are heading to cental and south america. we have just exchanged some money to american dollars (travelex card) to use in mexico and belize. we arent sure what to do about the rest of the countries... does anyone use travellers cheques anymore??
Reply to this US Dollars are widely accepted, in addition we just used our ATM card to withdraw local currency every couple of days. (Give your bank a rough idea of where/when you'll be so you access your money with no issues)
We pre-booked a couple of places in Honduras and Panama and they warned us that they did not accept traveler checks to pay the balance.
Have fun!!!
Reply to this When I was in the Dominican Republic I found it was easier to use local currency as although most places accept US dollars, they often charge you more if you're paying this way. I've also heard the same of Costa Rica.
Have a great trip - it's a beautiful part of the world!
Reply to this Maybe you could get local currency from the 1st country you'll visit, and then just use some dollars and an ATM card, quite practical. On each frontier you'll have the opportunity to change your local money to the next country money...
Good luck!
Milie.
Reply to this If you're only going to take one currency, absolutely the US Dollar. Note Panama's official currency is the US Dollar (though they call it the Balboa, same thing as a dollar). While smaller merchants may prefer a local currency, most will take a US Dollar - you just won't get the best exchange rate.
As others mentioned, ATM's are often the way to go. In Costa Rica and Nicaragua (countries beside Panama, which uses the USD), every ATM I visited offered the option of local currency or USD. I don't remember any charging a fee to use the ATM (though your bank might, check with your bank) and they all seemed to offer a reasonable exchange rate (at least in my experience, check with your bank). Also as noted, you absolutely need to check with your bank to see if they need to know ahead of time about using the ATM in those countries. I fortunately checked ahead of time, but my bank said they have to activate the card for various regions and it takes a week or so. They want to make sure they know why your card is being accessed thousands of miles away from home. Also be sure to note if you transfer money into your ATM account, it may take overnight; it's not an instant deal like you might see in the US. For example, my ATM/debit card is only connected to my checking account. That said, I kept most of my money in my savings and then just transferred money online from savings to checking as needed. Logic was if the card was lost/stolen, there's only so much that could be accessed on the account.
Plain and simple, don't use traveler's cheques, few will accept them because it takes too long to verify they are legit. In most of the economies you'll visit, cash is king.
Reply to this we used atm's throughout and had a stash of USD in reserve if required. We didn't use travellers cheques as more hassle than they are worth. if you are more than one then take a coupl of bank cards in case you lose one/one gets stolen. we use internet banking and had a seperate savings/current account which we topped up when needed incase someone stole our card and pin - so we could never get completely cleaned out.
- in fact just as Gary has said above - definately tell your bank you will be using cards overseas as otherwise your cards will be blocked.
have fun
Reply to this Travelers checks are a pain anymore cost money to buy them then to cash them and only at Banks. If I was you I would set up two accounts one with an ATM card and the other to keep bulk of cash. You can then transfer money online from bulk account to the card account as needed so this way if your number is sold or stolen they only have access to what is in the ATM account and not everything. Each country will have their own currency except Panama so you will need to change as you go any ways with the ATM it will give you the local currency. Good Luck sounds like an adventure Sorry I just gave you almost the same answer as above.
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