wiiiim

Withdrawing money in remote places all over the world can be tricky. Which card type do you find most reliable/safe when cycling around the world?
I read that Visa used to be the most popular accepted card, but nowadays Mastercard is just about equal. And since Visa is more expensive here in Belgium, i was thinking of taking the latter.
What are your experiences?

kevin_stevens

You mean for just using ATMs, not as a credit card? I use eTrade VISA debit card, which you can use at any ATM of any bank, and have any bank charges refunded to you automatically that day. I can't stand paying ATM fees.

If you mean using it as an actual credit card for retail purchases, I don't have a recommendation.

KeS

nancy sv

I've always used a Visa - it almost always works. I've never traveled with a MasterCard so can't compare. Make sure you have a no-fee card - I've got one from Schwab in the USA, but I have no idea what's available in Belgium. The fees add up FAST!

Juha

Debit cards are good, but they don't necessarily work everywhere. I have a combined debit/credit MC card, that way if debit doesn't work I can use the more expensive credit. ATM wise, all the ATMs I've seen that take any kind of credit card, take both MC and Visa.

--J

Gotte

I take debit and credit card (visa), and have never had any problems. I get cash with the debit card and pay for hotel with the credit card. My credit card charges a lot for cash, and I think most do, unless you can find one which doesn;t charge for cash, the cost outweighs the benefit (unless you really need the money).
One thing though, be sure to tell your debit or credit card company you'll be using it abroad as they may think its been stolen and refuse it.

All the best

MichaelW

With credit cards, you need to tell the company that you will be abroad but more that that: which country you will be in, when you will arrive and when you will leave.
If you are touring through lots of small countries, this can be a real hassle esp as you usually don't have specific dates for crossing borders.

Note that ATMs can sometimes swallow your card. I make it a rule to only withdraw from banks that are open. You also have to beware of all the usual ATM skimming methods.

wiiiim

thanks
last year in South America i was able to use a 'normal' maestro card (not a credit card) but recently for safety reasons (or so they say) they changed it to Europe only

as far as i know a credit card without fees does not exist in Belgium, they charge annually + a fixed amount per withdrawal + a percentage on the currency conversion
its disgusting..

paying with a credit card (in a hotel for example) is however free, the costs are for money withdrawal (atm's) ..which is pretty much all i'll do

Juha

This probably depends a lot on issuer. I never tell my bank / CC company where I'm going or when.

--J

Tourist in MSN

I see you live in Europe. There was a recent article in the New York Times about the problems with using cards in Europe that are issued in the USA.
https://travel.nytimes.com/2011/06/12...-traveler.html
https://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/03...s-respond.html

A couple of years ago I lost my wallet in an airport. Fortunately, one of my card companies was willing to ship me a new card using overnight express shipping for a reasonable fee. I am glad that I had a card issued by that company, my trip continued without a hitch. I also had several hundred in cash that was not in my wallet, that came in handy until I got the new card shipped to me.

A thief got one of my credit card numbers last month immediately after I checked into a hotel in Europe a few hours after I arrived there. My card stopped working. Fortunately, I had other credit cards that I could use for the rest of my trip. Relying on one card would have been a disaster, in this case it was a minor inconvenience because I had redundancies.

In the USA, you have much better legal protection if a thief gets your credit card number than if a thief gets your debit card number. For that reason, I had not used a debit card for several years. I however recently got a debit card to use in ATMs from my credit union that had very low fees. (I do not know if they have credit unions where you live, it is similar to a bank.) They allowed me to set up a separate savings account, I could put most of my funds in that savings account and if a thief got my card number, they could not touch those funds. But, I could electronically transfer funds from that savings account into the checking account when I wanted to use the card in an ATM. Thus, if a thief got my number, they could not get very much money from me but electronically I could shift more money into the account and access that money in an ATM.

Regarding your question - which card to take, Visa or Mastercard? When I travel I take at least two credit cards, one of the card companies must be willing to express overnight ship me a new card if I need one. I also take a debit card that will work in ATMs. If there are places where Visa is more prevalent than Mastercard or the other way around, I am unaware of those places.

Unfortunately I can't get a chip and pin card in the USA unless I pay an exorbitant annual fee (Chase bank cited an annual fee of $585 for a chip and pin card), but as noted in the NY Times article, the cards may be more available in the future.

fietsbob

I used a Visa Debit card, Pre ATM, went into the bank, it was '97,
Eire, NI & Scotland.

Wore all that sort of stuff on my body , in a moneybelt, so going inside
also gave me a place to take off raingear and peel down to get to it.

Only issue was no clue about the cost of charges for exchange, and balance.

I stayed in one place for a couple weeks, and got a statement thru the Post, then.
I had direct deposit from the other end.