[Deleted User]

I travel with as little cash as possible. About USD$ 30 in small notes as tips, a bit of small change for tolls and the rest is plastic. With ATM’s in nearly every major and not so major city, I have no reason to carry more than the equivalent of £100.

HOWEVER – having just returned from Asia and seeing my bank statement, I made 3 cash withdrawals in Thailand from ATM machines and have been charged equivalent of about £5 per withdrawal, thats made up of commission (varies on amount requested) + standard ATM fee of £2.24. Yes it hurts, but I put that amount down to foreign travel expenditure and yes it is wholly, necessarily and exclusively needed for my business purposes.

There may be a preference for carrying cash to avoid the ATM charges and exchange rates, but the reality is that we are moving to a cashless society and whereas £3000 may seem an “acceptable” amount to carry, it is not a “necerssary” amount to carry.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

CMB

you say “it is not a “necerssary” amount to carry.”

Don’t you think it is up to an individual to make that decision?

[NTarrant]

Disgusted, you are right that it is up to the individual to make that decision, but as Charles says it is not necerssary to do so.

Lugano, who are these people giving yo 10% off for cash? Certainly not main stream companies.

[Deleted User]

Absolutely Disgusted it is a personal choice, but the fact still remains that in 2010, knowing about anti money laundering, proceeds of crime act, along with the fact that cash is available securely from nearly every major airport in the world, for as little as £5 a throw, it is an acceptable question to ask, why would someone carry an amount of cash above even £500.

You could have a casino win (thats one explanation), but carrying your expenses for a 2 week trip in cash, I think is peculiar in todays society. If my company gave me a brown envelope for my trip expenses, I would not accept it.

I believe that even aircrew are now given their trip expenses in plastic, I may be wrong, but the last time I was with some friends from BA down route, they had to go to the hotel with some plastic to obtain their “dinner money”.

By all means have a personal preference, but do not be suprised if your personal preference raises questions.

[Senator]

Whilst I am big time user of credit cards, I have not lost the childish facination of the “Greenback”. Nothing makes me feel more “powerful” then when I have a thick wad of dollars in my pockets. Obviously, it is 20 singles wrapped by a mere $100 bill 🙂

I travel to the US on holiday at least once a year, and back in Stockholm I have a routine of emptying my spare SEK coins in a little piggy bank. Once a year, I take it to the one SEB I know that has automatic coin machine. Normally, it sums up to roughly $300 which I proudly exchange at SEB Arlanda. By the way, I only have one simple savings account at SEB for this annual transaction.

Yes, I know it is a bit weird 🙂

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

CMB/NTarrant

Well you are entitled your to your point of view, but it strikes me that the UK is becoming a very unpleasant place to live in and I see shades of 1984.

[Deleted User]

I think you will find Malta also has the same rules about the amount of cash or cash instruments being permitted into the country without a declaration.

http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/MT-Malta-customs-currency-airport-tax-regulations-details.htm

Living in the UK, I do not see these laws as a problem “1984 or otherwise”. I would be very interested to know why someone would want to carry a large amount of cash and object to having to declare it.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Malta does indeed have the same laws, to comply with EC Regulation No 1889/2005.

But we don’t have laws like the one I reference in an earlier post, we don’t use terror laws to snoop on householders waste disposal habits (possible because we have everday refuse collection, despite having no council tax or equivalent) and I have never heard of someone being hassled like Lugano Pirate for committing no crime and complying with the EC regulations.

Still, if you are happy living in such an environemtn, then good on yer.

[watersz]

i always carry at least 100 pounds cash in local The one time i didnt was in the U.S. hit the freeway straight out of jfk and nearly got arrested at the first toll bridge when i said no have

[SimonRowberry]

I was only ever stopped once and asked how much cash I had in terms of maximum amounts. That was as DTW many years ago.

In my younger days I was stopped regularly at borders and asked whether I had ENOUGH cash on me to support my stay……..

Seriously, I find this thread disturbing and it’s hard not to agree with Disgusted about the way the UK is becoming.

In general I try to travel with as little cash as possible and, as others have noted above, then use credit cards or ATMs in the host country. We have a stack of envelopes in a drawer with loose change and odd bank notes from about 20 countries, but nothing substantial, which I suppose suggests that my strategy works for me, in terms of avoiding Bureaux des Changes (I hope that’s the correct plural form) at least. The strategy also reduces the amount of seldom-used Taiwanese Won and Bosnian Convertible Marks one ends up left with, which is a further bonus!

The one hassle is, of course, remembering to tell your bank that you are going abroad in advance, so they don’t block your card. I had all kinds of difficulties trying to explain to my bank (at, needless to say, an offshore call centre) that I would be in two countries in one day and therefore a single country authorisation was not adequate. I also pointed out that if I rang Debit Card Services at that Bank (which doesn’t use a call centre) as opposed to the normal customer “services” (intentional parentheses), they would authorise my cards for the whole of Europe, a fact seemingly unknown at the call centre!

In the end I rang the UK number and had no problem in having my cards “authorised” for the whole of Europe for up to a month.

No wonder some people prefer cash (even if it is a bit weird, Lugano!).

Regards, Simon

[MartynSinclair]

As some people prefer cash to credit cards, I always used to prefer a call centre (human contact) than using a bank’s internet system. The issue mentioned by Simon about remembering to contact the call centre is easily overcome if you use internet banking. The high street banks I use have the facility of advising the relevant departments of my travel whereabouts without the need to speak to a call centre. Far more convenient, but all based on the need of having an internet connection.

The UK is strict in enforcing the monetary transfer rules and it is 100% right in doing so. If someone makes a personal choice to carry large amounts of cash across borders then they should be expected to explain why. If it is for legit reasons, that explanation should take no longer than 30 seconds.

I would be interested to hear why travellers take large amounts of cash, say over £5000 with them.

The anti terror laws are in place for obvious reasons, the UK is a bigger target than say the Island of Malta, hence the sad need for these laws.

Would love to here the reasons for carrying cash.

[NTarrant]

Now then Simon, starting to show your age, you will be recalling the days when you could take no more than £25.00 out of the country for a fortnight’s package holiday to Spain that cost £13. 15s 11d!! (That’s £13.79). But then you did get $5.00 to the £!

Disgusted – sadly the UK is seen as a soft touch from those that want to flee their own country. Case in point why do they risk life an limb to cross the channel when they are in France. I doubt they are arriving on boats into secluded harbours in Malta.

The UK may have many negative things, but I agree with Charles, there is no 1984. If you do something that is not the norm then one must expect to be challenged

[RoadKing]

Simon, you should check with your credit card provider. Mine allow me to open/close the various continents on the internet. Obviously, being able to control on a country basis would be better. I suppose that will come in due time as well.

[SimonRowberry]

Hi folks. Thanks for the comments. My bank tells me that I can indeed mark the travel advisory on my on-line account; however, it appears that I can only do it that way for my personal account, not my business accounts.

Nigel – I do indeed remember those days (sadly). I remember when you had to have all currency purchases written down on sheets attached to the back of your passport.

Nostalgia’s not what it used to be, is it?

Cheers, Simon

[LuganoPirate]

Let me try and answer some of the above. It’s correct, it is not necessary to carry £3,000 with me, but it is my choice to do so. It gives me, right or wrong, weird or not, a degree of comfort and security.

My point in all this, is that if £10k is the amount allowed by law to be taken out, then I should not be subjected to 30 minutes of questioning, threatened with confiscation of the money, have all my visiting cards copied as well as having to account for my entire stay as if I had to provide an alibi.

It’s my free choice to carry what in the UK seems to R & C to be a large amount, but in Switzerland is not. A clash of cultures perhaps? I have no grouse about being stopped and asked how much cash I have. It happens frequently traveling into Italy and France from Switzerland, I declare and I’m on my way.

Why do I carry this amount. Well, you are almost answering it yourselves. Calling up call centres to tell them where you’re traveling. Validating the card for a month’s travel in Europe, Pilots having to go back to hotels to get some cash. Queuing up at ATM’s where you risk being followed and mugged for your cash, as what is small to you is a weeks wage in some places. How many of us have had an approval not removed from a card, then you go to use it and its declined as you’re over the limit?

I have never called a call centre to tell them where I’m going. With 15 credit and debit cards, both personal and corporate I would need a day to do that. Though I have been rung a few times to confirm it’s me. If the card does not work for whatever reason, I put cash down instead. So easy and gives me a large degree of security.

NT, it is also large, mainstream companies that give discounts for cash. You have to haggle a bit sometimes, and I won’t name them here, but should we ever meet I’ll be happy to give you some examples.

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