Leaving in 18 hrs

gregornot

Namaste,

There is a thread that showed the banks that took Mastercard Debit cards with no problems in Delhi. I can't think it can any post the list of banks in Delhi that take Master card with no problems

My son's mother wants us to take American travel checks, I think that it will be a problem as compared to ATMS yea or nay

Thanks, Gregor, who chewed his fingernails off after ATM machine ate card, I got it today and trying to do 4 days of everything right now( sound like a little PTSD creeping in, time to eat Valium or made more to calm down I do have 23 hours left and need to start packing, peace gregor

__________________

"If the roots remain untouched and firm in the ground,
a felled tree still puts forth new shoots.
If the underlying habit of craving and aversion is not
uprooted, suffering arises anew over and over again."

robotvoice

hi gregor, have a great trip.
i relied mainly on travelers checks on my six month trip. in my opinion this was MUCH easier to cash than finding an atm. in practically an size town that you happen to be in, if you walk to the bank or atm you will probably pass about five check cashing places along the way. most travel agents are also money changers and they tend to be everywhere, but as far as i know none of these guys have atm.
also, with atms you will pay a relatively hefty surcharge for each transaction whereas with checks you more or less get the exchange rate. (money changers will tax aproximately one rupee per dollar but it's the same exchange rate the bank would give you)

mangrove

Is it generally agreed then that the price you pay to use an ATM outways the commission charged when your traveller's cheques are cashed into Rupees?

What is a normal charge / percentage for encashing traveller's cheques?

Darmabum

. . . traveler's checks are my preferred way to go, and for the reasons mentioned above. I finished my sixth trip to India last August, and will start my seventh sometime this year . . . from my first trip to my last, for over 20 years, I've never regretted traveling with Amex checks. Have a Great Trip.

__________________
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure - Marianne Williamson

robotvoice

(crosspost)i also would like to hear others' opinion on this.

as for the normal charge for cashing checks, they usually have a board with the rates posted. when i was there (about a year ago) it was generally between 33.5 and 34.5 rupees per dollar.

dzibead

Not clear what you mean. The current exchange rate is about 44 to 45 rupees per dollar, so do you mean the amount you actually get when you cash the check is only 33.5 to 34.5 rupees to the dollar? That seems like a really high fee for cashing the checks.

robotvoice

hmmm... really? actually that would be about a half a rupee, the smallest increment of money possible.
so for a hundred dollar check (at rs .5 profit per dollar) the money changer makes about $1.15 on the transaction. this is less than you will likely be charged for an atm fee.

PeakXV

This thread might be the one you are looking for:

ATM's+ List

__________________
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

mangrove

How can you say it's a Rs .5 profit per dollar when it's obvious that it's a Rs10 profit per dollar in the example given? Or maybe there was a misunderstanding because that would mean a huge profit!

robotvoice

oh, thanks. my bad!!
i meant 43.5-44.5 not 33
thus, i still stand behind my statement of approximately .5 rupees profit.

mangrove

Ah! That makes so much more sense. I figured there was just a silly misunderstanding

It seems really worth it to take traveller's cheques then!

robotvoice

maths aren't my strong point. i'm glad someone caught my error.

iwanttogoback

don't you also have to pay to purchase the cheques from the bank at home? shouldn't you also factor that cost into your calculations.

i know i did, but i can't for the life of me remember how much. although i think i'll take them this year, they were so easy to cash, or even use as cash in a few places (and the vendors gave us the market rate).

jyotirmoy

ATM's are now every where. Check with your bank about the surcharge. My bank levies a fixed surcharge for each transaction when ever I use my debit card out side India, so I avoid withdrawing small amounts frequently. About TC's iwanttogoback has rightly pointed out that you pay to buy them & gain pay to encash them. Bring a credit card too. Almost all mid level establishments now accept credit card so use it as much as possible.

robotvoice

my bank gives free travelers checks so i don't know what the typical price for them is.
true atm's are fairly common but i wouldn't say they are everywhere. in smaller places there might be one in the whole town, but like i said it seems you can't walk five feet without bumping into a money changer.