money to India

agoodwin

Hello Indiamike people,
Next Friday I'll be going to India for four months. I will be in both tiny villages and more mainstream backpacker haunts throughout the country. Does anyone have any advice for me as to how to carry money? I will have an ATM card, a credit card, and cash. How much cash is appropriate to carry around on a day to day basis? For emergencies? Should I also carry travelers cheques?

I plan to have a money belt under my clothes and a wallet on the outside holding day to day small denominations.

What amount of rupees should I have on me as I arrive in India, if any? Does anyone have a good suggestion as to where I can get rupees in New York city? A Bengali friend of mine says that his dad always pays with dollars in India. This doesn't seem possible to me but has anyone else heard of this?

ammadas

Goodwin,
I have not been to India but will be in october and asked the same ? you did.I would not worry about getting any rupees before hand,from what i found out there is money changers and atms available at the airport at pretty much anytime of the night.What I plan on doing is carrying a little bit of everything moneybelt is where Ill have my main stash,Ill carry some us$ and traveller checks in differently placed areas for emergencies.I also plan on using my atm alot.Have a great trip my friend.
Namaste Ammadas

agoodwin

Many thanks to you Ammadas! You have a great trip too.

GoanCanuck

Yo should carry a mix of the following:-

1) ATM card/credit card
2) Travellers cheques
3) Cash(US dollars, pounds or Euros)

Don't change your dollars in small towns and villages, you will get a lousy exchange rate. No need to carry more than 5000 rupees at one time. Keep in mind the best exchange rate is given by your ATM card so before leaving the US, go to your bank and find out what the charges/fees are going to be when you use an ATM in India. Also make sure that your ATM card is compatible with either the Cirrus or PLUS networks.

crvlvr

Or, you may not tbe able to change it at all.

himadventures

Lot of way to send money to India.
You can wire transfer, western uniion is also a popular way to send money.
http://www.westernunion.com/

You can send cheques.Demand Drafts -just have a communication with people/company you are dealing with.

shanthi

Hi, and welcome!

Rupees are one of the Restricted Currencies and cannot be bought outside India. As the others have said here, get a small amount to carry on you and have an ATM card handy. I use my visa all thetime when in India and never had a problem, but I would suggest you never carry with you more than you need for that day.

mrwhatisyourname

Hi agoodwin!

From my past time experience (South India in 2001) I would not recomment to carry around a lot of traveller-cheques. It usually takes a lot of time to change them and the costs of those sum up easily (fee at your home bank + fee in india + exchange rate).
There are a lot of ATMs though (~6000 for visa and the same for maestro). You can locate them via the creditcard´s homepages
The only real advantage of traveller-cheques is that they will be replaced if stolen...
My bank (in Germany) recomendet that the cheapest way to get money is to use a standart ATM card to withdraw money and to use the credit-card for paying things linke an inter-indian flight or so).
Having some dollars in your moneybelt (~200$, also small bills) is a good idea, as you can change them easily (even in some shops at a bad rate), if you happen to hin an unknown public holiday...
I will head for India in 2 weeks and my finances look like this (just as an example for a budget-traveller):

ATM-card (this I want to use most)
Maestro creditcard (if my normal ATM-card does not work)
360 $ (due to a missunderstanding, i wanted 300$, not 300€ in dollar , so less would also be ok. most in my moneybelt, some in my briefcase to change at the airport without having to strip )

Paying with dollars in India is possible in mid-range hotels, but when it comes to taxis or just a chai you will pay MUCH MORE than the standart exchange rate --> not recommended.

Wow lots of blabla from me. Hope it was helpfull...
Enjoy your stay!!!

Nick-H

But doesn't that mean that you more in fees? I usually draw enough to last a while; it seems more economical that way ---but I haven't done the sums to check this.

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

shanthi

I guess so Nick-H, but I normally only take out money with the ATM card about once every two to three weeks - and the fees aren't that bad (don't ask me now, it's been a few months ) I guess it's just a little more convenient and it doesn't cost as much as having someone Western-Union the funds over. Though in October I'm opening an Account for the kids with Canara Bank - so there ends the tale

GoanCanuck

A word of advice for everyone: Never ever use Western Union unless it is an emergency. The exchange rates and fees that Western Union charges are an absolute rip-off.

Nick-H

Oh, I see, Shanthi: yes, I do the same. I thought you meant drawing only enough for a day or so.

Hamanda

I don't really plan on taking Travellers Cheques with me, was going to take some GBP (to change there) and also couple of cards.

Most of my time will be spent in Salem - does anyone know if it's easy to use Master Card there and is Switch accepted?.

Also, my credit card company told me that if you are going to a country which is outwith Europe then you should let them know prior to departure. This is because their fraud department investigates any unusual spending pattern - such as purchases in India if you have never been there before - and if they are unable to contact you to verify that the purchase is legitimate - then they will put a stop on the card. I only found this out because I recently lent my card to my brother and he used it for 'Adult Entertainment' on internet;- this had never happened before and the company could not contact me so they closed down my card incase it had been stolen. Result - one very embarassed brother - caught out big time!. Anyway, be sure and inform credit card company if it's first visit to India - just in case.

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Hamanda