Odysseus wrote:
> I have not purchased traveler's checks, even for international travel, in
> years. I use my credit card for most bills. When I need cash I get local
> currency from ATMs. Is this a practical option in South Africa and
> Zimbabwe?
>
It will be impossible in Zimbabwe.
Speaking of South Africa, you can indeed get rand
using a debit card linked to your bank account.
> The guidebook I read say that in Zimbabwe most people prefer foreign
> currency. It also said that if you pay by credit card you may not get an
> unfavorable exchange rate.
Unless the laws have changed recently, Zimbabwe has a tier of exchange rates.
The one for credit card use is - to say the least - unfavorable.
If you will be spending much time there in activities and lodging you have
not prepaid through a travel agent, you will find it all very confusing and
unpleasant, I expect.
Anyone who expects to just show up and have a nice, normal travel experience
is in for some surprises. None good.
Whatever you read in a guidebook would have been true the day the author
wrote it, and possibly still is. And quite possibly, is not.
> I concluded that in SA, I can follow my usual practice of paying with
> Mastercard or Visa and getting my cash from ATMs.
>
> In the USA, there is a fee (usually between $1 and $3) for using an ATM.
> That charge is imposed by the owner of the ATM. It is in addition to any
> fee the customer's bank may charge. What fees, if any, do the owners of ATMs
> in SA charge?
What difference could it possibly make? If that's your intention anyway,
just do it. I have done it on occasion and when I checked the bank
statement after returning home, I didn't see any way to determine what
fee might have been charged. I just checked to see what dollar amount
came out of my account, compared it to the amount of rand I got that
day, and decided that it was OK. A fair deal.
Incidentally, in the US, Visa has just increased to 3% the additional fee for
all transactions made in other countries.
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