Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
40
Tips
Small Change
Make sure you're carrying some small bills or loose change. Petty cash will come
in handy for tipping and public transportation. Consider keeping the change
separate from your larger bills so that it's readily accessible and you'll be less of a
target for theft.
CREDIT CARDS
Credit cards are the most widely used form
of payment in the U nited S tates:
Visa
(Barclaycard in B ritain),
MasterCard
(EuroCard in E urope, A ccess in B ritain,
Chargex in Canada),
American E xpress,
Diners Club,
and
Discover.
They also
provide a conv enient r ecord of all y our
expenses, and offer r elatively good
exchange rates. You can withdraw cash
advances from your credit cards at banks
or ATMs, but high fees make cr edit card
cash advances a pricey way to get cash.
It's highly recommended that you travel
with at least one major cr edit car d. You
must have one to rent a car, and hotels and
airlines usually r equire a cr edit car d
imprint as a deposit against expenses.
ATM car ds with major cr edit car d
backing, known as
“debit cards,”
are now
a commonly acceptable form of payment
in most stores and restaurants. Debit cards
draw money dir ectly from your checking
account. Some stores enable you to receive
cash back on y our debit card purchases as
well. The same is tr ue at most U.S. post
offices.
These days ev eryone pays with plastic,
even for the smallest pur chase. S o go
ahead and use your card for a cup of coffee
and a bagel—fe w mer chants will bat an
eye. You can use just about any credit card
here; one that might be mor e popular
around Chicago than in other par ts of the
country is Discover.
TRAVELER'S CHECKS
Though cr edit car ds and debit car ds ar e
more often used, trav eler's checks ar e still
widely accepted in the U.S. F oreign visi-
tors should make sure that traveler's checks
are denominated in U.S. dollars; for eign-
currency checks ar e often difficult to
exchange. In Chicago, you should have no
trouble using them at most hotels and
downtown r estaurants (places that ar e
used to accommodating international visi-
tors), but they may not be accepted at
smaller businesses in the city 's r esidential
neighborhoods.
You can buy trav eler's checks at most
banks. Most are offered in denominations
of $20, $50, $100, $500, and sometimes
$1,000. G enerally, y ou'll pay a ser
2
vice
charge ranging from 1% to 4%.
The most popular trav eler's checks ar e
offered b y
American E xpress
(
&
800/
807-6233;
800/221-7282 for car dhold-
ers—this number accepts collect calls,
offers service in sev eral foreign languages,
and ex empts AmE x gold and platinum
cardholders fr om the 1% fee);
Visa
(
&
800/732-1322;
AAA members can
obtain Visa checks for a $9.95 fee—for
checks up to $1,500—at most AAA offices
or by calling 866/339-3378); and
Master-
Card
(
&
800/223-9920
).
Be sure to keep a copy of the trav eler's
checks' serial numbers separate fr om your
checks in the ev ent that they ar e stolen or
lost. You'll get a refund faster if you know
the numbers.
Another option is the ne w
prepaid
traveler's check car ds,
r eloadable car ds
that work much like debit cards but aren't
linked to y our checking account. The
American E xpress Travelers Cheque
Card,
for example, r equires a minimum
