Greetings all, All this money to the Azores conversation made me think about how safe I always feel over there. Like Steve, we take euro's with us each year when we go to Pico. Although we have a bank on Pico to run our electric and water bills through it's minimal so we plump it up each year. 3 years ago I had my euro's in my carry on....in the flurry to take the little plane from Sao Miguel to Pico (when you have to check your carry on) I forgot to take my money and jewelry out. When we got to Pico my bag along with several other peoples were left in Sao Miguel to be delivered later....(we've since found out this has to do with commercial cargo being flown on the plane)....needless to say I was worried since it was about 1200 euros and all my favorite baubles. The next day they delivered my carry on to our adega( which is in the "boonies" of Pico)...every penny was there.....it was all perfect and taught me a very valuable lesson! Several of them actually! Sounds like many of you are going "home" for a holiday....come visit if you're in Pico....we'll be there from mid July to mid Sept. and I'd love to meet some of you in person! Best regards, Nancy Jean Baptista
From: gfsche...@gmail.com Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 08:38:10 -0700 Subject: Re: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Azores Travel--Practical Advice To: azores@googlegroups.com Repost Steve Peters, spp1680 at gmail.com Hi Nancy, I've been looking into this too, as I head off to Faial & Pico on June 22. It really is worth going in and talking to someone at your bank to figure out how they handle all this stuff, as each bank is different. A couple of other things I've found out: My bank charges 3% on all foreign ATM withdrawals using my debt card, along with the usual fee for using an out-of-network ATM. If I use my credit card, they charge the same 3% (and ATM fee if I use one) + another 3% for a "cash advance". Any credit card purchase made at a store or restaurant or whatever is also considered a cash advance and carries this extra 3% fee. So it makes the most sense to use the debit card, and to take out large amounts each time to minimize the number of withdrawals/fees. Save the credit card only for times when you absolutely need it, like renting a car. But: I can order Euros through my bank at no charge with a week or so lead time. So I plan to take a bunch of Euros with me and then only use my debit card at ATMs if I run out. I won't even bother with traveler's checks. I assume when you make a debit withdrawal from an ATM that they charge you the lowest exchange rate available on that day, but as someone else said, the day they run the charge may be later than when you make the withdrawal, so this may not be entirely accurate. Have a great trip! -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
