Traveling with money

[cjrohrer21]

Will be traveling on our second trip, this time with my whole family for my 50th birthday, and I am concerned about bring alot of cash, are debit cards accepted on the island everywhere? Is the money secure in the in room safes? not sure what to do.

[Andrea J.]

there are ATM machines on Aruba and you can choose to have your money dispensed in us dollars or aruba florins.

i never recommend using debit cards out of the country for purchases.
there is little protection using a debit card.

credit cards are widely accepted and some/most credit card companies charge an international transaction fee (2 or 3%)

the resort's rooms all have safes.
some are keyed and others have a code.

traveler's checks are widely accepted.
your resort front desk may charge you a small fee to cash

check out these threads below for other chatter about things you may find interesting

Cash vs Credit Cards

Traveler's Checks

http://www.aruba.com/forum/f7/vacati...y-stuff-41293/

[Andrea J.]

i also should have said in my original post............if you are staying at a non resort type property, private home or apartment or such, some may provide safes, some may not.
on aruba they are frequently referred to as lock boxes.

Originally Posted by cjrohrer21

Will be traveling on our second trip, this time with my whole family for my 50th birthday, and I am concerned about bring alot of cash, are debit cards accepted on the island everywhere? Is the money secure in the in room safes? not sure what to do.

[cjrohrer21]

Andrea,
Thanks again. Is there a limit on the amount of money that can be taken out of a ATM in one day in Aruba? Here I believe its like a 600.00 max.

[Andrea J.]

i have no idea on the limits sorry.
you may want to check with your bank.

[rob o]

First....you must call your debit or credit card company before you go to tell them you'll be out of the country, otherwise, it might be shut off on you.

Recommend credit over debit for safety's sake. Capitol One charges no international use fee.

Traveler's checks widely accepted at restaurants. You may also exchange for cash at casinos or hotel front desk.

[Arubalisa]

I am with Rob. On our recent trip we calculated a budget of cash needed for gratuities, taxis and out of pocket and that was the cash we brought in one's and five's. The money was kept in the room safe at the Radisson, only taking out what was needed each day.

All other purchases were paid for with our Capitol One credit card.a

[cpjones]

cjrorher21, I really think that the daily limit on withdrawals is probably a function of the card you use and not the ATM. I know that I have set up specific limits for daily transactions on a couple of cards that I use. Check with your bank. We've never had a problem with cash and the room safe at either the Hyatt or the Radisson. The couple of times we used travlers checks I cashed them with the casino for no charge.

[Gambe]

But anyway all international credit card circuits are available in there, right?

[Griswold Family Vacay]

Where do you get Traveler's Checks? Is there a fee?