www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hey Guys,
Does anyone know what the fee is for traveler checks at the banks. I'm coming down to San Jose next week and I'm trying to save a few bucks with Wachovia and Visa Bank Fees. PLEASE!!!! SPARE ME THE NEWBIE COMMENTS. I've been coming to CR since the 90's. But if I can save a few bucks on bank fees it might be worth it to bring some traveler checks. For safety I'll bring my bank card to use but the VISA and Bank Fees are getting worse and worse. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Bring cash?

Think I have read here before that cashing/using Travellers Checks in CR is a major pain in the ass. I do not have any first hand knowledge or experience regarding the use of Travellers Checks in CR, but I do bring $500 in TC's with me in case of emergency.

dont bring them...you will waste trip time looking to cash them ...then get pissed off when you find out what they charge you .....maybe find out if the hotel you are staying at will take them (and at the end of your trip pay for the the room with them)

If you qualify, get a Capital One Venture Visa card. No foreign exchange fees and accepted almost everywhere. You must have very good credit.

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Play Safe

If you enjoy waiting in long, slow lines at a CR bank, bring them. Otherwise, bring cash and lock it up in the safe.

In 2006 I took TCs to CR. I cashed them at the bank on the second floor in the INS building. You have to go into a room at one end of the counter where the sign says Travellers cheques in spanish (what ever it is). You must have your passport with you. You sit in a chair at the back of the room and shift forward as the people in front of you are served. When you get to the counter you have to sign the cheques you want to cash. Then the cashier will count out the money in Colonies. The fee was about $2 per $100 if I remember. Took me about 30 minutes that day in the afternoon. I did it only one time and cashed $300.
The Debit card will get you the lowest fees charged by your Bank. I use it now and do not even try to get TCs.

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Softbob

There is nothing either good or bad
but thinking makes it so.
HAMLET

Had the exact same experience on my 2nd or 3rd trip. Was told that they won't cash in more than $300 in one day, so you might want to consider that. It was a HUGE inconvenience in time & really not worth the few bucks you might save, IMO.

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I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries. Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!

Brother Silm has highlighted yet another crying need in the Gulch--Chicas not taking Credit Cards. Now if they only set themselves up as an SA for, say, project development, they could easily enable CCs. They'd have to charge 4-5% more. Not going to go where you'd swipe the card--but the front desk at the popular hotels could easily accommodate. This requires some forward thinking, outside the box (Lord I've done it again!), but has to be doable.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Not as easy as you make it out to be. I know someone who went throught the procedure to be able to accept credit cards. Like most things in Costa Rica it is the procedure that is important not the result. Needless to say there were a number of hoops he had to jump through.

Setting up an SA can run somewhere between $300 and $500.00 depending on the attorney

As to having to charge 4-5% more. There is a reason merchants offer a 10% discount for cash. Credit card processing fees are substantially higher here then in the U.S.

Then there is the tax issue. Make a cash business a credit card business and the tax man will pay you a visit. That means a 13% surcharge for the sales tax and taxes on her profits. Since she is now a business that mean CAJA payments as well.

How about handling charge backs and customer disputes and keeping the necessary corporate records? What chica wants that burden and many are incapable of handling it. Do they have to pay someone to handle it?

Let see a $50.00 chica now has add 10% for a credit card fee, a 13% sales tax, perhaps a 20% tax burden and maybe a 5% charge back loss plus CAJA fees. Sounds like our $50.00 chica is now a $100.00.

Not sure any chica wants to be that far "out of the box"

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

It is very difficult and expensive to get cc processing in Costa Rica.

Many hotels here will not accept Travelers checks due to the extreme amount of time it takes to get paid.


BKTUNA/Boyd
I am never going home

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BKTUNA/Boyd
I am never going home

As mentioned there is a daily limit (low), a large fee, always a long wait in line, and even the problem finding a bank that will even cash them at all-I have heard that several (priviate) banks will not cash them. Also just the other day I happened to see a sign in BCR that said (in spanish) only AMERICAN EXPRESS travelers checks were accepted!

You will be better off paying the fee for using a card!!! Also if you do use a ATM or Debit card, check with your bank on all fees when using itout of the country. Every bank is different!! I have a Bank of America Debit card and the 'out of country' fee is $5 whether you get $20 or $500 ($500 is also the usual daily limit I think) plus they charge an additional $5 if you get colonies out of the machine. I think it is a $3 fee for making purchases. I live here and am not as worried about the time in line as many (I also carry a cane and am "old" so I go to the front of the line!! jejeje) so I get $$$$$ out of the machine, and then go inside the bank and exchange the $$$ for colonies at no charge. I save the $5 which, living here, can over a few months time add up.

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!