www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I'm certainly not gonna say that was a wise move but at least if you had drunk yourself to oblivion at the SL or HDR and paid your bar bill with cash, then (unless you also brought way too much cash) you probably would have had very little left on you for anyone to steal while you stmbled home, whereas if you brought your card with you they'd have at least gotten that.

haha Prolijo, that was 8 or 9 years ago. I'm pretty much cabbing it these days. Every once in a while, if I am dead sober, and have a hard time getting a taxi, I will do the very fast walk from one point to another. Also, if I do have the passport and credit card (which I agree is a risk) I take absolutely no chances... All in all, I agree with the conventional wisdom here.

Sirlm,
I agree with you on ATM cards except that they are, I thought, only good at an ATM with your pin #. As for Visa/ Master Card debit cards, most have a daily limit (mine had a $500 a day limit) but they managed to buy almost $1400 worth of shoes in 2 different stores in a time period of less than 30 minutes. And yes the only reason they did not get more is that Visa did catch the irregularity and put a hold on the account, And, yes, because it was a Visa debit card, one phone call by me got my account credited. And, yes Visa nor my bank were out any money because they did not pay the merchant. Using the card was accomplished because there were employees working in the stores who were getting a cut from the Ladrons. As a side note, there is supposedly a whole family of about 10 people who make a living traveling on the local buses here pulling the drop money and block the exit while accomplance behind the victum p[icks the pockets, scam on people. They are a well organized team, very good at what they do (hell they even got my camera out of my front pocket and I never felt a thing), and from what I hear, make a LOT of money--understand they have a large very expensive home in Escazu! To say that this sort of thing does not cost you or me anything is wrong! The merchant (and all merchants) has to add to his markup on the products he sells to cover this sort of thing so everytime you buy anything you are paying for thief! To say that NO ONE but the merchant was out anything (that it would cost you nothing) is totally absured!-everyone loses!!!! except the theives!!!! I mistakenly thought that a card (debit, credit, or otherwize) was relatively safe especially here since it had my very american name and my picture on the card and only I knew the pin #! NOT THE CASE!!! Yes, you have some valid reasons for caring and using your card, but I still think that overall it is much better to not do so!! The reasons for not doing so out weigh your reasons for doing so--in my opinion!

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

I can tell you from my personal experiences living here in CR for the last two years, and from discussions with my CR attorney, is that you are NOT required to carry your original passport with you unless you are driving with a foreign drivers license. I learned that driving lesson the hard way.

So it seems to me (outside of driving) if a Police officer is harassing you for just carrying a copy of your information page along with you visa stamp page, then he/she is doing it for another unknown reason. Don’t think carrying your original passport would matter in that case at all.

As far as Credit Cards or debit cards, personally I do not carry them with me when I am out walking around (I leave them in the hotel safe). I just carry enough cash to take care of any business I intend to do plus a little extra just in case. So far that has worked well for me.

One trick I learned is to always put a large thick rubber band around your wallet. That way when someone tries to pick your pocket the rubber band will pull on the cloth of your pocket and you will feel it as they try to pull it out.

_________________
I love the nights,
I can not remember,
with Friends,
I can not forget......

Good post, Hobbie. While I've been one of those arguing in favor of just carrying a copy of one's passport, I have to play the devil's advocate here for a second.

I think it has already been pointed out that whatever the law actually reads is almost beside the point when you're confronted with a policeman who chooses to "remember" the law the way he wants. You may ultimately be cleared because what your lawyer friend said was true, but the beat cop can put you through a whole lot of grief in the meantime. Of course, that is called harassment but I think we all know the "unknown" reason for that harassment - that is called the shakedown. They force you to choose between slipping them a few bucks in on-the-spot fine - that is called mordida or bribe - or else the inconvenience of having to go down to their station to straighten it all out. And I'm not sure I quite buy your reasoning that carrying your original passport would not matter in that case at all. IMHO, I'd have to go on the side of the carry-the-original crowd on that point. Having the original, while opening you up to having your passport lost or stolen, does at least knock a lot of the wind out the beat cop's argument you don't have your proper paperwork. After all, what more could you be required to carry?

BTW, I also appreciated your pointing out that important driving exception to the photocopy-is-okay rule. Most of us rarely drive in CR and, when we do, mostly do it when traveling to other parts of the country rather than while staying in SJ, so presumably we'll usually have our passports with us anyway, but the situation may come up while driving around locally in such places as Fortuna, Jaco or Quepos. So your comment could be an important point to remember.
---------

And one last comment for Srilm, before I let this go, since I think we've both been beating this issue to death. Srilm said occasionally taking the card out on the street means he can enter CR with about $1500 in cash less than what he would otherwise need for an average trip. I'd like to know what he possibly could be spending that $1500 on. His airfare goes on his card but that is run when he books his flight before his trip. No one said he shouldn't use his card when paying for his hotel room, but he can do that at any time while he's at the hotel without taking the card out on the street. I doubt he's using his card much if at all for paying for chica's or MP sessions. Tours are usually booked over the phone or internet from one's hotel or with the help of one's hotel front desk, so there usually isn't any need to take one's card with them while ziplining or w/w rafting (unless you plan on buying one of those overpriced video CD's at the end). Drinks at most places we go are often best handled on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than a tab in order to avoid the usual "honest mistakes" on the final bill.

So that pretty much just leaves meals. Many if not most of those will be informal affairs so, even if he did use your card on all of them, it is hard to imagine running up a total bill anywhere approaching $1500. He also said he'd need to bring $60 for a meal at Tin Jo maybe if he were bringing a chica and paying for her too or else going to someplace more like the Monastery rather than Tin Jo, but IMHO that would be an awful lot for just one person at a not overly fancy place like Tin Jo. But let's say he spent $60 on dinner (an astronomical amount for CR) each and every night for a week, that would still amount to only $420 or far short of $1500 (or perhaps he travels to CR for 25 days at a time). Srilm, I could let your other comments go but I just had to call you on this one. I think you may be overstating your case just a wee bit.

Actually, I don't think we're really so far apart on this. I'll admit that there are SOME times in CR where you might want to bring a card with you when going out (usually just to the restaurant for dinner and actually I've never said otherwise) if you'll admit that those times are relatively minor compared to the total time one spends moving around about the city and MOST of the time you DON'T really need to carry your card around with you.

in my 30+ trips I used my card once at the news cafe for dinner .....i can still see the guy leaving with it to run the card and thinking to myself ......why why did I pay for a $10 meal on my card that will have me checking my account for a week (to see if any funny shit is going on with it) I go to the same ATM every time , every trip and only use that one (inside the DR) it costs me $5 everytime I use it but I know its safe ....

As has been said we have really beat this to death BUT:

sirlm, amigo you are wrong on one count! A Visa or MC debit card is just as safe as any V or MC credit card; they come with all the same safe guards and security (coverage against fraud or thief). In fact they have one more safeguard that CC cards do not have--No one is suppose to be able to use them with the Pin # (though apparently in my particular case, they were able to use it without the #). There is no way they could have had my # nor obtained it that quickly. The stores were at least 15-20 minutes from where the incident occured, and the usage was stopped 30 minutes after they got my card.

Secondly, because I had my card (I had just gone to the bank where I had to have the card) they were able to get much more than I would ever be carrying on me in cash. And there is just NO rational in your opinion about it NOT costing you. It is estimated that in the USA the average markup to cover lose from fraud, thief, and stolen (and missused cards) is close to 6%, therefore if you spend lets say $15000 a year on merchandise (food products, clothing, etc.) you are paying $900 a year for this problem. Whether you lose anything or not directly from your card being stolen, carrying a card especially when you know you are not planning to use it and even if you suddenly do need it, it is never far away in you hotel room, just encourages the ladron to rob you; if all he expected to get was a little cash instead of easily used cards many might be less enclined to steal from us. JMHO

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

Debit cards do not have the same level of protection that a credit card carries. The following article discusses the differences in protection. A pin number is not required when using a debit card as a "point of sale" (POS) purchase. You just sign the charge form as you would with a credit card.

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

And my point here, which is really is at the crux of this thread, is essentially the same thing. However, you're really just confusing the point when you expand your comments to show the versatility of the card.

No one is saying here that a credit card wasn't a marvelous invention. No one is saying guys should operate on a "cash-only" basis ALL the time (so why do you keep talking like anyone is?). No one is saying that one shouldn't take a credit card with them to CR to pay for many things, particularly big ticket items like your hotel (unless there is a cash discount that one wants to take advantage of). As you pointed out that can greatly reduce the amount of cash you need to bring with you or have to take out of your account while down there. Plus there may be reward points in the equation. This is all truly wonderful but COMPLETELY irrelevant to the crux of this thread which is what one should or shouldn't carry while out on the street in CR. You're presenting a false (and really ridiculous) choice between not bringing any cards AT ALL, even for use in controlled situations like at your hotel, and carrying a card EVERYWHERE you go.

So that $1500 reduction in cash was COMPLETELY misleading for the typical monger. If your typical trip is 4 days and you're paying $900 for your hotel charges ($225/day) that is WAY over what most guys go for and in any event wouldn't reduce the amount they'd have to carry out on the street in ANY way. $100 for a tour sounds reasonable but can be booked and charged from your hotel room or front desk, without having to bring your card anywhere out on the street either. $300 for "shopping" is that for you or your chica? If it is for yourself, what would you buy in CR that you couldn't buy for less back home in the US, other than perhaps a few souvenirs for gifts? If its for you chica, then I hope she's giving you some SERIOUS discounts on your time with her (like for free!). Again I doubt most guys budget anything like that for "shopping". And $200 or $50/day for restaurants? I suppose that is possible if you treat your chica to a fancy meal EVERY night (again I hope that gets you some serious discounts). Let's not reopen the debate about the wisdom of taking chicas out for such fancy meals, but suffice it to say, most guys might do that once or twice during a 4 day trip but probably not every night and I suspect few would average $50/day just for dinners. In fact, I'd argue if you add up the true reduction in cash you'd need to bring by having a card on you 100% of the time that reduction would be absolutely ZERO.

What I HAVE been saying is that MOST of the time, you can leave those cards securely in your room safe. Okay, break out the card when you take your chica to the mall for her regular $300 shopping spree. That's at most one afternoon. Break out the card when you go out for dinner, returning back to your room afterwards to return the card to a secure place. That's a couple of hours each night. What about when you go out during the day to visit the local MP's, where you probably would not use your card even if you could, probably walking around at least some of the time in riskier areas (where there are crowds with possible pickpockets, or corners with possible robbers on the other side), maybe popping into the SL, BM or NYB once or twice or several times where you'd probably choose to pay as you go rather than run up a tab to a chargeable amount and then at nght after dinner going out to those same bars or maybe some strip joint like Pantera Rosa or Flamingo which are usually in some not so great neighborhood and where you definitely don't want to run a tab. And even if you would bring a card at these times and places you'd probably still need to bring some cash for those items and times when you can't use your card.

Does this mean you'd need to bring ALL your cash with you at those other times? OF COURSE NOT. And there is the other totally absurd choice that you're suggesting. "Given the choice of walking around with $1400 cash or a card, you chose the card" ABSOLUTELY, of course we would. But who would EVER walk around SJ with $1400 in cash at one time or even the $200 or $300 in pocket cash that you mentioned later and WHY would they even need to? Maybe you were only referring to what you might do in the US or maybe you were only referring to the possible credit lines on a debit card or the TOTAL amount of credit one might need for their entire trip to CR, but I seriously doubt ANYONE really needs ANYWHERE near that much AT ONE TIME or on a single outing, which is what we're really talking about here. So, again your side discussion just confuses the issue and is completely irrelevant to "the crux of this thread". The REAL choice that is relevant to what one should carry at any one time on the street is more often between carrying a card AND a small amount of cash ANYWAY because you'll need some cash for items you wouldn't normally charge (like single drinks, MP sessions, lunches at simple sodas, cab fares, etc.) or JUST carrying the small amount of cash and leaving the card(s) in the safe until they're really needed.

brother dean one small bag of jiffy pop please. lol.

_________________
the hunger is great!