Bring back the Travelers Checks!

I just get really tired of spending money or paying for services that are not there. My credit card bill is peppered with tiny charges per transaction every time I use the credit card overseas. That really irritates me! There are cards that advertise no international transaction fees; if you have an Amex Platinum, then it’s automatically waived. But my whole thing is how can you waive something that shouldn’t be there in the first place? It’s just another revenue stream and another rip-off.  So consider this, go look for a credit card that does not charge the fee and also go look for a credit card that has enough access points overseas so that you don’t have to constantly get ripped off at the ATM machine.

There was a recent research survey on Brits who travel and according to that, £180 Million in bank fees were charged at ATMs outside of the UK and the average charge of a cash machine overseas is between $7 and $10! So the bottom line is, do the research first and if you’re desperate and you need to pull money out, pull as much out as you can – which of course brings us back to that other almost amusing circle.  What happens if I’m ripped off the legitimate way, given the fact that I’ve already been robbed at the credit card machine? You’ve taken out too much money because you don’t want to pay for another credit card robbery – you then are robbed legitimately on the metro by hardworking honest to goodness thieves, rather than those corporate bandits, who barely laid a hand on you. So take all that money you get from the ATM and go see if you can find an American Express office and convert that into traveler’s checks. Yah, I know it’s a fantasy, I know those offices have long since gone, but it sure makes you think.