For local payments, do the bills need to be in a certain denomination? The bank just gave me $100 US Dollar bills and I was wondering if I needed to get those broken into something smaller or if I can make the local payment with large bills. Also, same question for spending money - can I bring large bills to change into the local currency to pay for the optional extras or do I need to make sure all the bills are small?
Thanks.
Local Payments
In various travels with ImTrav the local payment in small or large denominations isn't a problem.
The problem is if you have large denominations for the country that you are travelling in -- most restaurants cannot "break" the large bills.
We have found in our travels that the best thing to do is try to get the smallest denominations from your local bank or upon arrival in the country (at the airport) or at the hotel (not your best rate) or alternatively, if and when you have an opportunity -- the local bank and request small denominations.
It really seems to be an issue in several countries. You certainly don't want to order food, go to pay and they can't give you "change". Your bill is suddenly doubled, tripled from what you thought!
Happy travels.
Currency denominations
Hello
In regards to the Local Payment, it is often very useful if you can change the note denominations into US$10's and US$20's as often the US$100 bills can be viewed as potentially counterfit by the accommodation and transportation suppliers. Obviously in order to avoid any problems it would be very much appreciated if you could provide smaller notes.
The same is advised for paying for meals and souvenirs as you may well encounter the same suspicion. You should have some luck exchanging the notes into smaller denominations at the currency exchange desk you originally used, particularly if you explain the situation. If they have any suspicions towards you then they can simply use various devices to check your own notes.
I hope this helps answer your question.
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Tristan Smith
Travel Consultant
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