Riots in Turkey?

Well I have both a Visa and a MasterCard for Credit Cards and my debit card is a Visa Debit so I imagine that won't be an issue. Just never sure what's better value for money.

I normally get cash from Tesco's before I travel. They (like most other exchange places here) say they charge no commission but the catch with all is the differing exchange rates depending upon if you're buying or selling. Tesco's seems to have less of a differential than other companies.

I believe using my Visa cards overseas (my Mastercard is new never used it overseas) there seems to be ~2.5% charge but that seems to be much of a muchness with the exchange differential.

I've always used a credit card with no foreign transaction fee for the vast majority of my purchases; I've found the exchange rate they give you is very close to the market rate, so far better than what you'd get for a cash-to-cash exchange. For my cash needs, I use local ATMs (again, almost always better exchange rate), but the hitch is the 'outside of network' fees. In many countries that is not an issue, since I have a debit/ATM card from a huge bank with a global alliance system that covers many developed countries. When that doesn't work, there's potentially two sources of fees: a fee from the ATM for an out-of-network transaction and a fee from my bank. So, to minimize costs I just use an ATM once (the fee is fixed, not variable based on the size of transaction) and use that cash and my credit card exclusively. Easy and straightforward, and gives me a generally good exchange rate.

Indeed, withdrawing cash from ATMs abroad using a debit card generally works out better than exchanging before travel.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

In general, when traveling I have a separate debit card just for travel and I use it at local ATMs to get cash. The rates (even with ATM charges) tend to be much better than any rates you could get "buying cash" from a currency broker. But I keep those transaction on that separate debit card just to isolate my main accounts and keep me on a budget. Plus I recently got a world credit card with no international charges for deployment that I use whenever I can/need to.

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That would be stupid for me, I get much better conditions from my main debit card (no fees on getting money on other banks or abroad) than from a second debit card. I need to have at least a certain amount of money on the account to get the better conditions.

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Originally Posted by wiggin

I've always used a credit card with no foreign transaction fee for the vast majority of my purchases; I've found the exchange rate they give you is very close to the market rate, so far better than what you'd get for a cash-to-cash exchange. For my cash needs, I use local ATMs (again, almost always better exchange rate), but the hitch is the 'outside of network' fees. In many countries that is not an issue, since I have a debit/ATM card from a huge bank with a global alliance system that covers many developed countries. When that doesn't work, there's potentially two sources of fees: a fee from the ATM for an out-of-network transaction and a fee from my bank. So, to minimize costs I just use an ATM once (the fee is fixed, not variable based on the size of transaction) and use that cash and my credit card exclusively. Easy and straightforward, and gives me a generally good exchange rate.

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Turkey is well enough integrated in the international banking system to go about it like this; have cash for things like taxifare, places that don't accept credit cards (of which there are surprisingly few in Turkey). Since I typically use a Turkish HSBC debit card at HSBC ATM's or a dutch Rabobank card that doesn't charge me extra for withdrawals in Turkey and gives me a reasonable rate I don't have to worry to much about extra charges. But those really depend on your own bank and the bank where you use the ATM. Your bank can tell you in advance, the Turkish Bank will tell you as you are going through the process.

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Originally Posted by earthJoker

That would be stupid for me, I get much better conditions from my main debit card (no fees on getting money on other banks or abroad) than from a second debit card. I need to have at least a certain amount of money on the account to get the better conditions.

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Psssst.. he's a bit anal about keeping accounts.

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Originally Posted by RandBlade

Well I have both a Visa and a MasterCard for Credit Cards and my debit card is a Visa Debit so I imagine that won't be an issue. Just never sure what's better value for money.

I normally get cash from Tesco's before I travel. They (like most other exchange places here) say they charge no commission but the catch with all is the differing exchange rates depending upon if you're buying or selling. Tesco's seems to have less of a differential than other companies.

I believe using my Visa cards overseas (my Mastercard is new never used it overseas) there seems to be ~2.5% charge but that seems to be much of a muchness with the exchange differential.

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Turkish Lira's don't travel well; that means you will get ridiculous exchange rates if you try to buy them abroad. You won't see it in a fee maybe, but your money will buy you a lot less lira's than if you do the exchange in Turkey (never at the airport) in cash or through the ATM's

Seconding what Hazir is saying (again).

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Originally Posted by earthJoker

That would be stupid for me, I get much better conditions from my main debit card (no fees on getting money on other banks or abroad) than from a second debit card. I need to have at least a certain amount of money on the account to get the better conditions.

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Hazir is right in his response here too, I am anal. :)

Yeah, but if that card gets stolen then the bank account would have to be changed for my mortgage, electrical bill, paycheck deposit, etc. That's a a major inconvenience. My bank will give me a second bank account for no fee, which works fine. And keeps me on budget.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

Yeah, but if that card gets stolen then the bank account would have to be changed for my mortgage, electrical bill, paycheck deposit, etc.

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Nothing against being anal, or having multiple bank accounts (I do too, but for different reasons), but a lost or stolen card only requires a new card, you wouldn't have to change anything else.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

Yeah, but if that card gets stolen then the bank account would have to be changed for my mortgage, electrical bill, paycheck deposit, etc. That's a a major inconvenience. My bank will give me a second bank account for no fee, which works fine. And keeps me on budget.

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Well, is that like a second account from the same bank that is coupled to your first (kind of a set of accounts) and inherits the conditions from the first? Well I can get those too.

But as Flixy said, you will get replacement for your card on the same account. It's not like you have to change your car if you've lost your drivers licence card.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

Seconding what Hazir is saying (again).



Hazir is right in his response here too, I am anal. :)

Yeah, but if that card gets stolen then the bank account would have to be changed for my mortgage, electrical bill, paycheck deposit, etc. That's a a major inconvenience. My bank will give me a second bank account for no fee, which works fine. And keeps me on budget.

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What crazy system is that? I have lost many many cards over the years and am still using the same bank account I used for the monthly allowance I got as a 12 year old.

I have no idea what Dread is talking about. I've lost a card or two, same account, new card.

It's a precaution sometimes taken when a card is lost; not mandatory.

But, actually, the annoying thing is switching credit cards if one gets lost or a card's number gets compromised while traveling. Plenty is tied to the card number too, which is why I prefer to segment everything (bank account, card number, etc) into a "travel" account/card/balance.

Oh, that's different. I have multiple accounts as well.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

It's a precaution sometimes taken when a card is lost; not mandatory.

But, actually, the annoying thing is switching credit cards if one gets lost or a card's number gets compromised while traveling. Plenty is tied to the card number too, which is why I prefer to segment everything (bank account, card number, etc) into a "travel" account/card/balance.

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LOL, you're worse than anal; I literally lost hundreds of cards and never changed my account.

Hundreds of cards? Dread may be anal, but you're pretty careless.

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Originally Posted by wiggin

Hundreds of cards? Dread may be anal, but you're pretty careless.

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At first I read that as "cardless" and was going to give you a congratulatory groan for the pun.

Hehe, I'm not normally that bad. Give me some credit.

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Originally Posted by wiggin

Hehe, I'm not normally that bad. Give me some credit.

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Really, LF? No comment? I was pretty proud of that one.

Actually your card (if like here, debit cards only not credit) does contain enough info to draw some money out of the account even if the card gets cancelled. Cards here at least include your account number and sort code which can be used to set up a Direct Debit. Upon cancelling your lost card you'll get a new card number but those account details stay the same.

A few years ago a government file got lost including lots of people's account and sort code and there was much hysteria about it - Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson wrote an article in the paper saying that the hysteria was stupid as those weren't enough to get access to cash and to prove his point he included in the article his own account details. Which someone promptly used to make a donation to a charity. Oops and lol.

So it is quite anal, but while unlikely it's theoretically possible that a lost card even cancelled can cause problems. As far as I know a lost credit card won't cause such issues.

EDIT: Googled the story after writing this and got this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7174760.stm

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Originally Posted by wiggin

Really, LF? No comment? I was pretty proud of that one.

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I actually liked it, and wanted to answer with another one. Just couldn't think of of a good one yet.

Hehe, good story. Not sure what a sort number is. Over here you'd need more to use things like internet banking, and if your card is lost that card will be blocked if you need it for access (even though the card alone isn't enough). For direct debit your account number and name is enough, but that's relatively easy to come by - dodgy store keepers, etc, hell, companies usually have it on their website and stationary. You can really easily cancel any of those payments though, without giving a reason. Plus I think it can only be used from your own country, so you're actually safer from that when you're on vacation.

Account Number and Sort Code are your two identifiers your account has here. Sort Code is a 6 digit written as 3 sets of 2 digits which identifies which branch of which bank your account comes from (eg mine 20-91-48 identifies it as the Warrington branch of Barclays Bank). The account number is an 8 digit number for the specific account which for obvious reasons I'm not about to put online ;). Both these numbers are printed (not raised) on the bottom front of the card normally.

To make a payment into someone's account you only need those two numbers, not even their name. To take money out requires extra details normally except in the case of a Direct Debit it needs just name and address which are easy to find as Clarkson found out.

As you said though Direct Debits here too are guaranteed against fraud so had Clarkson wanted to he could have got his money back. Still a pain though and not something you want to happen.

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Originally Posted by wiggin

Hundreds of cards? Dread may be anal, but you're pretty careless.

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I know, there have been months where I renewed all my cards twice. On the flipside, I have my bank on speeddial and am absolutely ruthless if I can't find my card within 5 minutes after noticing it's not in its place in my wallet. In the years I have been using plastic I have had only one single contested transaction caused by a malfunction in the card reader and never did I have any money taken out of my account by somebody who wasn't supposed to do so.

To my partial defense, I may point out that in Turkey you first get your money, then have to state you are done with your business to get your card back. When you're in a hurry at an airport that can easily result in a card being forgotten inside the ATM.

PS; overhere the card itself has a 'serial number' too. Once the card with that number has been blocked, you can no longer gain access to the account with that particular card and the information contained in it.

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Originally Posted by Hazir

LOL, you're worse than anal; I literally lost hundreds of cards and never changed my account.

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Originally Posted by Hazir

I know, there have been months where I renewed all my cards twice. On the flipside, I have my bank on speeddial and am absolutely ruthless if I can't find my card within 5 minutes after noticing it's not in its place in my wallet. In the years I have been using plastic I have had only one single contested transaction caused by a malfunction in the card reader and never did I have any money taken out of my account by somebody who wasn't supposed to do so.

To my partial defense, I may point out that in Turkey you first get your money, then have to state you are done with your business to get your card back. When you're in a hurry at an airport that can easily result in a card being forgotten inside the ATM.

PS; overhere the card itself has a 'serial number' too. Once the card with that number has been blocked, you can no longer gain access to the account with that particular card and the information contained in it.

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I'm not sure it's quite anal to blow through cards at that rate and call your bank twice a month, but it certainly doesn't seem pleasant. :eek: Even though I've never lost a card, so far I see no downsides to my system and have spent zero time on the phone with a bank over lost cards over the past few years.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

I'm not sure it's quite anal to blow through cards at that rate and call your bank twice a month, but it certainly doesn't seem pleasant. :eek: Even though I've never lost a card, so far I see no downsides to my system and have spent zero time on the phone with a bank over lost cards over the past few years.

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Ruthless; I don't take risks with cards I can't locate. It hardly ever happens that a card shows up again once I have decided 'its not where it should be'. Why should being on the Phone with your bank be unpleasant? I tell them my name, tell them I have lost my card and want to cancel it. They ask me some additional info and end the conversation with the question if I want to have a new card sent to my home. I have had times that the card was delivered before I was back home.

I had my Tesco credit card blocked for "suspicious activity" last month while trying to pay the florist for the wedding. What really irritated me was I had loads of such payments to make and had informed the company I was getting married that month and had a lot of payments to make (and sufficient funds to make them). Despite that they blocked the card anyway without calling. I now have 2 credit cards so I just used my other one but after the wedding while in a shopping centre while Amanda and my new sister in law were clothes shopping i called and let rip at them over the phone and got an apology, the card unblocked and £50 as compensation. Been irritated in the past at rude card blockings for "suspicious activity" but this was the first time I'd ever asked for compensation over it.

I then took the girls out for lunch to be spent "on Tesco's" only at the end of the meal discover the card was missing. While arguing with them on the phone I'd taken the card out to read out the details and must have misplaced it. So had to call back again to get it cancelled. A bit embarrassing timing lol. First time I've lost a card in about 5+ years.

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Back on topic seems things are escalating in Istanbul. Probably won't book an expedition to there.

"On Tuesday, police detained two lawyers who allegedly protested the police clampdown at Taksim, the private Dogan news agency reported. Colleagues rushed to a court house to protest their detention and they too were taken into custody for demonstrating, Dogan said. The state-run Anadolu agency said some 50 lawyers were detained."

"The demonstrators, he said, “ are being used by some financial institutions, the interest rate lobby and media groups to (harm) Turkey’s economy and (scare away) investments.'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...5_story_1.html

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Originally Posted by Loki

"On Tuesday, police detained two lawyers who allegedly protested the police clampdown at Taksim, the private Dogan news agency reported. Colleagues rushed to a court house to protest their detention and they too were taken into custody for demonstrating, Dogan said. The state-run Anadolu agency said some 50 lawyers were detained."

"The demonstrators, he said, “ are being used by some financial institutions, the interest rate lobby and media groups to (harm) Turkey’s economy and (scare away) investments.'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...5_story_1.html

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Yeah, but it all took place in the biggest courthouse in Europe so it must be good.

Just in case you didn't know; Erdogan's core voters abhor interest as it is considered un-Islamic. How convenient he found out about the 'interest lobby' (Jews anyone?).

I smell elections in the air; Erdogan seems to have given up on being a prime-minister for the nation. He's merely a party leader now, playing every dirty trick Turkey has seen over the last 50 years.

Hm, I thought he was appealing to the lefties, who buy into all the banking conspiracies. But I suppose the un-Islamic angle makes sense, too.

Unfortunately, he'll win the elections. I see a repeat of the Egyptian election.

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Originally Posted by Loki

Hm, I thought he was appealing to the lefties, who buy into all the banking conspiracies. But I suppose the un-Islamic angle makes sense, too.

Unfortunately, he'll win the elections. I see a repeat of the Egyptian election.

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It is hard to tell really, last time he had 49% and 49% already wasn't enough to achieve most of his objectives. Shaving off only a few points can push AKP out of government. That is not entirely impossible because there is a type of AKP voter who's not islamist at all; they may decide that voting with their wallet in mind only might not be the smartest thing to do with a PM who shows tendencies of becoming a real autocrat.

Turkey by the way is not Egypt nor any other Arab country.

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Originally Posted by Hazir

Just in case you didn't know; Erdogan's core voters abhor interest as it is considered un-Islamic. How convenient he found out about the 'interest lobby' (Jews anyone?).

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What's the point in lumping Jews or Muslims within the banking industry while ignoring Christians? If it's to place blame or create enemies.....Christians are just as much to blame for cold capitalism as any other religion. :confused:

<facepalm>

Tell me you are joking.

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Originally Posted by Hazir

It is hard to tell really, last time he had 49% and 49% already wasn't enough to achieve most of his objectives. Shaving off only a few points can push AKP out of government. That is not entirely impossible because there is a type of AKP voter who's not islamist at all; they may decide that voting with their wallet in mind only might not be the smartest thing to do with a PM who shows tendencies of becoming a real autocrat.

Turkey by the way is not Egypt nor any other Arab country.

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What I meant was that secular people raise a big stink, have big protests, just to go to the polls and see that most of the country is far more conservative than the secularists assumed.

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Originally Posted by Loki

What I meant was that secular people raise a big stink, have big protests, just to go to the polls and see that most of the country is far more conservative than the secularists assumed.

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Remember this one ? This is what is playing out now.

You are also falling for one of the many lies Erdogan is telling Turks today; this is not a protest by secularists against islamists, it's people of all backgrounds against a leader who stopped listening.

And there were Islamists at the Egyptian protests too. They still ended up voting for Islamist parties.

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Originally Posted by Loki

And there were Islamists at the Egyptian protests too. They still ended up voting for Islamist parties.

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IIRC islamist parties were repressed befire the protests, so I'm assuming that in Egypt they weren't protesting against Islamist parties.

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Originally Posted by Flixy

IIRC islamist parties were repressed befire the protests, so I'm assuming that in Egypt they weren't protesting against Islamist parties.

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You recall correctly.

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Originally Posted by Flixy

IIRC islamist parties were repressed befire the protests, so I'm assuming that in Egypt they weren't protesting against Islamist parties.

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The Islamists in Turkey aren't protesting against Islamism either.

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Originally Posted by Loki

The Islamists in Turkey aren't protesting against Islamism either.

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Nope, but they do seem pretty unhappy with Erdogan.