Let's Talk $$$$

[Xislandgirl]

We are credit card people. I love to get my points so I try and use a cc for most things when we are traveling.
One couple we are traveling with are cash people. They pay cash for everything.
How much cash should I tell them to bring? We are taking a day sail and eating and drinking until we are full, then resting and doing it all over again.
I know that they can get money from the ATM and they can use a cc id need be, but how much do you recommend?

[mbw1024]

sheesh. how long is your trip?

[Xislandgirl]

We will be there for a week. We aren't budget eaters either, we like to eat well. We are bringing some frozen tenderloin and some bacon and homemade breakfast sausage but we really don't plan on eating at the villa too much. I told them to bring $1000 as a start. Is that enough?

[mbw1024]

Well, I'm trying to think what we did on our honeymoon and we are not budget minded at all on vacation. Can't believe I'm going to put this in print but I THINK we took $1000 in our pockets and had $1000 on the debit card for vacation. We came home with some cash but we also used credit cards for some things (ie our purchases that we shipped home, etc). We were traveling 11 nights (1 in Philly and then 10 on St. John)
Keep in mind things like tips for porters, etc etc if you are going to be using any services like that.

[Xislandgirl]

That is about what I was thinking so we must be like-minded vacationers.


We traveled about 5 years ago with a couple to the Bahamas for a long weekend. We had never traveled with them before and found that they
1. Only paid cash
2. would not under any circumstances us the one CC that they had
3. did not use an ATM ever.
The traveled with wads of cash and when they ran out that was it.
That was an odd trip, to say the least.

[waterguy]

In jan I took 1800.00 cash and still used my cc some I don't have a problem with useing it just that I spend more if I do so I take what I think and always use the card some. Tell the to take half the clothes and twice the money.
Tom

[mbw1024]

we used the cash for things like tipping, Skinny Legs, drinks at the (insert name of bar here), a t shirt or two, gas - then we used the debit for StarFish, LaTapa, Asolare - the bigger ticket items. We never had to use an ATM.
Then we used the real CC for things like my big art purchase and oh maybe a little jewelry

[liamsaunt]

I would feel uncomfortable carrying as much cash as you guys! I rely on my credit cards for almost everything while traveling and just bring enough cash to cover the taxis, ferries, tips and stuff like that for the first day or two. Then I hit the ATM as needed. I've heard that the Cruz Bay ATM sometimes runs out of money but it's never happened when we've been there.

That's just me though. I rarely have more than $20 cash on me at home so carrying big amounts would make me uncomfortable.

The only thing I would add if you are going to use credit/debit cards is that you should call your bank before you travel! I learned that the hard way after a three week trip to Bermuda with John and my parents. ALL of us had cards that ended up getting shut off at some point. When I called my bank they said it was because I had used the card for grocery shopping over a longer period of time than a typical vacation so to them it looked like the card had been stolen and was being used by someone that lived on the island.

[mbw1024]

good point Liamsaunt. I tell everyone to do that when they travel. It has never happened to me but I had read that it could. now I have a story to back it up.

I didn't like taking all that cash either but Charlie and I each traveled with half and then we put it in the safe at the villa and took out a daily stipend.

[silverheels]

I used my debit card quite a bit when I was on island just recently. Previously, I had alerted the bank this time I forgot to. Funny thing is that one day it was denied at Bamboula and then less than an hour later it was accepted at Big Fish. Most of the time it was accepted. I really think my bank is used to the fact that I'm often in STJ. We take some cash with us and it seems to go rather fast. We also use our USAirways card on STJ but over in Tortola we get charged a service charge so only use it on big items like boat repairs. By the way the World Traveler plan that I signed up for with Cingular worked well in Tortola. They have a deal with boatphone so instead of the really high cost for boatphone it was only $1.99 a minute. Even at that I only used it when it was absolutely necessary.

[martini girl]

I'm curious as to how you will handle restaurant checks given that you use your cc and they will use cash? Do you put the whole bill on your card and they give you the cash?

We took $2000 cash and still had to use an ATM...we were, however, a family of four. We used credit cards mostly for souvenier shopping (t-shirts, St. John Spice, etc.) We also were traveling with another family who took mostly cash as well, so we just split all the dinner bills and took turns paying for groceries, taxi/ferry/luggage fees, etc. They too had to hit the ATM...hmmm, I will also recall that our bar bill was always significantly more than our food portion of our restaurant tabs...so there went a chunk of cash too! We are always "no holds barred" on vacation. Also spent cash on the day sail to BVIs which made a dent as well.

[RickG]

The cash need for us depends on the group we are with and where we are going. Our party group tends to be 6 or 8 people. We usually eat at the villa together and eat out once with our lover during the week. Our gang has some hard core cooks and one dinner for the gang is about what groceries would be for a week. Splitting tabs is more about lunch and bars, where cash rules. So, I bring $500 and Christine usually brings $200.

Credit cards, ATMs? I remember the days when you could only use them at hotels. I have also been shut out from the Cruz Bay ATM for a couple days at a time (1997), so I plan accordingly.

Another reason I pay cash, small vendors pay a significant fee for credit card transactions. I would rather that money go to the store rather than the interchange network. Where I do use a credit card is for the beginning of the week grocery and liquor buy.

Cheers, Rick

[Bob & Anita]

We easily burn through $100+ per person per day of cash. We've used the ATM on both our visits to somewhat minimize the cash we have on hand, but we don't go into Cruz Bay that much so it’s not always convenient for us.

[mfaughey]

I like to say $1600 for a week with my wife and myself, in addition to the $400 or so for the jeep (which goes on a card).
That $1600 may vary depending on a Jost trip, etc...

I bring it in cash (bigger bills) but if the need arises and we have to hit an ATM, we will..

I hate to come home and have the cc bills after the fact - but I am sure everyone has their own way of dealing with cc bills. Usually, there is a safe in your place, so I am not overly concerned about it.

Net Net - really depends on what you do - you can have a few very cheap days and you can also have a few expensive days.. Breakfast and happy hour at the villa always helps in stretching the $$

We are credit card people. I love to get my points so I try and use a cc for most things when we are traveling.
One couple we are traveling with are cash people. They pay cash for everything.
How much cash should I tell them to bring? We are taking a day sail and eating and drinking until we are full, then resting and doing it all over again.
I know that they can get money from the ATM and they can use a cc id need be, but how much do you recommend?

[jayseadee]

Hi,

So, do you really bring those amounts of cold, hard cash? That would make me nervous.

We use mostly credit cards, but usually bring ~1000 in travelers checks and keep ~$100 cash on hand. We rarely use the ATM on vacation in the islands; not sure why. We didn't run into any issues using the travelers checks on either St. John or Virgin Gorda.

I would think your friends would need at least $100/pp per day for food/drink; any additional would depend on shopping habits, are you renting a car or taxing, day trips (at least 100/pp). Way too much math for me