advice on phils

[ginapeterb]

tuft regarding Tacloban Rob is the man who knows the area, his advice is invaluable ! Personally I don't use debit or credit cards when I am on tour, cash is King in phils, and that's good advice ! Travellers checks a white elephant, credit cards rarely get approved always seem to come up "transaction declined" ATM machines always offline and debit your balance without dispensing cash.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !

[walesrob]

tuft regarding Tacloban Rob is the man who knows the area, his advice is invaluable ! Personally I don't use debit or credit cards when I am on tour, cash is King in phils, and that's good advice ! Travellers checks a white elephant, credit cards rarely get approved always seem to come up "transaction declined" ATM machines always offline and debit your balance without dispensing cash.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !

Pete, speaking from experience, it seems that ATM's do clam up sometimes, but I noticed on our last trip, most, if not all worked fine. The worst offenders for ATM's going offline are at the airport in Manila - plus some ATMS have a dislike of UK Mastercard or Maestro, this happened to me a few times, but my Visa card worked fine as a backup. I've never had any credit cards declined at shops or hotels, whether Visa or Mastercard.

I've opened a simple ATM savings account at HSBC Philippines, so I can use that rather than rack up ATM fees on the credit or debit card. I would normally advise against using your credit card to withdraw cash in Philippines (unless its an emergency!), it can turn out very expensive, not only exchange rate fees, but ATM fees, etc. Debit cards are cheaper, Nationwide accounts are free to withdraw cash abroad.

[Gavanddal]

some ATMS have a dislike of UK Mastercard or Maestro, this happened to me a few times, but my Visa card worked fine as a backup. I've never had any credit cards declined at shops or hotels, whether Visa or Mastercard.

I found Visa ATMs quite hard to find so I got a Mastercard as a back up. Most ATM only allow a maximum of P4000-P5000 (£40-£50 when the exchange rate is good). When I go to the provinces where there are no ATMs, I normally use the ATMs in Cebu multiple times to get out plenty of money just in case. Tacloban should be OK but I'd get P10000 from the bureau de change in England before arriving. The first time I went to Cebu I didn't have any Peso and I struggled to find anywhere to get some when I first arrived.

Enjoy your trip, I certainly enjoyed my first time there. It's a whole new experience.
BTW, it's unlikely that your lady will ever get a tourist visa to visit the UK. The British embassy are racist! They think all Filipinas will do bunk when they arrive. Tarring with the same brush eh?

[joebloggs]

BTW, it's unlikely that your lady will ever get a tourist visa to visit the UK. The British embassy are racist! They think all Filipinas will do bunk when they arrive. Tarring with the same brush eh?

the embassy is not racist, just too many people abuse the tourist visa by overstaying, sometimes for years, so the case worker has no option but only to issue a tourist visa when the applicant has shown they have good reason to go back and not overstay