What has been your experience relying on ATM machines in Jordan & Egypt? Could you withdraw a reasonable amount? (In Turkey in '99, the limit was very low!)

I had no problems withdrawing sufficient amounts of cash from ATMs in Jordan last summer. I pretty much covered the country from top to bottom and this was never an issue anywhere for me.

There are ATMs all over the place in
Egypt, including the better hotels, in Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor & Aswan. I was limited by my bank's withdrawal policy & not by any limitations from the ATM itself.

Egyptians make access to our money as easy as possible so that you may spend as much as possible. Which, after all, is the main reason that they want you there.

So go & spend up a storm, knowing that you are contributing to the Egyptian economy. (I can rationalize with the best of them.)

Four years ago no problems with ATMs in Cairo and Luxor. Only currency issue we encountered was trying to get small enough denominations for street vendors, bazaars, tips. Used credit cards in hotels, restaurants. (Don't know what country you are from, but most street vendors were also very happy to accept US paper money as well)

You can change for small bills at any exchange: Thomas Cook, American Express, etc. They are well aware of the need and have plenty of supply. I found they are happy to help you and it's a lot less expensive to tip 1 pound than 1 dollar.

1 dollar = approx. 6 Egyptian pounds