ATMs and Traveller's Checks in Siem Riep
 

I will be ending my three week trip to SE Asia in Cambodia and am aware of the amount of US dollars I must bring to cover expenses. My concern is that I would rather not carry that much cash with me as I travel from VN to SR. Is it easy to cash AMEX traveller's checks or get cash from the ATM in the SR airport? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I was just in Siem Reap, and there are ATM's, no problem....I did not bring traveller's cheques, so i cannot comment on that....

These days, i just don't carry Traveller's cheques anymore..

yes, just use the ATM for U$D at the Siem Reap airport...don't bother with travellers checks

I had brought some Travelers's Checks as emergency back up. We were down to our last couple days in Siem Reap before flying home, so I decided to cash a few TCs rather than going to an ATM. There was a bank right next to our hotel that cashed them for a 2% fee. That means we paid $6 to cash $300 in checks. Our bank had charged me more than that in fees to withdrawl $300 from the ATM in Phuket.

As LA says, you need to know how much your bank charges to withdraw from a foreign ATM. My bank charges US$2 per use, and I usually try for one withdrawal per country, so it makes much more sense for me to use an ATM than travelers checks. Many credit unions and some banks do not charge for ATM withdrawals.

The worst charges I'd heard of were US$5 per use. LA, what did your bank charge you?

Okay, I just looked at my statement again and apparently I misunderstood the charges last time I looked. They had charged me a $4.50 "non-citibank" ATM fee plus a $2.67 "Foreign ATM" fee (1% of the withdrawl). I was thinking all that was for the Phuket withdrawl, but now I realize that $3.00 was for non-Citibank ATMs I used here in the states before I left. Therefore, the toal charge for withdrawing 10,000B was really $1.50 + $2.67 = $4.17. The exchange rate was 37.5. This is the first time I've ever seen them charge the 1% foreign ATM fee. It must be something new for them.

many of the banks hide the 1% conversion fee, but many have upped it to 2-3% in the last year and show it seperately....i find citibank one of the worst for fees...

Yeah, I'm not real fond of Citibank myself. They bought the small bank I used to belong to and I haven't left since they have that American Airlines AAdvantage ATM/debit card. It's amazing how quick those miles add up for all my debit purchases!

MPT - Out of curiousity, are you ruling out the use of credit cards? ((*))

A few months ago, in one of the travel magazines, there was an article with a list of banks and how much they charge overseas for withdrawals. I've always been a cash/traveler's check/credit card person. According to the article, my bank, Wells Fargo, from what I can remember, charges $5.00 per withdrawal overseas. I have the article somewhere at home.I don't use my U.S. issued ATM card overseas only my Bangkok Bank card,in Thailand, which doesn't have a fee. When I took my mom to PAris a few months ago, I just did what I've always done and zipped up to the AmExp office at rue Scribe and exchanged a large sum and went back and locked it in the hotel safe. In 9 days, I only went to AmExp twice. Happy Travels!