Visa Plus or Cirrus ATM Card - (3 replies) <BR> I am leaving for China next month for seven weeks and am trying to decide which ATM Card will give me the most flexibility for getting Cash. The PLUS OR THE CIRRUS system? I am talking about a debit ATM card-- accessing cash directly from my checking account. <BR>I was recently on the ATM web sites for both Visa Plus and Cirrus Master Card in China and it seemed to me that the number of Visa Plus ATM locations far out numbered the Cirrus MC ATM locations. Would like to hear your comments from recent experience using ATM machines throughout China and which system you were using? <BR>Traveling to Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xian, Yunnan Provence and a few others. <BR> Xie Xie

Forget about Chengdu and Yunnan. I was unable to find any machines that worked in those places. I used my CIRRUS ATM card in Beijing and it worked fine. I'd guess Shanghai and Xi'an would be OK too. <BR> <BR>I have two CIRRUS ATM cards issued by the same bank. I don't really understand well about the differences but one is supposed to be also acceptable wherever Master credit card is accepted, and supposed to be a better card. In the US, maybe, abroad, no. In Mideast and South America, there are far less machines taking this kind of card. But for the pure bank ATM card, it worked on all machines. So I didn't bring my Master related ATM card to China, only the other one, which worked.

And I think your chances for using ATM card in those "a few others'places are not too great either. <BR> <BR>HK is fine, of course. <BR>

My experience is that you'll have a far harder time even FINDING an ATM that accepts ANY foreign cards than you will deciding between the two networks. I live in Shanghai, and it's no problem here (lots of ATM's, many with both systems - I use Plus and it's widely available). Availability goes downhill from there. I once drove for an hour around Beijing looking for an ATM that accepts foreign cards, with no luck. The taxi driver took me all around town, from ATM to ATM, but they were all only for local cards. <BR> <BR>I would NOT rely on ATM's for money in any other cities.