Is cash readily available from cash machines with VISA 'debit' card issued by BancOne. and/or accepted by most places as payment. Please advise what forms of payment may be necessary to spend time in Aukland/North Island, Sidney, Cairns/Port Douglas -- perhaps more. Considering NOT bringing travelers checks when travelling to Australia and New Zealand next month. Thank you

ATM (more popularly called EFT or EFTPOS) machines are more numerous than in many parts of the U.S. Even tiny shops generally have an EFTPOS terminal next to the cash register. You don't need travelers checks.

Just returned from 17 days in Oz. Did not use my U.S. travellers checks at all. Made all my purchases with credit cards (Amex and MasterCard) and cash received fron the ATMs. My Chase NYCE card worked fine. $3 fee for each transaction.

You can easily get by without traveler's checks, and ATM machines are plentiful. But...just to be on the safe side, you may want to bring two different VISA or ATM cards. I have never had a problem with ATM machines in Australia or NZ, but have occasionally encountered problems in other countries (including here at home in the US). Sometimes machines inexplicably eat cards or for some reason they won't accept them even though they're on the Cirrus network. If it's a holiday weekend, they may run out of money. The nearest machine could be out of order and you may not know the location of another one. Or you could lose your debit card. In any event, it wouldn't hurt to have a second card (or even a small amount in travelers checks) as backup.

Like Jill I used my Visa & American Express cards getting money from the ATM's. Also used the cards for purchases. The credit card folks convert the charges from the local currency to US currency. For use of the ATM there is only a small fee for each transaction. It was so convenient. It is wise to carry two different credit cards from two different banks just in case one of the banks puts a stop on one of your cards. It is also wise to let your bank know where you are going & for how long so they will know that all those expenditures on your card are indeed yours. I don't believe in debit cards because if you have a disputed charge you have no recourse. With a regular credit card you do have some recourse through the credit card company. Always have local currency when traveling into remote areas & small outlaying communities as they may not take travelers checks or credit cards. I did carry some travelers checks & cash, just in case.

Just a small tip when using the ATMs. As suggested, they do sometimes eat your card. On your travels, make sure you only use a machine out the front of a bank and that the bank is open for business, then if the card is kept by the machine you can then simply go inside, speak to the staff and retrieve it. <BR><BR>It would be a disaster if this happened on a Friday evening and you had a plane/bus to catch early the next morning.

One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that many ATM machines only accept 4-digit access codes. So if your access code is longer than that, please make sure you change it prior to leaving home.

You do not need traveler's checks. This was the first trip we took without them, and there was no problem. Thanks to all who advised me prior to my trip from this site, I took the advise and used my debit card almost everywhere, and the two places it posed a problem [once in Sydney and once on South Island, NZ], I went to an ATM and withdrew the money myself. After reading the prior post, I will add that my pin code is only four digits, so I don't know if a longer one would pose a problem. I had no problem with ATMs, and used them in both countries, and on both North and South islands, in NZ.