Crews Letter #2007 02a On the Money

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Some recent email exchanges:

-----Original Message-----
From: Gail Widget
Sent: Monday, 26 March, 2007 14:41
To: fred@svperception.us
Subject: Money in Turkey???

What do you do?.........credit cards?..........travelers checks?.............US dollars?

Thanks,

Gail

Hello Gail

So many interesting questions.

Credit Cards work well in most situations in large cities.  The currency of the realm is YTL <New Turkish Lire>.  One YTL is about $0.73 USD.  In all situations, YTL work.

For small towns, quaint shops and bartering in the bazaar, YTL work best.  After you have arrived at what seems a good deal, you pull out a $20 bill. The guy you have just beaten down to his lowest, best price in YTL tells you what today’s exchange rate is and he has the calculator.  What is wrong with this picture?

Our Texas bank ATM card is magic.  Plug it in an ATM and out comes YTL.  This is not always the case. Sometimes I have to try two or even three different bank’s machine before I get one that pays. But they are better than slot machines. It cost nothing to play. With our particular account, we get 5 free draws each month and the exchange rate is better than what the merchant in the bazaar is prepared to give.  Look at the back of your bank card.  If it says PLUS, Cirrus, or pulse you can probably make it work in Turkey.   Visa and Mastercard like to gouge their customers for cash advances, big time.

It is a good thing to call the bank and the credit card customer service and tell them when you will be in Turkey.  In our case, it avoids having them call home to ask if we are really there. Because we are there, we are not at home to answer the question.

Bye,

Fred

Ps:  Keep those cards and letters coming.

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