mkjr

i hate to say it but any bank that purports that their product does not have issues in any country is flat out lying....and japan, until recently, has been VERY cash based and still is. my HSBC card has been the most versatile in many countries where many people have had issues, Japan and Brazil included.

Boraxo

That's absurd. I think we spent a total of USD $500 over the course of almost 2 weeks, and that included numerous admission fees @$10ppx3, subway passes, etc. Almost every single restaurant we visited accepted credit cards and the few that didn't were in the $10pp range.

Not sure if they can do that as usually it was a swipe or chip reader. There is a keypad but that's for the PIN.

You should always travel with multiple cards from different banks. I normally carry 2 from Chase and 1 from CapOne, all no forex. And sometimes with an extra backup in the hotel safe. Anybody who relies on a single credit card is just asking for trouble.

As noted we didn't have any problems with either swipe or chip with any Chase cards. So this must be unique to CSP. Act accordingly.

OliverB

I wonder if anyone's ever been stuck in a position where they needed to call their hotel to explain that their valid credit card is not being accepted and request to charge the fee to the hotel directly and have them debit the cost? Believe it or not, I'd rather go through that than to deal in cash. I wonder if a high end property like a The Peninsula that's used to dealing with Western travelers have ever experienced that or would be willing to accommodate? I'm sure hotel's have had far more unusual requests. Of course, I'm only talking about significant bills; not $10-50 charges.

Steve M

Why? Cash is simple. I think that $3000 as another poster suggested is a bit much, but enough to cover any single non-hotel expense is a good idea IMHO. For most people, that's going to be just a few hundred USD equivalent. Unlike many countries, currency exchange at Japanese airports is competitive - about 2.5% fee built into the exchange rate, and many can get better with an ATM card.

I always try to have at least $500 or so on my person in local currency wherever I am. It's very low-cost insurance to avoid big hassles. Also, as to the question "What am I going to do with all that cash if I don't end up spending it?" the answer is simple: on your last day, use it to pay down your hotel bill. That avoids having to pay to change it back to your regular currency. I have an ATM card that charges 1% forex and no other fees for int'l withdrawals. So, my total cost for this method is $5, plus the lost opportunity cost of $500 of charges to the credit card used for the hotel. That's very cheap insurance in my book for the knowledge that I'll never get stuck in a situation where I can't pay for something, even if I plan to use credit cards for everything.

OliverB

$500 is one thing if it's used for small purchases throughout the trip and we'll obviously carry some cash because it's necessary (although frankly, I have the Chase card so that I can earn points on my spending) but when we have restaurant tabs that are pushing $1,500+ and then plan to drop even more money on cocktails and cab fare in the same evening, it's a bit inconvenient. I would need significantly more than $500 if the concern is that our Chase card might just not work wherever and whenever, and I'm not thrilled about walking around with that much bread on me.

OliverB

Also, buying/trading foreign currency is a huge waste of money.

robyng

Not really. Even in the boonies where I live - I'm paying like 3-4% over interbank rates to change $1k (which is what I usually carry in cash on 1 week vacations). For me - it's a convenience thing. Not spending time on vacation worrying about how and where to change money to save maybe $20/per thousand. And - I always like to have a fair amount of cash on hand in case of emergencies (ranging from power blackouts to whatever).

FWIW - we did run across one - maybe two - higher end restaurants on our trip to Japan last year where the Chase card didn't work. So we used our AMEX instead. Although no restaurant that cost > $1k for 2 people. If I only had 1 credit card - and any concern at all - I'd simply give the restaurant my CC info in advance - and make sure there weren't any problems with it (many higher end restaurants require the CC info in advance these days to guarantee a reservation even if no problems are anticipated). Robyn

hailstorm

The dollars I bought in 2012 at 82 yen were a waste of money?

OliverB

It's 2014 now and trading USD for JPY at any bank or currency exchange Stateside is indeed a waste of dollars. I received a personal check for $5,000 CAD last week and tried to deposit it at Bank of America - I lost almost a full 15% on the transaction!

jib71

I have a feeling that a deluxe hotel might charge a service fee for "bailing out" guests who need help to settle their bills at off-premises restaurants. If they offer such a service free of charge (or cheaper than withdrawing cash from an ATM), I'd be surprised.

OliverB

I don't see why they would charge a fee as it doesn't cost them anything other than minor inconvenience and several minutes of time; surely nothing for a property that's known for being so strongly service oriented and accommodating to guests. It's not as if this is a regular or typical request; it would be an exceptional circumstance and one that I hope we won't encounter. I would personally be surprised if a deluxe hotel like The Pen charged a service fee for guests booked into a high-price suite through a Virtuoso agent and for an extended stay. I doubt we'll run into these issues regardless, as I now know to request the no-frills standard Chase card as backup for our trip.

Sykes

My new card with a chip has failed when it is swiped, but it has yet to fail when they use the chip. Nonetheless, I always carry at least one backup card (and usually a debit card as well).

abmj-jr

Once again - bullsh!t.

Steve M

That may be something else going on. Many readers that are equipped to accept chips will reject a swiped card if it also has a chip on it (there's a flag on the mag stripe that says whether or not the card also has a chip). Otherwise, chip cards would be of much reduced utility in reducing cloning fraud, as people would clone the stripe and then just say "the chip is broken" or clone them onto non-chipped plastic.

jib71

Hmmm
Please do try it and let us know if you're right.