FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Bank of America in Hawai'i, what gives???
Old Oct 4, 2012 | 5:34 pm
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Boraxo
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IIRC here is another running thread that speaks more generally to ATM alternatives in Hawaii, but the conclusions and recommendations are the same.

First, there are no major US banks with ATMs or affilifiates (e.g. Citibank 7/11 machines) in Hawaii, and outside of Oahu it is even difficult to find credit union ATMs. So with that in mind if you want to avoid ATM fees (I despise them) consider the following:

(1) Use credit cards as much as possible. This means starbucks, safeway, longs, etc. - pretty much every place in Hawaii accepts cards excepting a few lower priced restaurants. By using CCs we generally burn through <$100/wk in cash. Plus you get miles or points!

(2) Bring $200 per person. $400 per couple is usually more than sufficient to meet your need for a week. I personally don't like to carry a lot of cash but you can reduce risk of loss or theft by leaving extra $$ in the hotel safe and splitting amongst yourselves.

(3) Write checks at Safeway. Not sure how this works with out of state accounts but others have reported success. At one point you could get $75-100 cash back. You may also be able to use debit cards at Safeway.

(4) If you require larger sums and don't want to bring it with you consider opening an account at Schwab or other institutions that rebate ATM fees. See the foreign exchange wiki for a list of banks.
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