I will be visiting Seoul for 2 weeks in August for business purposes (although will do a spot of sightseeing at the weekend). My employer in their infinate wisdom give me a company credit card for my expenses but do not allow any type of cash advance. Therefore if I spend cash I must convert my own funds ahead of time, get receipts for absolutely everything, and then exchange back what I do not use. They will cover exchange fees but are not forthcoming with what happens with exchange rate fluctuations and unconvertable denominations (e.g. coins).

I therefore want to find out the extent to which it is possible to keep to credit card and avoid cash spending while in Seoul (I have never visited Korea before).

Places I will likely spend money:

Food - both restaurants but also food courts/fast food (possibly)
Taxis
Metro system
Limo bus to/from airport

Can anyone shed any light on whether there it's possible to use a card for any of the above? (I understand metro vending machines take cash, but is there anywhere at all that will accept a credit card to buy/top-up a T-money card?)

Also how likely is it that I can get a receipt for every cash expense?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. Nothing to do with this. Will my US (AT&T) iPhone work in Korea? Billed directly to work, and given their inflexibility on helping me out regarding the above I'm not hugely interested in the cost - just whether it will work or not.

My T-mobile phone worked fine in Korea, AT&T should work just fine. CCs worked in most places, but don't expect to be able to understand what your receipts says which is usually a good thing hehe.

You only really need cash for street food and the odd taxi/restaurant that don't take it. But Korea is pretty cheap, especially taxi. Just bring some extra cash and enjoy!

Nothing like loading up your wallet with a couple of hundred thousand (won..) and hitting town

It's easy to spend your money fast because couple hundred thousand won seems like you have unlimited funds. Just remember 1000 won is like having $1 bill.

when i was in korea last august, i had my office set up my iphone (also at&t) with an international plan - world traveler (voice) and global data. the rates were horrid but my office was willing to absorb them (within reason).

Is it easy to find Global ATMs in Seoul and other cities? I've heard these are the only types of ATMs that North American bank cards work in. I have Bank of America and it seems they don't have any ATM alliances with any South Korean banks. Additionally, somewhere I saw it mentioned that South Korea widely accepts Diner's Club/Discover Credit cards without foreign transaction fees.

Thanks for the input so far.

Any ideas whether it's possible to buy a T-Money card anywhere using a credit card?

You can buy T-money cards at some convenience stores; that's where I got mine. Look for the logo. Unfortunately, I can't remember which airport stores offer the card, but if you walk around Incheon, I suspect you'll find one.

Limo buses at the airport take credit cards. I had cash, so I used some on the way back; I can't recall if there are other options.

Thanks. It looks like I had the wrong end of the stick. I had read that T-money cards purchased at subway machines were cash only, and I had leaped to the conclusion that they were cash-only everywhere. It sounds like I just need to buy/top-up at convenience stores in order to be able to use a credit card.

Does anyone know whether there is much of a language barrier at your average convenience store? Should I have what I want written down in Korean what I want ahead of time? Are receipts issued as 'standard' or will I have to ask for these too?

Final question (at least for this post!) - if I buy and top-up at convenience stores, does this make it more complicated to get a refund of any unused funds at the end?

Thanks so much. There's enough stressing me out about this trip from a work perspective, so removing some of the unknown from the more mundane practical things does actually help my blood pressure! ^

It would probably be easier if you have a few words written down in Korean, such as "receipt" etc.

Just one thing regarding the receipts. They might ask you if you need a "cash receipt" as opposed to just a regular "receipt". A cash receipt (sounds like 'hyunggum yungsujeung') will involve you giving them your Korean registration number etc., which is really only something for people paying taxes in Korea. But a regular receipt (sounds like 'yungsujeung') is what you will want.

T-Money card, if you say it slowly, I am sure they will understand what you want. I haven't tried to refund any portion of my T-Money card, but I usually do not keep much money on the card anyways. As it is very easy to top up the card at almost any subway station, perhaps it may be easier to keep a bit of credit on the card just in case you return?

Remember, in Korea, legally they have to accept card for all purchases over 1000W. Some small mom and pop shops will ignore the law, but pretty much anything with a sign outfront will take a card no question.

Probably not, but is using 3,000 of your own money really that big of a issue?

Most major banks will have one ATM that will take International cards in Seoul within each branch. Also from work perspective I would really suggest you reading up on Korean business culture if you've never done business in Asia before as things work very differently across the Pacific. Getting into the city you might want to think about the AREX and then a cab over the Limo bus as depending where you're staying it could be faster.
Cheers
Howie

Thanks. The ATM question (the one you quoted) was made by someone else (I am the OP who is traveling on business) but I'm sure they appreciate the answer!

Thanks for the other tips. I bought, and have started reading, a book called Korean Business Etiquette and am learning quite a few things from that.

I think the best way of getting from the airport for me is Limo Bus, as I'm staying at the JW and I believe there are one or two bus routes that will take me straight there.