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I travel frequently between three countries, with three different currencies. For me, the larger demoninations are very useful -- say you need $5000 spending m
by biztos 11y ago
I travel frequently between three countries, with three different currencies. For me, the larger demoninations are very useful -- say you need $5000 spending money for your trip to Country Two. If you can take 50x$100 it's pretty easy to manage; if you can only take $20 bills it becomes at least five times harder to manage.
This is a very real thing for many people with modest, entirely legitimate needs. People for whom the bank fees and profit-seeking exchange rates are a significant burden.
- dghughes 11y agoI'd be paranoid carrying that much money a kilometer from my home let alone another country.
- biztos 11y agoDepends where you live I guess, but it's not a crazy thing to do and I know a lot of people who do it. I myself rarely take more than a couple thousand over a border, but mostly because I'm afraid I'll misplace it or lose my wallet or something. Seriously, you can easily spend $500 a day in San Francisco on restaurants and bars for two people, without going to anyplace really fancy.
- superuser2 11y agoYes, but most people would use a card.
- DKnoll 11y agoBut at the same time you would probably be comfortable driving a car worth $5000 a kilometre from your home.
- dghughes 11y agoI would not equate cash and a car one is easily stolen and disseminated. I know carjacking exists but stealing untraceable cash versus a car is quite a different situation to me. Plus I can drive really fast in a car but for the cash I'd have to be able to run faster than the other guy.
- DKnoll 11y agoCash is traceable, each bill has a serial number. Totally agree that cash is easier to use after theft, but there is a huge market for stolen vehicles. They can be taken to a chop shop or even just loaded on a shipping container and sent to another country. Somebody doesn't need to pull you out of the car, that rarely happens as compared to somebody stealing it out of your driveway or public parking while you're not nearby or asleep. You can also easily see that somebody has a vehicle, but unless you run their pockets first or they're flashing it around you would not be able to know how much cash they have on their person or if they have any at all. What makes you a target for robbery is not what you have on your person, it's what you display on your person. Nice clothes, pulling out an expensive phone, having a nice car, pulling wads of money out of your pocket or being intoxicated or otherwise unobservant will all make you a good mark.