visa-card or normal bankcard?

I will be travelling though South-America for 4-6 months, starting from december, but I can't decide to take a normal bankcard (maestro-cirrus, to withdraw money from ATM's) or a visa-card..

My bank keeps recommending me to take a visa-card, but I have heard from different people that it is not safe to use in South America.. And of course the visa-card is more expensive.

So actually I wanted to know what you, more experienced backpackers, use when travelling? And can any European backpackers with a maestro-cirrus card tell me if it is easy to find ATM's in the South-American cities that work with the maestro-cirrus card?

Thanks alot!

Mastercard, Cirrus and Maestro are the same thing. They are very common here.

www.mastercard.com</a><BR><BR>Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

ATM scam

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

We´ve been mostly using a normal debit card that has the visa symbol which has been great for cash withdrawals but it´s helpful to have more than one card and different symbols in case one card goes missing or the only cash machine in the town only accepts one type. We haven´t found this particularly unsafe if you keep your cards safe.

I would take both; it's always good to have alternatives. I don't know why a Visa would be less safe than another card?

bring both - use the bank card for all withdrawls and use the credit card only only if you really have to in order to avoid credit card scams.

however in case of an emergency more upscale hospitals (and that's where you want to go in countries like Bolivia) might want to see a credit card before they treat you

My father in law, who lives in Venezuela, told me it was less safe. Because if you use it to pay something in South-America, they copy your number and fake your autograph. He said that it should be safe to use in official banks, however this topic was posted here a few weeks ago: Topic visa card TT, so I was confused and worried again..

But Keimbeggra makes a good point, I guess we will take one to be sure, to use it for emergencies.. hope we won't need it!

Thanks people!

Hi Evi,

First thing to check: costs of both.
I do not mean what you pay per year but costs to withdraw money AND exchange rate. I explain: I have a French and an Austrian Visa. The French one is far cheaper than the Austrian one, I get a far better exchange rate. I talk about 3-4%, which is huge for a whole RTW.
So a quick check can save you a LOT of money.

And check if your Visa has an insurance that covers you for the whole period, or if it only covers travel that lasts less than 3 months (which is mainly the case but there are exceptions). Visa travel unsurance is great.

Last but not least: what is the replacement policy: a debit card will not be replaced aborad, you would have to come back home !!! Many credit card can be replaced worldwide. And it is possible that you loose one card !!!

I travel with both and would recommend to have both.

Cheers
Gilles

Thanks again Gilles, you're a great help! I will check those things!

And enjoy Tupiza! I'm looking forward to your travel reports about this area and the salar de uyuni tour!

I only used my bank card, but I would also bring both. The kinds of cards that are in my wallet that I would leave behind are things like a library card, video store card, my electrician's business card, etc. Those are the kinds of cards you won't need.