larger Travelers checks.

I have a number of travelers checks I picked up... all in $500 denominations. Will these be a problem? even in banks?

I will only be there 2 weeks, can I get a visa on arrival. Any recommendation for a budget hotel in Guad city or best to get out for some place like Antigua? or other. I hear Guad city is a bit challenging.

I'm sure you can find a major bank or two in Guatemala City to cash your $500 traveler's checks, assuming they are American Express and denominated un U.S. dollars. But I don't know about other towns and cities. Better have a plan B in case.

Texans don't need visas to visit Guatemala. Nor do most other tourists.

As to where to go, that depends on what you like to do, and we don't know that because you didn't tell us.

Suggest you put a dollar amount for what you consider a budget hotel.

Buen viaje!

definitely have a plan B because even some banks can give you a hard time about cashing travelers checks.

Cash them un now and get ones no larger than $100. I have had banks refuse anything larger than that and also but a limit on one $100 tc a day. When that happens I just try to hit another bank. I dont have the big line wait as I go early in am when making a bank transaction. I like the security of being in a bank and not at some machine with others crowded around seeing just what you are withdrawing. When in a bank after I get my money I then go and sit down and carefully secure the money under my clothig. When I was in Livingston, Guatemala I had two guys follow me after I left the bank there so I ducked into a pharmarcy and inspected all that was for sale till I saw them leave the area.

I would definately agree, get rid of the $500 checks and bring bills no larger than $20, for convienience. We had to go to bank after bank in Guate to change a 100. Even the tiniest defect in a large bill will be refused, things you could hardly even notice without a magnifying glass. Better yet, just bring a couple of ATM cards.

I spent a month in Guate last year (mostly in Quetzaltenango), and I really regret taking any travellers' checks. I had to go to a bank to have them cashed, and there was always a long line. There are ATM's all over Guatemala, so I would suggest foregoing travellers' checks altogether and taking your bank card. (Get a spare one also, just in case.)

Have fun!

The problem with taking only an ATM card, what are you going to do if it is lost or stolen? Or if the machine eats your card? Or if the ATMs are out of money over the weekend? Those things do happen on occasion. I use ATM as my primary source of funds, but always take some American Express travelers cheques as backup. And I have always been able to find a time to cash them when there is no long line.

Buen viaje!

If your debit or credit card gets stuck on an ATM on a weekday you can always count that if you call the number on the screen they'll courteously assist you. That happened to me back in May in guatemala city. I didn't realize that the AtM I was using takes Visa cards only. Thus my MC card got stuck even though it should've just rejected it. I called the number on the screen and after about two hours the guy that replenishes the ATM's showed up to retrieve the card, and after proper ID I got it back at exactly the time they said. I was thinking of a real case that I saw on TV that've happened here in states and caught on CCTV. The crook used some kind of sleeve to trap the other user's card and once she left he took it out, and since he was behind her he was even able to catch her PIN number by the sound of the numbers she hit. Now what you're liable for if your card falls in the wrong hands is another story.