coming for 29 days in February. Gameplan?

[usa32]

6 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Best to get some peso before coming and then just use the ATM when you need cash. Let your bank know you will be traveling to prevent them blocking your card.

You need a travel adaptor like this which can be bought anywhere.

 

You mean there is a way if I can philipine peso before getting on the plane?

I figure you just bring american dollars, and exchange at airport.

 

[marine6357]

Not sure if I can link to a specific company but For the sim card I just saw advertised at one of the cell companies they are offering a free sim card with 300mb data it is called a tourist sim. Pretty "smart" idea.

[Jollygoodfellow]

2 hours ago, usa32 said:

You mean there is a way if I can philipine peso before getting on the plane?

I figure you just bring american dollars, and exchange at airport.

 

Up to you but usually your bank has foreign currency that you order a few weeks before or places like money changers or even western union I think. Remember too that you can only bring in P10000 or the equivalent to $10000 USD without declaring it. Personally I like to arrive with enough for a few days to pay taxi etc although last time I just got the taxi to stop at a ATM on the way to the hotel.

The other thing to consider, do you really want to be walking around with a lot of money on you? 

[TimL]

3 hours ago, usa32 said:

Thank you.  So you are saying the normal power adapter and cell phone charger, will work in most places there, without anything additional?  

iPhone chargers will work as normal in either 115 or 220. If you go plugging your Dell laptop from the US in over here, you’ll fry it. 

Get yourself a decent power converter. Some of them come with travel adapters and always plug your US stuff into the converter. 

I bought a BestTek 200watt travel adapter & power converter from Amazon before I came for the first time last year. It works Worldwide, wasn’t expensive, had the adapters and it’s still going strong after 13 months. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

9 minutes ago, TimL said:

If you go plugging your Dell laptop from the US in over here, you’ll fry it. 

I dont think that is correct in modern laptops.

Most modern electronics (laptops, for instance) have auto-sensing power supplies, which accept 110V-240V, and adjust accordingly. Here's an image of a laptop power supply information with the relevant info circled (Which reads INPUT: 100-240V~1.5A 50-60Hz):

Check the laptop

[OnMyWay]

48 minutes ago, TimL said:

If you go plugging your Dell laptop from the US in over here, you’ll fry it. 

As JGF said, laptop power supplies can take 110-240 input.  It has been that way since forever.

A desktop usually can take both, but there is a switch on the back that you have to flip.

I bought my Dell laptop in the U.S. last year and no issues plugging it in here.

[TimL]

59 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

I dont think that is correct in modern laptops.

Most modern electronics (laptops, for instance) have auto-sensing power supplies, which accept 110V-240V, and adjust accordingly. Here's an image of a laptop power supply information with the relevant info circled (Which reads INPUT: 100-240V~1.5A 50-60Hz):

Check the laptop

Hmmm.. I stand corrected, good to know. I will now go unplug my Dell from the power converter. 😂 

[Jollygoodfellow]

Just now, TimL said:

Hmmm.. I stand corrected, good to know. I will now go unplug my Dell from the power converter. 😂 

lol. Don't unplug your drill though. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

7 hours ago, usa32 said:

How much in cash do you recommend bringing for 29 days?

Each person is different so your experience will definitely vary, but allow me to tell you my experience from my first visit, 11 years ago.

I came with the US$ equivalent of 5,000 pesos a day for the 7 weeks vacation I was coming on.  (By today's money that would be about US$4,600.)  I knew it was easy to exchange clean, new, US$100 bills and I did not want to change too much into pesos and be stuck with pesos when I went home.

I needn't have worried about that because that cash was gone in the first 3 weeks and I had 4 more weeks of vacation to go.  So I went to the ATM and plugged in my Canadian card and got out 10K pesos.  No problem.  That lasted me a couple of days and I went to do it again.  No money.  Fraud department had canceled my account.  I tried phoning them, which was a pain in the ass back then but they told me I need to come into the branch in person to reactivate my account.  What to do?  At that time, credit cards were not readily acceptable here in the Philippines.  Now they are more so, but if you are staying in one of the budget places there are still many pension houses that take cash only.

Anyway, at that time I was able to open a Xoom account online and send money to myself which I could pick up at L'Huillier.  What a pain that was.  The system worked though and I continued to use it until one time Xoom canceled my account in mid-transfer with no explanation ever given.  It was about then I realized I would need a Philippine bank account.  For my final "going home" money, I had a relative send me $100 via Western Union.

Anyway, the point to this whole convoluted story is that I should have brought more money.  I can easily survive today on 50,000 pesos a month but when first coming as a tourist that amount would be gone in 5 days.  Even now, when I got to Cebu for a mini-vacation, I could go through that amount in a week if I am not careful.  If I was you I would have access to (via cash, credit card or debit card) 29*300 = US$ 9,000 and hope to have some left at the end of the trip.

[earthdome]

 

 

On 9/15/2018 at 6:04 PM, Jollygoodfellow said:

Best to get some peso before coming and then just use the ATM when you need cash. Let your bank know you will be traveling to prevent them blocking your card. 

Your 29 days won't be much fun if your debit/credit card doesn't work. Plus, depending on your bank you might get a very bad FX rate and extra fee's for withdrawals with your ATM debit card.

Cash always works and you can find money changers easily, mall like SM can do FX for you or banks. But a small money changer with a small stall usually has the best FX rates. Just $100 bills and make sure they are new ones and undamaged. Exchange those as needed for peso's. But use your credit card where you can, I use Capital One because they give a great FX rate, not international fees, and I get 1.5% cash back.

Regarding SIM cards, just get a plain old SIM card from Globe or Smart. Should only cost 30-50 peso's. Then add load to it, maybe 100-200 peso's load. They will try to sell you an expensive OFW SIM for like 500 peso's, you don't need that.

Depending on when your flight arrives there may be a FX booth open at the international arrival terminal. That will get you a better FX rate than in the US.

Make sure you have a way to keep your cash and cards safe from pick pockets.