nice to know
I was thinking about how I’m supposed to tip my massage therapist with a debit card when it dawned on me that I should find out if my bank and/or credit union have any compatible ATMs in the area of New Orleans where I’ll be staying and playing. I went online and looked for ATMs that would be fee-friendly to me, and unfortunately I had no luck. This is a problem.
No matter how much I want it, I can’t use my debit cards everywhere - for example, when I’m tipping my therapist. Or the taxi driver. Or the housekeeping at the hotel. I mean, sometimes, you can tip someone by authorizing a larger draw off of your debit card, like when you’re out to eat. But really, a tip is supposed to be a thoughtful gesture of gratitude for good service. I strongly prefer putting cold hard cash into the hands of the person who performs a service for me, knowing that they get to put the money in their pocket with no further hassle, like waiting to receive my charged tip from their employer. There’s also the issue of places that, in 2008, still don’t take plastic at all, or require a minimum purchase amount to allow you to use plastic as a method of payment, like vendors or certain small businesses.
It’s nice to know now rather than later that there are no ATMs in New Orleans that will be fee-friendly to me. I am thinking about making other arrangements for having cash while I’m there, such as buying a candy bar at the drugstore and getting cash back. Or carrying more cash down with me than I otherwise would have carried. I can tackle the problem on the front end rather than on the back end.
Anyway, have a great holiday weekend! Enjoy the fireworks! I’ll be back, oh, ’round Tuesday or so.
Have a great time! Getting cash back from purchases is the smartest thing to do.
Comment by Serenity23 — July 3, 2008 @ 6:04 am
Enjoy your trip. It is good to know before hand that there are no Sistah Ant friendly ATM’s before you get to N.O. I live in a small town and most places aren’t debit card accessible yet. I hate that!
Comment by Ms. HM — July 3, 2008 @ 10:27 am
What credit union are you with? I’m from New Orleans and I know several service centers
Comment by Moneymonk — July 3, 2008 @ 11:34 am