USA: Emergencies
Having money wired from home using one of the companies listed in this section is never convenient or cheap, and should be considered a last resort. It's also possible to have money wired directly from a bank in your home country to a bank in the US, although this is somewhat less reliable because it involves two separate institutions. If you go this route, your home bank will need the address of the branch bank where you want to pick up the money and the address and telex number of the head office, which will act as the clearinghouse. Money wired this way normally takes two working days to arrive, and costs around the equivalent of $40 per transaction. Assuming you know someone prepared to send you money in a crisis, the quickest way is to have them take the cash to the nearest Moneygram (tel 1-800/666-3947) office and have it instantaneously wired to the office nearest you. In the US this process should take no longer than ten minutes. They charge according to the amount sent (ranging from $12 to wire $100, to $70 for $1000). The fees differ slightly if the money is being sent from outside the US (from the UK, for example, it costs $20 to wire $100, and $50 to wire $1000). Thomas Cook (tel 1-800/287-7362 or 1-888/823-4732 in Canada, ) and Western Union (US tel 1-800/325-6000, UK tel 0800/833833) offer a similar service, at slightly higher rates. If credit cards are involved, the latter charges an extra $10.If you have a few days' leeway, it's cheaper to mail a postal money order , which is exchangeable at any post office. The equivalent for foreign travelers is the international money order , for which you need to allow up to seven days in the mail. An ordinary check sent from overseas takes two to three weeks to clear.
Copyright Rough Guides Ltd as trustee for its authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved. The Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd.
Copyright © 2006 United States.biz
