General Info

[QUOTE=Dickhead;2142359]...We live in an impatient world and sometimes when I take cash out of CS at an ATM on a Thursday night, the transaction does not show up until Monday.
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BTW I recently found out that if you have a platinum AMEX, that gets you into Delta lounges even if you are flying coach on Delta. Wish I had known that about twenty years earlier.[/QUOTE]When I take money out with the Schwab card, the transaction has always shown by the time I return to the apartment, within 30 minutes. I haven't had a delay since I have been using the card, more than three years now.

If you get a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you get membership in Priority Pass club, which gives you and a guest access to almost all the airport clubs. The card costs $450 a year, but you get $350 to use for travel. There are many other perks that more than cover the remaining $100.

[QUOTE=Dickhead;2141895]Schwab reimburses me the same day they post the charge, which is the next business day. E-Trade posts the charge and the refund instantly. Capital One credit card charges no foreign currency exchange fees AND gives me 1. 5% cash back. Bank of America credit card gives me 2% back on groceries and 3% on gas and restaurant meals (1% on everything else so I use Capital One instead), but does charge 3% forex fee, so I only use it in the Yew Ess.

So with those four accounts, I am good to go! Beware that E-Trade DOES charge a forex fee if purchases are made with their debit card. Schwab does not. But why would I use a debit card for purchases when the CCs give me cash back? Very occasionally I run across a site like RENFE, the Spanish train company, that will not take US credit cards, only debit cards.[/QUOTE]Curious about using the Cap1 card overseas. Every time I tried using my card outside of the US, Cap1 declined it. That happened even though I have called them in advance and told them dates where I would be in various countries. Now I haven't traveled much in the last few years, but Cap1 has had a perfect track record of being a pain in the ass for my foreign travel.

[QUOTE=Dccpa;2142600]Curious about using the Cap1 card overseas. Every time I tried using my card outside of the US, Cap1 declined it. That happened even though I have called them in advance and told them dates where I would be in various countries. Now I haven't traveled much in the last few years, but Cap1 has had a perfect track record of being a pain in the ass for my foreign travel.[/QUOTE]Up until maybe a year ago, Capital One required you to go on-line and post a travel notification. That was indeed a pain in the ass, because the system only accepted a single country. So, every time you changed countries, you had to go in and delete Country A and replace with Country be. Now that the cards have chips, that has all gone away and no more notification is required. There have been maybe four or five times where they have e-mailed me and asked about a charge, usually large charges in strange countries. I go to a lot of strange countries and often reserve apartments, where the charges are as high as $2,500. But they don't immediately decline the charges. I am sure they have some time frame, but I check my e-mail almost every day, and have not had any issues. No phony charges have showed up on that card, although I am careful about where I use CCs. I have never had a F2 F charge declined, which would be embarrassing, and would lead me to whip out my Schwab card and lose the 1. 5% cash bonus from Capital One. I just looked and I have over $100 in cash bonuses just since July.

[QUOTE=FunLuvr;2142572]When I take money out with the Schwab card, the transaction has always shown by the time I return to the apartment, within 30 minutes. I haven't had a delay since I have been using the card, more than three years now.[/QUOTE]Huh. That's odd. That happens to me with E-Trade, but with Schwab there is always a delay of at least one full business day. I bought a boat ticket Friday night and it hasn't shown up yet, Sunday early afternoon. Last Sunday I took cash out at the airport and it showed up Tuesday morning. The transaction history even says, '2/13 as of 2/11. '.

I guess it must depend on the precise type of account? Or something. Because you are saying it hits right away, I am experiencing a one business day delay, and others are saying they don't get the ATM fees back until the end of the month. Strange.

But anyway, it's a hella good deal regardless. ATM fees suck and are illegal in the country where I am now.

I suspect a cash withdrawl is a different transaction type than a purchase and handled differently. My ATM withdrawals are always reflected very fast, whereas purchases can take a little while.

[QUOTE=Dickhead;2142776]Huh. That's odd. That happens to me with E-Trade, but with Schwab there is always a delay of at least one full business day. I bought a boat ticket Friday night and it hasn't shown up yet, Sunday early afternoon. Last Sunday I took cash out at the airport and it showed up Tuesday morning. The transaction history even says, '2/13 as of 2/11. '.

I guess it must depend on the precise type of account? Or something. Because you are saying it hits right away, I am experiencing a one business day delay, and others are saying they don't get the ATM fees back until the end of the month. Strange.

But anyway, it's a hella good deal regardless. ATM fees suck and are illegal in the country where I am now.[/QUOTE]

Neither my purchases nor my cash withdrawals ever show up in Schwab until the next business day, and seem to be handled the exact same way. Although, I make few purchases with it.

[QUOTE=Dickhead;2142841]Neither my purchases nor my cash withdrawals ever show up in Schwab until the next business day, and seem to be handled the exact same way. Although, I make few purchases with it.[/QUOTE]Are you using a Schwab debit card attached to a checking account that is attached to a brokerage account? I can't figure out how your account can be different in various aspects from others.

What nobody ever mentions is that the Schwab account that provides for free this and free that is NOT a simple bank account with a debit card attached. It is a brokerage account and you must qualify for this account (with all the paperwork) and then you will be giving them ALL your financial information (if you want that account). I don't like it at all. Better deposit $2500 in TDBANK online. And you have a regular debit card with everything free. All this and that. With the TD account...make a purchase or withdrawal here in Colombia....go home....see it in your account immediately on line.

[QUOTE=FunLuvr;2143670]Are you using a Schwab debit card attached to a checking account that is attached to a brokerage account? I can't figure out how your account can be different in various aspects from others.[/QUOTE]Yes. I can't figure it out either but the boat ticket I bought on Thursday night did not show up until early this morning since Monday was a bank holiday. Not that it matters. Card works well and Schwab has provided good service the few times I have needed it.

[QUOTE=PirateMorgan;2143687]What nobody ever mentions is that the Schwab account that provides for free this and free that is NOT a simple bank account with a debit card attached. It is a brokerage account and you must qualify for this account (with all the paperwork) and then you will be giving them ALL your financial information (if you want that account). I don't like it at all. Better deposit $2500 in TDBANK online. And you have a regular debit card with everything free. All this and that. With the TD account...make a purchase or withdrawal here in Colombia....go home....see it in your account immediately on line.[/QUOTE]I had TD for several years and then they started charging forex fees on purchases, or something they weren't doing before. I forget exactly what. Schwab gave me some amount of money to transfer my assets so I did that. Yeah, if you want a brokerage account, you have to give more info. I need a brokerage account. I have investments and I want margin borrowing capabilities. But I did not have to give any info to Schwab that TD did not already have. Periodically TD sends me offers to switch back. Maybe I will at some point. I think when I switched (back) to Schwab, they gave me $200 and TD charged me $75 to transfer my securities. I got good service from TD as well. I don't require much in the way of special service from banks, so they like me. I don't require much in the way of special service from hookers either, so they like me too. Suck, fuck, come, pay, bye. If I like them, I feed them too.

E-Trade, make a withdrawal or a purchase, go home, see it in your account, but they charge 1% forex for debit card purchases. Not for ATM withdrawals.

[QUOTE=PirateMorgan;2143687]What nobody ever mentions is that the Schwab account that provides for free this and free that is NOT a simple bank account with a debit card attached. It is a brokerage account and you must qualify for this account (with all the paperwork) and then you will be giving them ALL your financial information (if you want that account). I don't like it at all. Better deposit $2500 in TDBANK online. And you have a regular debit card with everything free. All this and that. With the TD account...make a purchase or withdrawal here in Colombia....go home....see it in your account immediately on line.[/QUOTE]Totally false. I have two Schwab accounts and yes, you do have to open a brokerage account but you don't ever have to use it. And the only info that they ask you for is no different than that of a conventional bank, nothing more.

Last time I was in Medellin I had a blast with a super hottie I 1st picked up at New Life.

We met 2 days later and spent most of the day together:6 hours or so, then another night a couple later.

In the ensuing few months we have chatted a bit on facebook and whatsapp. An now, she wants to come visit me for 10 days or so.

I can keep her apart from my 'life' so I am still Incognito. She is pretty hot, and seemed normal. Def. Wants to get out of the 'business'-like they all say.

I don't live in the US--and am not far from Medellin, getting her to me will cost 7-8 hundy. Though, she has offered to pay some / most of it. She says she genuinely like or vibe, likes my pics of where I live and wants to visit somewhere different.

Big head says. Hmmmm.

Little head says. Hell yeah.

Thoughts?

[QUOTE=JustIncognito;2147356]Last time I was in Medellin I had a blast with a super hottie I 1st picked up at New Life.

We met 2 days later and spent most of the day together:6 hours or so, then another night a couple later.

In the ensuing few months we have chatted a bit on facebook and whatsapp. An now, she wants to come visit me for 10 days or so.

I can keep her apart from my 'life' so I am still Incognito. She is pretty hot, and seemed normal. Def. Wants to get out of the 'business'-like they all say.

I don't live in the US--and am not far from Medellin, getting her to me will cost 7-8 hundy. Though, she has offered to pay some / most of it. She says she genuinely like or vibe, likes my pics of where I live and wants to visit somewhere different.

Big head says. Hmmmm.

Little head says. Hell yeah.

Thoughts?[/QUOTE]From what you described and probably more import is how you described the situation I would take a chance and invite, perhaps help with half the travel cost. Go for it and let us know. I too have met some, very very few, at the casas and had a blast outside the casa.

TTM.

[QUOTE=JustIncognito;2147356]Big head says. Hmmmm.

Little head says. Hell yeah.

Thoughts?[/QUOTE]My take: Nobody here knows you or the girl, only you have enough information to make the decision. But don't listen to either head. Listen so somewhere inbetween, like your heart, or even your stomach. What does your intuition tell you about the girl's intentions?

It's a risk. If you don't take it you have maybe lost a great experience. If you take it, and it goes bad, what have you lost, and can you afford that?

[QUOTE=JustIncognito;2147356]Big head says. Hmmmm.

Little head says. Hell yeah.

Thoughts?[/QUOTE]There is a saying that goes something like "I don't have regrets for anything I have done; I only regret not doing the things I could have done". What is the worst that could happen if she visits you? It doesn't sound like you will be risking a lot.