WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 26

Thread: $$$’s

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-20-2019
    Location
    Brunswick, Maine
    Posts
    24

    Question $$$’s

    How much cash do you carry? Credit cards for hostels and shuttles? Any rule of thumb?

  2. #2

    Default

    I used to carry $400 cash for a 1 week trip. Way overkill. I would say 60 bucks. That will get you 2 nights stay at just about any hostel and that in return would give you time to find an ATM. 100 bucks max but most will say much less I assume.
    Trail Miles: 4,927.6
    AT Map 1: Complete 2013-2021
    Sheltowee Trace: Complete 2020-2023
    Pinhoti Trail: Complete 2023-2024
    Foothills Trail: 0.0
    AT Map 2: 279.4
    BMT: 52.7
    CDT: 85.4

  3. #3

    Default

    "Take twice the cash and half the clothing" -- tried and true travel advice

  4. #4

    Default

    Cash for hostels and shuttles. With few exceptions, these are under the radar operations. Cards for chain motels, restaurants, stores and commercial transportation (trains, buses). Depending on the length of the hike, I usually carry between 5 and 10 20's.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  5. #5

    Default

    How much cash depends to some extent how often one plans to be into a town. NOC is probably my first chance at an ATM and I will have spent some cash before then. It also depends where you stay, how you pay, and where you buy food.

    I myself cannot imagine having only 60 bucks in my pocket on a thru hike. I expect costs to get to the trail, food/drink at Neels Gap, hopefully lodging at Hostel Around the Bend.....all cash. Some ATM could charge $3 to take out $60. A 5% surcharge on all cash purchases isn't trivial. I don't see the downside to carrying 300-400 cash.

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-04-2013
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Posts
    4,316

    Default

    $200+

    Everyone takes it and small businesses prefer it.

  7. #7
    Leonidas
    Join Date
    04-26-2016
    Location
    Birmingham, Alabama
    Posts
    1,065

    Default

    Normally, $100 for spending on hostels or the like. Hotel/motels/lodges take cards as do most gas stations and grocery stores. If I know I am getting a shuttle, I carry the shuttle amount plus tip on top of the $100.
    AT: 695.7 mi
    Benton MacKaye Trail '20
    Pinhoti Trail '18-19'
    @leonidasonthetrail https://www.youtube.com/c/LeonidasontheTrail

  8. #8

    Default

    6 $20’s, 5 $10’s, 4 $5’s. 7 $Benjamins for luck and ransoms.

  9. #9

    Default

    Back years ago, travelers checks where an important backup. I found a few I had a couple years ago and went to cash them out. The teller had to get the branch manager to explain what she had to do with them.

  10. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-01-2016
    Location
    Chattanooga, Tennessee
    Posts
    1,054

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by peakbagger View Post
    Back years ago, travelers checks where an important backup. I found a few I had a couple years ago and went to cash them out. The teller had to get the branch manager to explain what she had to do with them.

    I've had that experience - not only at banks but at retailers. I quit carrying them probably 15-20 years ago, and even back then they had become a relic of bygone age. Kind of too bad, they billed as safer to carry than cash. But probably not as cheerfully accepted as cash.

  11. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-01-2014
    Location
    bronx
    Age
    61
    Posts
    512

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by peakbagger View Post
    Back years ago, travelers checks where an important backup. I found a few I had a couple years ago and went to cash them out. The teller had to get the branch manager to explain what she had to do with them.
    Last time I used traveler checks was in the 80s. I didn't know they still even exist

  12. #12
    AT 11,000 Miler
    Join Date
    01-06-2003
    Location
    Dayton, OH
    Posts
    403
    Images
    1

    Default

    $200-$300. I can think of a couple of hiker-friendly lodging establishments that offered a decent discount for paying cash. Don't ask for a receipt though.

  13. #13

    Default

    Unlike most of the country,I prefer cash. My son and I walked from Springer to Harper's Ferry on our first trip,and I started with 4000 in cash. With careful use of credit card at motels and grocery stores,that was enough. No ATM visits,ever. I understand most people don't like to carry cash,but it is universally accepted,and sometimes the only way.

  14. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-03-2017
    Location
    Fort Worth, Texas
    Age
    48
    Posts
    100

    Default

    $200. Any trail town that has a Walmart I top off my cash reserves by getting free cash back. Lots of grocery stores will provide same service.

    Don't rely on this method for the ubiquitous Dollar stores. They typically have a junky hand-written sign in crayon saying "no cash back".

  15. #15

    Default

    Forgot to mention, I keep a couple of 50's or a 100 tucked away in my wallet for emergencies and used only for emergencies. Having that reserved cash has saved me a couple of times.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  16. #16
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-02-2007
    Location
    DFW, TX / Northern NH
    Age
    67
    Posts
    8,143
    Images
    27

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mverville View Post
    How much cash do you carry? Credit cards for hostels and shuttles? Any rule of thumb?
    How much cash is up to you. I carry $200 or so, with nothing larger than a $20. Pretty much every business except maybe shuttlers takes debit and/or credit cards these days. But, I always have TWO cards just in case one gets compromised or the chip gets damaged, etc. Generally a debit AND a credit card as debit card daily limits could be a problem with large purchases like emergency travel if required. I suppose Apple / Google / Samsung Pay are also options, but I haven't signed on to that method yet.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

  17. #17
    Registered User hobbs's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-12-2010
    Location
    fincastle Virginia
    Age
    55
    Posts
    703
    Journal Entries
    1
    Images
    8

    Default

    [QUOTE=4eyedbuzzard;2284124]How much cash is up to you. I carry $200 or so, with nothing larger than a $20. Pretty much every business except maybe shuttlers takes debit and/or credit cards these days. But, I always have TWO cards just in case one gets compromised or the chip gets damaged, etc. Generally a debit AND a credit card as debit card daily limits could be a problem with large purchases like emergency travel if required. I suppose Apple / Google / Samsung Pay are also options, but I haven't signed on to that
    I LASHED Georgia to Happers ferry with 200 cash that I replnished from an atm and with two cards for hostels motels and resturants...
    My love for life is quit simple .i get uo in the moring and then i go to bed at night. What I do inbween is to occupy my time. Cary Grant

  18. #18

    Default

    I have on rare occasions been at a business whose network was down and they couldn't process credit cards. While other people didn't know what to do, I pulled out cash. Even if you are planning on primarily using credit cards, having some cash on hand is a good idea. $200 in cash spread around a few different places from hidden pockets in clothing/hats and your pack insures you always have something if theft happens.

  19. #19
    Registered User Bubblehead's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-06-2015
    Location
    Port Orange, Florida
    Age
    62
    Posts
    185
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    $200, on average
    Appalachian Trail completion 2022
    Georgia Loop 2022
    Benton Mackaye Trail 2023
    Foothills Trail 2023

  20. #20
    Garlic
    Join Date
    10-15-2008
    Location
    Golden CO
    Age
    66
    Posts
    5,615
    Images
    2

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Miner View Post
    I have on rare occasions been at a business whose network was down and they couldn't process credit cards. While other people didn't know what to do, I pulled out cash. Even if you are planning on primarily using credit cards, having some cash on hand is a good idea. $200 in cash spread around a few different places from hidden pockets in clothing/hats and your pack insures you always have something if theft happens.
    Same here. I once got a $100 motel room during a severe lightning storm for $50 because the network was down and I had the cash. A few twenties is all I've ever needed, and I carry four of five of them all the time. As mentioned above, they're easy to replenish with a debit card.

    If you're relying on a card, carry a backup. One credit, one debit.

    Like many, I've been carrying the same wad of twenties around for the last 15 months. More stores prefer cards now.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •