Most hostels in Quito and Cuenca were cool with card payments at check‑in, especially places like Selina or community-style hostels in the Historic Ce...

I use the Metrovia buses in Guayaquil almost every day and you have to tap a Tarjeta de Transporte scmart card...no coins or bills allowe

When you hit “Accept,” the ATM converted the amount for you using their rate, not your bank’s. That’s why it probably cost you more. It’s called dynam...

Definitely go with ATMs. The exchange counters at El Alto airport were offering awful rates when I landed. I withdrew from ATMs and Stan Chart was gre...

Same thing happened to me in Sucre. My Wise card worked fine in Peru, but in Bolivia half the ATMs just said transaction failed. One banker told me so...

I carried around 150 to 200 bolivianos per day in cash. That covered food, local buses, museum entries, and the occasional juice or snack.

Cash all the way. I tried to pay with card in La Paz and the driver looked at me like I was joking. Even in Santa Cruz, they want bolivianos. No apps ...

Avoid the random ATMs in shops or hostels. Stick to bank branches like BNI or BancoSol. I had the least issues with BCP decent withdrawal limits up to...

Amex didn’t work for me in most places. Even big shops in Santa Cruz said no. Switched to Visa for everything.