Just some idle thoughts in this..... (Writing from a room at port Orleans - French Quarter, with a KEYED safe....)
Credit card.....?? I have no idea what percentage of the non-traveling public in India utilizes credit cards..... I’m not sure that we can assume she should have CCs
Its $30.00 to replace a lost key..... Or so the key chain that is on the safe key says.... (I’m looking at it now)
I’m not entirely sure how easy it would be to replace traveler’s checks without any id (it was all stolen right??)?? Might take at least a few days......and until then WHAT do you do....especially if you have zero cash and credit available to you....(as I would expect to have if I traveled to India)
I just asked my wife what her handbag was worth (im sure I’m getting a slimmed down version, but she says $100.00..... Right now there is $900.00 cash in my safe...... 9x the amount of the handbag..... This lady claims only 3 x her handbag cost lost in travelers checks....from a proportional point of view it works out pretty cheap...
India has very little middle class..... So you’re poor and don’t travel, or wealthy and do...... If she was here in the US and staying at the WL then she fits into the 2nd group most likely, where cash may mean little.....
Being a Canadian and often traveling to the US... I am always aware that I have to declare CASH at the border.... This I think is done to prevent money laundering (SP??).... I am fairly certain that traveler’s checks would not be included in this consideration since travelers checks by their own nature are traceable and therefore would not be a good vehicle for money laundering....
Having traveled with large business groups in the past (conventions and things) and doing the 'prank' stuff that sales guys will do to one another.... I can attest how easy it is to get into a room other than your own (at least for the purposes of short sheeting or cellophane the toilet....:>) a few comfortable minutes of small talk and a couple right answers gets you there.......
She states that this was the end of her WDW vacation....who knows where she was going next?.....were going from here to Vero Beach for a week.....still dragging a reasonable amount of cash around even though WDW ends tomorrow.......
And ..... Just consider for a moment.....traveling to India....(how much cash/credit would you like to bring??) and what would you do if you lost your cash, cc's, ID's and your ability to go home and there was no one back in the US to assist you (we don’t know who remained in India to assist her.....).
So..... a final thought........ If she was here...she was reasonably wealthy... (just as a result of a CAST society in India) the cash may not mean as much as the ids do...... if this was the end of her WDW vacation...her speding habits over the last few days would provide an indication of her ability...meaning her habits would produce a spending 'signature' from which you could assume she had $130.00 available or $10,000 available.....
And you would have to be pretty gutsy to come to a foreign country (especially one like the US, with the additional travel security concerns in recent years) and perpetrate (sp??) a crime like this.....
I think she must have gotten 'hit'.......by who I don’t know....maybe less affluent family traveling with her......maybe by staff who sensed her cash supply as she came down to the desk every two days to add additional cash to her account to allow for the continuation of charging privileges......... (Today I had to authorize an additional $1000.00 on our cards because we had reached our limit........).
And lastly........$3000.00 bag comments......why would you bring that with you.....you ask..... What a ridiculous question..... your means are your means.....right now in my room I've got a $3000.00 Laptop, a $1700.00 video camera, a $700,00 digital camera, and about $1500.00 in cash (ALL INSURED, cept the cash).....and its the end of our vacation.......my room could be hit for a grand total of $6,900.00..........or so..... am I nutts?....Personally I think I'd be more crazy to not have the cash backup....not have the laptop (I could not work, or earn cash for next trip....), and if I’m gonna spend this much on a vacation...I want damn good video and pics..... so am I crazy?...maybe to you.....but do I deserve to get ripped off?.... I think not.
Anyway... Just my 5 cents I guess (yeah I know...It's a wee bit wordier than the 2 cent version....sorry)
Quadman.....
Ciao for now....
BTW - Aint no lines this week....life is GRAND!!!