I landed at Incheon Airport in South Korea just before 4pm on a Friday. I needed to take a taxi from the airport to the guesthouse. I didn’t have any cash so I tried looking for the nearest ATM. I quickly found one. I was relieved as I didn’t have to ask for help as I was worried about the language barrier.
But, first let me speak about my first impression at the airport. As we got off the plane, there was an immaculately dressed lady who welcomed us to Korea. Next to her, were two men in suits, I assumed they were chauffeurs. The rest of us walked to baggage claim.
We were at Terminal One. I looked around and saw the beautiful streetwear that we normally see on K-dramas. Men and women were mostly dressed in beautiful tailored pants and sneakers. I looked around and just admired their sense of style. From young to matured, you could tell that they care about their appearance. I think it was the first time I saw men with visible make-up out and about. Yes, I know men wear make-up. In my experience, it’s usually very subtle, but not in Korea. They had layers of foundation. They looked comfortable.
Anyway, back to finding the ATM. I saw an ATM few minutes from me and I took long strides while pushing my trolley. I got to the ATM and chose English as it was in Korean. I followed the prompts and the money wouldn’t come. I freaked out. I needed the cash for the taxi. What to do? A beautiful Korean couple appeared behind me and offered to help. We used a lot of hand gestures as they didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak their language either. They tried to help me withdraw cash and it was just not happening.
Eventually, they had to go. They would start to walk away and then come back to try again. Still no luck. They left. A taxi driver came over and offered to take me to my destination. He spoke English which was a relief. I showed him my destination and he said it would be KRW50,000. I asked if there was another ATM as I needed cash first. He told me where to go while respectfully walking behind me. He wanted the trip but didn’t want to be up on my face which I really appreciated. I got to the ATM which was a global one this time. I was hopeful that I’d get the taxi fare. I followed the prompt. Everything seemed fine until it was time for the machine to release the cash. Nothing came out.
I remembered I had $10 in one of my suitcases. I looked for it. I found it and quickly exchanged it. It was definitely less than KRW50,000. I showed it to the driver. He didn’t say anything. He simply walked away.
I was now on my own again. I remembered reading about T-money. A card which is used for public transportation in Korea. I decided to buy it and hopefully use it to get a bus. I went to the information desk and asked. I was told me where to go and it was easy to find. There were only two people on the queue so that was comforting. When it was my turn, I asked if I could buy a card. The person behind the counter gave me two cards to choose from. Same function just a different color. I chose one and then used the rest of the cash to load my card. I asked if the money would be enough to take me to my destination. He said no. I asked if I could use my debit card to load cash and I was told I could only use cash to load the card. I had hit another brick wall. I had the useful T-money but I didn’t have enough cash to travel to my destination.
I became frustrated. I saw a man speaking on his phone. I picked up from his accent that he was American. I asked if there were any ATMs from the direction he was coming from. He said there were, but Visa didn’t work so he couldn’t withdraw, but MasterCard was working.
I had renewed hope as I had a MasterCard. I arrived at the ATM. Tried to withdraw. Same problem. I’d now spent over thirty minutes trying to find cash! I remembered that Free Wi-Fi is widely available in Korea so I took out my phone to see if I could connect to the internet. As expected, I was able to connect to the internet. I checked my banking app. All the withdrawals I’d tried to do were reflected. Money had gone out and then back into my account again.
I decided to WhatsApp someone who’s in Korea about ATMs at the airport. They suggested I go to Terminal Two. I had to take a free airport shuttle as Terminal 2 was twenty minutes away. I had to retrace my steps to get to the bus stop. By then I was thoroughly annoyed. An hour had gone by and I was walking up and down the airport trying to get money! It was cold. Luckily, I had a warm coat in my hand luggage.
I got the bus. I had to hurl my three suitcases inside. They were heavy. I was exhausted, luckily, two guys jumped in and assisted me. The road was winding and my suitcases started to move around and I couldn’t hold all of them at once. Another guy, who was with his partner, took charge of my big suitcase. Another guy grabbed the second one and all I had to focus on was the small suitcase and my hand luggage. I was grateful for the help. We arrived at Terminal Two, the guy with a partner helped me get my luggage out. I found a trolley and drove it to find the ATM. I had to ask for directions at a flight attendant who reminded me of King The Land. I digress, I know.
Anyway, I found a couple of ATMs next to each other. I was sure I was about to get my money. I tried the first one, same outcome. No money came out. I tried the second one and then I heard a commotion behind me. I freaked out thinking the airport security had been watching me the whole time and decided I was acting suspicious so now they were about to pounce on me! I slowly turned around only to see paparazzi encircling a man in an all black casual outfit. I assumed he was a celebrity. I went back to my mission, relieved I wasn’t about to be interrogated for spending almost two hours walking up and down Incheon Airport trying different ATMs.
I tried two more ATM machines and it became clear that no money would be coming out. I was close to tears. I didn’t know what to do. Terminal Two was almost deserted. I pushed my trolley towards the parking area not knowing where I was going. I saw a taxi. I walked over to the driver. I showed him where I was going. He shook his head and got out of his taxi. Clearly, he wasn’t going anywhere. There was another sleek looking taxi just a few steps away. I went to the driver and showed him my destination. He indicated for me to jump in. He loaded my luggage. I was freaking out as the plan was to ask the guesthouse owner to pay for my ride when we arrive and then I’d replace him. That was the only solution I could think of. We drove in silence. The taxi was comfortable. I feared it would be very expensive. It was now after 6pm. It was getting dark. I was happy to be on my way, but at the back of my mind I was afraid of the guesthouse owner. What if he refused to pay?
Anyway, less than 15 minutes later we arrived at the guesthouse. It was very close to the airport which was something I was intentional about as I had to return to the airport on Monday. The driver pointed at the meter reading. I owed KRW13,300! My first realization was that the English speaking taxi driver had tried to pull a fast one on me when he charged KRW50,000! But, luckily for me, the universe said: “Not on my watch!”
Next thing I noticed was the card payment machine! I took out my card and held my breath as he tapped it. It worked! Relief washed over me. I was able to pay for the trip! He helped offload my luggage and waited as I hit the buzzer outside the guesthouse. I had spent two stressful hours at the airport trying to find an ATM when I could have just gotten into a taxi and used my South African bank card!
Frugal Travela 