With the advent of high quality scanners/printers are travellers' cheques still as universally accepted in North America as they used to be ?

We have our first "real" research trip planned for March and can't decide whether to opt for travellers' cheques or put everything on the plastic - don't really want to take large amounts of cash over - any thoughts ??

we havent used travellers cheques for years. we just get ready cash from cash machines or from First Direct before we go, the put everything on plastic. have always had decent exchange rates. with the cash points watch out if the charge is a set fee of % i think it was usually a set amount so we took out larger amounts

works ok for us

Hi there

Thanks for your reply.

I may be being really thick here but I don't understand what you mean in quoted part of your reply. Are you saying that you take a large amount of cash and once that's run out use plastic ?

Do you simply check with the card supplier what the exchange rate with them is ? What about commission ?

Cheers

When we travel it's in the opposite direction, but I think the same principles apply.

Before we leave home we get a bit of cash (about 100 GBP worth) in the currency of the country that we'll be visiting. In the case of some countries to which we've travelled several times, like the UK, we usually have some cash left over from a previous trip. This cash is just enough to perform a few transactions, like catching a taxi or whatever. It's true that most airports have ATMs in them, and we should be able to do without this emergency stash, but we like to have the emergency stash just in case.

Once we're in the destination country, we use ATMs to withdraw local cash, and we use that cash to cover incidental expenses. As batty-x-ray said, there usually is a minimum transaction fee for using an ATM, regardless of the size of the withdrawal, so we usually withdraw at least 200 GBP worth at a time.

We use credit cards to cover larger expenses like hotel bills, rental cars, larger restaurants meals, etc.

If you happen to have a debit card issued by Barclays, I've read that you will not be charged an international ATM fee if you withdraw cash from an ATM owned by Scotiabank (Bank of Nova Scotia) in Canada. That's because those two banks, along with others like Bank of America and Deutsche Bank, belong to an international ATM alliance whose member banks do not charge each others' customers international ATM fees.

I have an ancient set of US dollar travellers cheques that I have not yet used, but that I still take with me on every overseas trip -- just in case. My attitude towards those TCs is that I don't intend to use them, but I'll use them if all else fails.

Something to be aware of in Canada and the USA is that in some places a foreign Visa card will work and a foreign MasterCard won't. In other places a foreign MasterCard will work and a foreign Visa card won't. In my opinion it would be ideal for a traveller to have both cards, or at least for the wife to have one card and the husband to have the other. Australian friends of ours have had this experience in both Canada and the USA, and a Canadian friend has experienced it in the USA.

Also, at least as far as Calgary and the Canadian Rockies are concerned, it tends to be the higher end businesses that accept the American Express credit card. Mom and Pop type operations tend to accept only Visa and MasterCard. I understand the reason is that American Express charges the merchant a larger commission fee, and small businesses cannot afford it.

Oh, by the way, before I leave home, I phone my credit card and debit card companies and tell them that I'll be travelling overseas. This is to avoid a situation in which they would notice unusual transactions taking place, suspect that my cards might have been stolen, and cancel my cards. My husband does not do that because he travels overseas on business reasonably frequently, and overseas transactions are part of his normal pattern.

Hope that helps.

Sorry, I didn't notice that part of your question. Quite frankly, when you travel overseas there is no escaping some sort of exchange rate and transaction fee. You'll get dinged regardless of which route you go (debit card, credit card, TC, or getting foreign cash before you leave home). There are some banks that don't charge a fee for TCs, but then you have to maintain a large minimum balance in your account, or something like that. Basically there is no free ride. If you're going to be doing a lot of overseas travel, it might be worth your while to compare credit cards, etc. Also, if and when you relocate to Canada, it would be worth your while to compare companies that transfer large amounts of money. There are many previous threads on that topic around here. But, for a one-time trip, I don't think it's worth the time that it would take to do the research, apply for a new credit card, or whatever else might be involved. Well that's my opinion anyway.

I used to work for a travellers cheque issuer - they're still used quite a lot in the US/Canada going by the number of calls we received for verification/replacement. I wouldn't have thought it would be a problem at all to use them in shops, but if the retailer has any worries they should call the issuer and there are a few security checks that can be done on the phone to make sure they're genuine cheques or not stolen.

Having said that, I wouldn't buy them, the commission's steep and the refund service can be rubbish... I'd be happier taking small amounts out of an ATM regularly, but obviously that depends on where you're going, what your ATM charges will be etc etc.

we use cash from the ATM for small amounts - coffee etc, and larger sums we put on plastic, and we just chance to fate for the exchange rate.

Last time we used TC but for the following reasons

1) we got them at staff rates
2) you get hit for at least 2% handling fee using 99.9% of UK issued cards (including ridiculously enough Amex)
3) they are accepted EVERYWHERE we shop in Canada including Timmys and Wendys (my wife insisted in giving them a 100 CAD TC for a 4.99 Burger in Wendys)
4) They remain valid for ever and therefore see 3

HTH
Butch

Nationwide Building Society credit card doesnt charge you for using it abroad - unlike any other credit/debit card. I think you'll find all the others charge a fee each time you use them overseas. I've got one solely for this reason.

Personally I think travellers cheques are a rip off - you get charged to buy them and then again to exchange them - but thats just my opinion!!!!

But you'd be hard pushed to find anywhere to "exchange" them here, even more so with foreign currency ones... they're just used like cash so you're only paying a charge once to purchase them.

I've only seen traveller's cheques once; a colleague brought some to Norway. The banks there didn't know what they were and suggested he try to change them at the post office; they wouldn't do it so, in the end, I got a cash advance on my Amex and he used that money. It baffles me that people would purchase some sort of nearly negotiable instrument and try to use that in places where they take credit cards and have bank machines. I suppose plastic is no help 500 miles up the Limpopo but then cash or barter would be better than traveller's cheques; whatever use they may have been passed with the invention of the computer.

The Nationwide Flexaccount (Debit/Visa) does not charge commission or any ATM fees and the exchange rates are charge at the business rate (the rates the banks use amongst themselves).

Yes we took out Nationwide cards before our trip at Christmas for this reason. We use our Morgan Stanley card with cash back at home, and our Nationwide Flex with Cash back when abroad. Can recommend the nationwide. they were very helpful in getting our new cards to us before we left and also recommended advising them of when we would be out of the country for security reasons.

When my family visit me, they always use amex travellers cheques and have no problems what so ever, they just take them to my local td canada trust branch and cash them for free.... no problems, i dont know why anyone would have problems cashing them at any bank in canada (free of charge)

But, as long as they're at a bank, they could just get cash from the machine. Why do they want to have the traveller's cheques ?