How widely accepted are travelers' cheques? We will be traveling for a few days in Cairo and Istanbul and wondered how difficult it would be to use US travelers' cheques? Are American Express cards widely accepted?

Thanks for info.

DixieDee

Few people actually take travelers checks anywhere except to use in case of emergency. They are often difficult to exchange, there are fees attached to doing so. Your best bet is to use the ATM or exchange window at your hotel for walking around local currency. The rate in Egypt is set by the govt, so it's the same at either. Visa and/or MC are more readily accepted worldwide. Amex has limited acceptance.

Thanks for your info...we may be stuck having to incur extra charges to "cash in" cheques for euros...my husband only uses his AMEX and does not have an ATM card but we have prepaid for our trip and won't have too many added expenses.

Dee

I always take travelers cheques with me ....... i won't risk using my ATM in Joburg airport. I have read enough horror stories. I take enough USD to cover tips and things .....

When travelling in SA, i take my traveller's cheques ...... i have never had a problem. Ofcourse, i use CC for major purchases. For restaurants and things, i use cash ....

Hari

Btw, from memory ...... cary999 called it being old fashioned! but, it works for me ........

For the last 10 years or so I have used my ATM card when traveling overseas. I still take TC's as a backup because my bank doesn't charge any fees to get them. Knock wood, but since I've started using my ATM card overseas, I've never had to cash a TC, so I always bring them home and re-deposit them into the bank. I guess I still take TC's as a backup for fear of Murphy's law--the first time I don't take them will be the time I need them.

dixiedee, if there's any way you can get an ATM card before your trip I think you'll find this is the cheapest and most convenient way to get cash.

The charges to cash travelers' checks in South Africa were outrageous.

>>incur extra charges to "cash in" cheques for euros...<<

why would you be incurring charges to change to Euro? They use Egyptian Pounds in Egypt and Turkish Lira in Turkey.

... and if you have a bank account for checking, you can certainly get an ATM card. The ATM withdrawals for local currency, either country, will offer the best exchange rate. Just check with your bank whether they charge a fee (and what flat amount of %) for each withdrawal from a foreign ATM. Some banks do and others not.

dixiedee is also going to Greece. Not too surprisingly the people on that thread are trying to convince her to get an ATM card. But that is a good catch sandi, as some newbie traverlers are under the impression that all of Europe uses the euro.

> The charges to cash travelers' checks in South Africa were outrageous.

The charges to exchange ZAR cash to BWP (Pula) in ZA were outrageous as well, so I doubt the TC's are the major factor.
You can buy TC's in ZAR, and usually there are no charges when encashing or paying directly with TC's in local currency.

I may be mistaken, but I think the cost to change travelers' checks was approximately double the fees to exchange cash. Regardless, it was a big difference.

Hills,

There shouldn't be any fees for encashing TC's ...... you may have just gotten a bad rate?

Hari

Actually, when I visited Antalya in Turkey (for the eclipse) many people preferred being paid in Euros. But I guess that may just be because of the high number of tourists.

Thank you all for your responses...this is such a helpful forum and I appreciate all who have taken the time to answer the questions here!

DixieDee

Hari, there were definitely fees. The fees to take a cash advance from Visa were significantly less expensive, so that's what my mom did (her need exceeded the maximum daily ATM withdrawal - imposed by South African banks, not hers).