I guess my message title says it all! Do people pull out money from ATM's upon arrival at airports?

I do Jacqui - haven't used travelers checks in years.

Jacqui, in Thailand, ATMs are plentiful. There are several in the airport right after you come through customs.

Note that in several countries in SE Asia, ther are no ATMs (Burma, Laos, Cambodia).

I don't use either- travelers checks are hardly accepted anymore in a lot of places, and there are fees associated with ATMs and availability issues- and what happens if your card - for what ever reason- doesn't work? I carry cash- cash is king- everyone accepts it!!!!

I use traveler's checks regularly and they have been taken everywhere I've been around the world for over the last 30+ years and with no problem at all. I don't know what Bill is saying. Just go to an exchange window...at the airport...or a bank and exchange them. I will not use my American issued debit-card abroad as it's connected to my salary deposit.And I'm not chancing my American-issued ATM card getting eaten in one of those machines. That's just me...old school about that, I guess. So, to solve the problem on the recent trip to Bangkok, I opened a bank account,back during August's trip to Bangkok, at a Thai bank and had a Thai Visa debit card issued. So, I cashed my traveler's checks at the bank's exchange area and then just deposited the money into my Thai account and didn't have to worry about money for three weeks. Happy Travels!

Ok let me clarify- travelers checks not accepted usually in small restaurants, by taxis, in markets, to buy sky train tickets, in most of the places in MBK, Admission to temples/palaces. Not for paying Ratt and on and on and on....

Bill...We all know that they have to be converted first. Happy Travels!

We use traveller's checks and credit cards. The fee for using our Japanese ATM card outside of Japan is high, but to use it as a credit card is free...straight conversion back to yen at a good rate and no extra fee. Our US Citibank cards charge a fee for every overseas transaction, so we only use those cards in the US.

In Thailand last week, traveller's checks got a better exchange rate than cash, and were accepted at every exchange counter....and exchange counters are all over the place. Easier to find an exchange counter than an ATM machine in Thailand I think.

In the end, I think it would depend on the terms of your bank...how much, if anything, will you be charged for each overseas ATM transaction? What kind of exchange rate will you be getting? Be sure, too, that you have at least one alternative means of funds, as if your ATM card is lost or stolen, you'll certainly need another way to get money.

I always used to use a combo of credit card, cash and travelers cheques. But; last year on a trip to Europe, I had considerable trouble cashing TCs. Most banks didn't want them, or if they did it was more trouble than a home mortgage. Amex would take them for a price (unless they were Amex cheques). The money changer at the airport in Prague was the only place to give a good rate. In Amsterdam it also was not easy to cash TCs. We spent a lot of time chasing around.

Have not been to Asia since '97, but then had no trouble with TCs in Beijing.

This trip to India we will each have an ATM debit card (not the one that works like a credit card). The ATM debit only with a pin, is, in my opinion the safest way to go. Yeah, it would involve some trouble to replace it but no one can clean out the account without the pin.

No TCs this trip; ATMs plus credit cards and some greenbacks