Advice needed re Euro travellers cheques

Old Dec 17th, 2004, 06:55 PM
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Advice needed re Euro travellers cheques

There was a letter to the travel section in the Sydney Morning Herald today regarding the fact that they frequently recommend the use of these cheques as well as cards.This traveller and apparently others have found that it was very difficult to cash these cheques in shops, hotels, restaurants and even banks. She was referring specifically to Italy and London.Has anyone had similar trouble or can anyone comment on whether this is widespread in Europe?
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:01 PM
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It would be better to withdraw euro from the ATM. Even though they are Euro TC's I'm sure cash is more appreciated by the different establishments.
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:04 PM
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Oh boy! Yet another traveler's cheque question. Yes, they are dinosaurs. Don't take them. Very few places accept them for payment, and if they do they may not give you change. If you try to cash them at banks, you will likely pay a hefty commission.
Bring an ATM card linked to a bank that does not charge you for foreign transactions. You'll get the best rate that way and won't spend your hard-earned vacation running around chasing after places that might accept your traveler's cheques. They are a thing of the past. Eschew them! YES this is WIDESPREAD in Europe. Everywhere, all over, all countries!Clear?
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:04 PM
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Hi
euro checks would be foreign currency in London, so any form of euro would require a currency exchange.

There is no advantage I am aware of for purchasing travelers checks in Euros (or GB Pounds for that matter) with the intention of using them for purchases or payments. Most people pay a fee just to buy the checks, and almost everyone will pay a fee, at an exchange counter or bank, to cash them.

Are you from the USA? The most common advice is, if you want a few checks, purchase them in dollars (or whatever your home currency is) and save them just for some emergency (loss of both credit and debit cards, no working atms around, etc). Assuming you don't have to use them, just deposit them into your bank account when you return home, or save them for the next trip.

Use your credit card as much as you can for all but the tiniest purchases, and use your atm/debit card for cash withdrawals as needed. Even with atm transaction fees, this is the way to go.
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:09 PM
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Why do you need travellers checks?
In 7 trips I have cashed 2 checks, and at a fee. I have not used one to obtain paper money since 1998.

(I did use the sight of my checks once to calm a French waiter who for some reason was giving signs of erupting because my primary card acted up in this particular establishment. Soon after viewing the checks had its tranquilizing effect, my wife found her backup credit card and that did the trick. If you plan on encountering any voluble waiters, you might want to have a couple for tranquility purposes.)

Use an ATM for currency in your pocket and credit cards for big purchases.

I don't know how your banks handle it, but with Bank of America, I get two free off-net ATM transactions per month unless I go to a correspondent bank like Barclay's.

With credit cards the standard Visa or Master Card fee is 1% above the wholesale bank rate. Some jokers like to tack on 2% for no value added.
For that reason I use an MBNA card outside the US.

The same 1% should be tacked onto your ATM card cash withdrawals as well.
The rate for the time of the transaction is black magic, but I have checked several times on what I actually paid, and it was less than the maximum rate for the date but usually higher than the minimum rate. The 1% is unavoidable, but 1% based on the wholesale bank rate of exchange is about the best the little guy can do.

Don't use your credit card for currency from an ATM machine. In the States we are customarily charged at the cash advance rate which is fairly high.

Do I carry travellers checks? Yes. I have several checks in my passport case that have made 4 round trips to Europe. I use them more here than I do there!
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:12 PM
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Eschew travellers' checks. Es don't.
Can't I just redeem my checks where I got them rather than chewing them?

Ok awful joke. Could not resist.
I'm one of the working class, what does eschew mean? Avoid, dump, or fold, spindle and mutilate?
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:17 PM
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From Merriam-Webster online:

Main Entry: es·chew
Pronunciation: e-'shü, i-; es-'chü, is-; also e-'skyü
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French eschiuver, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German sciuhen to frighten off -- more at SHY
: to avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds : SHUN
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:21 PM
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Who me? Eschew! Gesundheit.
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Old Dec 17th, 2004, 07:30 PM
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Thank you. I am now properly erudited.
A'int education fantastic?

I eschewed them checks on moral grounds.
I think it is immoral to charge those whopping fees to cash the things.

I also eschew them on practical grouds.
So I doubly don't do them, except for keeping the ones I have for psychological reasons.

They represent my last dollars.

Given the strength of the GBP, those of us who live in North American dollar land are going to say OUCH a lot if we go to the UK and/or Ireland this summer.
I said UH OH several times last year when the £ was about $1.80. At $1.95, Uh OH turns to Ouchie.

Guess I could stay home! But at my age, I don't know if I will be able to go in 2006! And who knows, it might get worse!!

We are going to say OUCH also in Switzerland where the Swiss franc is flexing its muscles against the battered US dollar.

Maybe Bush will ride to the rescue and save us all financially!

Maybe the battered dollar will increase exports, the stock market will rise, I can sell for capital gains and ride on my profits. I should have bought more € when they were 90 cents each!
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 04:58 AM
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Re: the question of traveller's checks.
If you do a quick internet search you will find a multitude of Know-Nothings offering travel advice and selling tours and travel packages. They usually have a "Money Advice" section where traveller's checks are mentioned as prominently as ATMs and credit cards.
If you didn't know better, you'd think traveller's checks are the way to go.
Given this, I'm not all surprised at these continual questions about TCs.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 05:40 AM
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Hi peter,

The consensus on this forum is that TC's, in any currency, are not useful.

I agree.

If you wish to bring some in your own currency as an emergency backup, do so. You can deposit them back in your account when you get home.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 06:09 AM
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Dr. Chasuble and I have not used travellers cheques for years.
We take an ATM card each, each from a different bank just in case one is rejected and two different credit cards for the same reason.
We also take enough cash to tide us over for a couple of days.
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 07:17 AM
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Peter, my attempt at silly aside - we used to do TC's but it really got to the point where most often we were taking them to a bank to cash, at a pretty poor exchange rate. The ATM does work better (just to illustrate the consensus) and we found no major trouble in Europe, even in more remote areas of Romania, where there was an English option on the machines.

As a side note, discuss your plans with your bank. We haven't had any troubles, but ours is a Visa labeled debit card. My wife has had no luck in using her Australian Commonwealth Bank ATM card here in the US for some unknown reason.


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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 08:13 AM
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>My wife has had no luck in using her Australian Commonwealth Bank ATM card here in the US for some unknown reason.<

Has she tried inserting it upside down?
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Old Dec 18th, 2004, 11:00 AM
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Hmm, we'll have to try that. Makes sense. Sideways got us no where.
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