Money
 

We are carrying traveler's checks. Are they hard to deal with? Are the banks taking them? We are going to Germany, also. Any insight you can give us is sincerely appreciated.

Carry the checks but use your ATM card and your credit card for purchases.

WHY are you carrying travelers checks? they are just about the most expensive way to get money - bad exchange rate, plus extra fees to cash them anywhere, and you cannot use them in the vast majority of shops and restaurants.

banks just LOVE to take them - because they charge you a fee for every one you cash. They make a big profit and it comes directly out of your pocket.

Leave your money at home in your checking account and use you ATM card to get € cash as you need it. This is MUCH more convenient and will give you the best exchange rate

What kind of charges do you incur at ATMs in Europe? Is it still better because of the more favorable exchange rate?

Check with your bank - most banks have global partner agreements with banks abroad, and will either charge you no access fees, or reduced fees if you use their partner banks. ie. Scotiabank (Canadian) with DeutscheBank in Germany, Spain or Italy

The information should be available on your banks website. Saved me a few dollars while travelling in Italy last year.

ATMs give you a rate between the commercial and the tourist rate. In other words, a better rate than TCs. However, some banks add a fee to that. BofA charges me $3 per transaction unless I use a member bank (Barclay, BNP in France). But you probably will be charged a fee for cashing TCs.

I think it's interesting that you have posted that you ARE carrying the traveler's checks. So you don't seem to be asking if it's a good idea or not (nearly everyone will tell you it is NOT a good idea), and that your mind is already made up that you are doing so. So what do you really want to know? How to make it NOT a bad idea. I think the only answer is to be prepared for the pain that it is. Expect a lot of hassle in cashing them, expect to be able to sign your name in blood and present a passport and other identification, and expect lots of places to refuse them. Not to mention to expect it to cost you a lot -- either in the exhange rate or the fees to cash them. Since you probably aren't concerned with the FACT that it is not the best economical solution to the money "problem", then my suggestion is to just go with the flow and make the best out of a bad situation so they don't spoil your holiday.

By the way, does anyone else see the irony in the connection of this question and the screen name of the poster?

If you're planning to do a bunk, travelers' checks are safest. That way you already HAVE the money and it can't be stopped leaving your account.

Depending on the brand of traveler's checks, you might be able to cash them with no extra fee at that bank's foreign offices; e.g., American Express

are the traveller's check in US dollars or euros?

they cannot be used in shops, and must be exchanged at banks, .. if they are am. express checks, call them and ask where/if they do not charge a transaction fee.

it USED to be at am ex offices there was NO FEE.

also find out through your bank which ATM partners will charge you least fee.. and what is max transaction you can do under that same fee.

Be prepared to waste lots of valuable vacation time standing in line waiting to cash your traveler's checks and paying silly fees to do so. Traveler's checks are SUCH a dinosaur!

Having just returned from Europe and had some travelers cheques as an extra source of cash, did find that the exchange rates would vary from place to place, but more important; I did have some trouble changing them.

American Express cheques are the best if you can find one of their offices (they seem to be in most cities). They will give you a good rate on their own cheques and will also cash other brands at a fee.

Some banks in Europe will not cash traveler’s cheques at all anymore.

While American Express may not charge a fee for cashing those checks, it is wrong to say they will give you a good rate of exchange. My favorite example was entering the Am Ex office in Geneva the day before returning home to the states. I realized I had no US money, but I had a bunch of travelers checks in Italian Lira (yes, this was a few years ago). They would cash those for me, but at a horrible rate into Swiss Francs, then exchange the Swiss francs into US dollars -- they would not exchange the Lira direct to dollars. The bottom line was that to cash one check that was worth approx. $100 US dollars in Lira, I'd end up with about $60 -- a 40% exchange loss total!

If you are taking TC's simply plan to go to a bank to cash them; don't count on spending them directly with a restaurant or shop.

ATM fees come from your home bank, not the usually from the machine you use in Europe.

Patrick: By the way, does anyone else see the irony in the connection of this question and the screen name of the poster?

Excellant connection! Too funny!

==Mike

Mike, I think everyone's seen the screen name, but didn't want to get too personal. Maybe they can afford the expense of Travelers Checks, or been misled by the bank, who’s only trying to make an easy profit.

Hi trophywife - Actually I always carry some travellers checks as well just in case of emergency and return almost all of it. I think they are hard to deal with and expensive in most places but not all. Some hotels might give you a break when you pay your bill. My experience has been one can get the best rates as follows: ATM, Credit Card, Cash(Larger bills like $50.00 and $100.00) and last the travellers checks. ATMs are the best in rates and convenience in my opinion. My 2 cents...

You can get traveler's checks fee-free from AAA and cash them fee-free at Travelex locations as a AAA member. www.cashmycheques.com has a list of Travelex locations.
Also, credit card companies add a % fee on to foreign transactions. They don't tell you this, they just add it into the conversion rate. AMEX charges 2% and Citibank charges 3%. Check with your credit card companies to find who has the lowest fee....

mes98nd: "They don't tell you this, they just add it into the conversion rate." Actually they do tell you this - The credit card companies send all their account holders disclosure info. If they don't they can't assess the fees. Now, some people do not read all that stuff they get in the mail from the CC companies or in their bills - but the info is there.

And no one cashes TCs for "free". Sure you might be able to cash them fee-free - but the exchange rate will more than make up for the lost fee.

The reason AAA can offer "fee-free" TCs is because it sells them at an exchange rate that will cover its costs. They are not free of cost, just have the cost embedded. To determine the real cost, compare AAA's rate for Euros today against today's official rate (at Oanda.com or similar). At an ATM the rate would be about 1% over official; a seller of TCs can't offer anything cose to that.