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.

Patrick--Were those lira traveler's checks AMEX, or another company? If they were AMEX checks, that would have been an unusual process for an AMEX office to go through.

By the way, AMEX TCs are still cashed free at AMEX offices world-wide. AMEX usually has a reasonable (not the best, not the worst) exchange rate.

In addition, AMEX has agreements with many banks world-wide to cash their TCs fee-free.

For instance, in Bamberg, Germany, it's:

Citibank Privatkunden AG & Co KGaA
2-4 Hain Str
96047
Telephone 49 951 982460

Of course, when all is said and done, the best way to go is with ATM cards and with Visa and MC charge cards from banks that don't charge anything in addition to the basic 1%.

Patrick :<They would cash those for me, but at a horrible rate into Swiss Francs, then exchange the Swiss francs into US dollars ->

My point was that Amex is the best T/C to use, if a person is going to use T/C.

Anytime you do a 3ed. country conversion you will get the shaft.

Rufus: spot on.

Personally, I use credit card for the big stuff and don't sweat the small stuff.

Happy travels

to trophywife: I like your name and I'm sure you are.

To answer Rufus, yes, those were American Express cheques we were looking to cash at an American Express office. Now admittedly that was at least 5 years ago and things may be different today, but at that time about half the value of the cheques was lost in the first conversion, and the other half was lost in the second. In both cases, the conversions were from or to Swiss francs, the local currency. So it was a big charge both for exchanging a foreign currency into the local currency, and for changing the local currency into a foreign one.

I'm still one to say that IF you MUST have TC's, get them at home in Euro as when you cash them you will get the exact face value for them, and you will also know what exchange rate you get when you buy them at home -- if the rate isn't good you don't have to buy them. But when in Europe and you NEED to cash one, you can't be picky about how many euro they decide to give you for a US dollar TC.

<b>If you have already acquired AAA traveler's checks</b>, you're in good shape.

Because you can use your debit card to get cash out of ATMs in Germany, and

<i>return the checks for what you paid for them upon your return</i>.

&quot;return the checks for what you paid for them upon your return.&quot;

Only true if they are US$ TCs. If they are &euro; TCs they will not get back the same amount they paid. There will be a conversion from &euro; back into $.

I don't think that's right. I refunded some &quot;mad money&quot; I carried to Europe and back in '03, and they gave me face value for them. I think probably they don't buy &euro; with your $ unless they have to (<i>i.e.</i>, unless they're cashed).

Robespierre, I've read that last comment of yours about a dozen times and I still don't get it.

I think what janis is saying and I agree 100% is that if you bought 500 euro in euroTCs in the US for a given amount of US dollars, when you sell them back to them, you will not get the same number of dollars you paid for them. They will have charged you an exchange rate when you bought them, and another one when you sell them back.

If you bought US TCs in the US and then sell those back, yes you will get full face value or exactly what you paid for them (if you got them at AAA or somewhere that doesn't charge you a fee to buy or sell them).

Of course, I've never understood the idea of bringing home any unused euro TCs. Just put all of what you have left on your final hotel bill or spend them the last day you are there.

I bought &euro;1000 and &pound;1000 to have with me in case my ATM cards (that I had never tested) didn't do what I wanted them to. The ATM worked, and I returned the TCs to AAA upon my return, receiving back exactly what I paid for them.

Rufus - assuming for a moment you are right that there is no buy/sell exchange rate loss (which I don't, but just for the sake of argument) - - -

&quot;upon my return, receiving back exactly what I paid for them.&quot; How could that be possible unless the banks rates were exactly the same after your trip as before. Since the rates fluctuate everyday, this isn't likely.

But back to my premise - every time I've checked, buying and selling $, &pound;, &euro; have always been at different rates.

Patrick...A bit harsh on trophywife. I think she is asking a sincere question. Here in Canada and the US I use them all the time and feel safe using TC's. I was unaware of the fact that in Europe they would be hard to use.

Thanks for the usefull information. I like trophywife are seeking info from the people in the know but don't want to be made to feel bad...Just my 2 cents worth.

janis--check AMEX web site. It is very clearly stated there.

Photobear: torphywife said &quot;Any insight you can give us is sincerely appreciated.&quot;

She asked for insight and we gave it to her. TC's are practically obsolete except in some rare situations. They are a REAL pain. Hopefully she isn't so sensitive that our &quot;insight&quot; scares her off. We are only trying to make their trip easier . . . . . .

Suggestion: Do a search for the German city or cities you will visit. Many sites will have the exact information you want and it will be timely.

TCs, They can be replaced if lost or stolen! Cash is gone.

I've been to Europe three times, and I've never used travelers checks. There are ATMs everywhere, and they give you very competitive rates. As long as you use your ATM card and not a credit card, you don't have to pay the finance charge or interest. If you're worried about theft, just take out 50 euros at a time. For larger purchases like fancy dinners and hotels, they can be placed on your credit card.

Unless your bank offers free international ATM withdrawls, I would not recommend to take just 50 euro at a time. Since my bank charges a fee per transaction, I take my daily maximum (300USD worth) each time. 50 euro isn't going to get you very far!!

<b>janis</b>

FYI, I am posting a link to the Travelex page where their <b>Buy Back Plus</b> product is described. As you can see, the fee is listed as $5, but AAA waives that.

So, if you want to speculate in currencies... ;)

<b>http://www.travelex.com/usa/personal/buyback.asp?content=bb</b>