Travelers Checks?
 

I was trying to decide whether or not to get any travelers checks for my trip to Paris next month. First of all, I know that the ATMs & credit cards are the best option and that's what I plan to use. I can get travelers checks free at my bank. The only reason I would get them would be as a safety net. The last time I was in Europe, which has been almost 10 years ago...I can't believe it! I was in Rome and I was pick pocketed on Friday afternoon. They got my credit card and my ATM card. Of course the credit card company sent me a new card, but I didn't get it until Monday. So the travelers checks were my only $$ for the weekend. Except for what I borrowed from my traveling companion. Someone recently told me they had heard that people didn't like to take travelers checks anymore. Is that true? And, what is your opinion on taking them. Chances are, I would come home with them and redeposit them into my account. That has happened before. Since I had the one bad experience though I was considering getting some.

If they don't cost anything and they make you feel better- go for it. As you mention - they are one of the least efficient ways to either get cash or pay for things while in Europe - just keep that in mind and use your ATM and credit cards first.

Can you open a 2nd account and get a 2nd ATM card? I'd do that before wasting time & money on TCs. Store your 2 ATM cards separately so in case your wallet gets stolen, you'd still have the other ATM card available.

If you don't want to get a 2nd ATM card, will you traveling alone or with a spouse/friends etc? Unless you're traveling alone, your travel companion can always lend you money to tie you over until your replacement card arrives.

I wouldn't bother. No one takes them, they're a hassle to cash and yield lousy exchange rates.

What YK said. Also, instead travelers checks, just take cash. You can exchange that at any bank or exchange station. Granted, they will rip you with exchange rates, but when you get home, cash is cash, and you do not have to turn them in and get your money back. Will the bank do that free as well?

You seem to answer your own question.

There is no logical rationale to carry travelers cheques; few merchants accept them, they are exchanged for euros at rates less favorable than cash rates, and most people must pay to obtain them.

If you find it comforting to carry TCs, then carry them. However, the real problem may be something else. Never travel with only one credit card and never keep the two in the same place.

Also be sensitive about pick pockets in France, yes they exist there as well, and take every precaution to preclude becoming victimized once again.

Look at another way. If the same pick pocket scenario happened to you again on a Friday after the banks are closed, and you had Travelers Checks, you probably could not get anyone to cash them until Monday when the banks opened again.

Nobody wants to take the useless things. PITA in my opinion.

We used a money belt when we were in France and Italy and kept most of our money and cards in it. We haven't used traveler's checks in years.

If they don't cost you anything, why not take them? They are not difficult to cash in Paris, in fact, I just cashed some a couple weeks ago at a place I've been using about 15 years as I know they give a good rate and they are near where I often stay. Their rate was about 2-3 pct markup over interbank rate, which is pretty good. I always take TCs with me as a backup method in case of problems as I get them completely free from my bank (I used to get them free at AAA but I think they actually stopped carrying them which surprised me). I have a premium acct at my bank, so have a lot of perks, so that's why they are free.

No, I don't get them in euro, I really don't advise that, but it sounds like you don't plan to do that anyway. And I also never recommend people think they are "cash" and try to use them to pay for things anywhere. I never do that, I just cash them at a bureau de change if I want to. This time, I didn't really have to use them, but I knew this place had decent rates and I had a few extra ones, so decided to do that one day instead of using an ATM (and I actually wanted to say hi to the lady in there who has been working there a million years and recognizes me). I don't think the place I use had much different rates for cash as for TCs, actually.

I saw another place on rue de Rennes nearby which also had rates about the same as the place I use (that one is right about across from the FNAC store). If you want to know the one I use, the name isn't on the outside as it is inside with a travel agency and is right at the corner of bd Montparnasse and rue Stanislas. They gave me a rate for USD TCs of .664 on 9/11/09 and the interbank rate was .6867 which is about a 3 pct discount. No, there were no other fees in addition to that, I never go to a place in Paris that has any added fees on top of the exchange rate difference, as it is a lot easier to figure out the markup that way. The place I use is named Crédit Général de Bourse et de Change and is at 95, bd Montparnasse. I think they are not open on Saturdays, anymore, only weekdays. They are also closed Sundays.

BTW, I also want to stress that the idea that you cash them in banks is not a good one, you should best cash them at bureau de change, they give better rates and want that business. Banks do not.

I would get some euros before leaving, and use this for "landing money": get to hotel from airport, breakfast, first day wanderings.

I also travel with multiple CCs and ATM cards and keep cash in pocket and in wallet.

TCs are a hassle. If you want more than the landing stash, leave one CC and/or one ATM card at hotel, or in a different pocket on you. The odds of you losing 'everything' would then be minimal.

I would never take TCs with the intention of using them.

I assumed you also meant US$ TCs. Euro TCs would not be no cost...wouild be "no fees" but not "no cost".

I think you are directly asking a backup plan for CC and ATM irrespective of how they are disabled as well as indirectly (should be) asking about reducing the problem in the first place.

For a backup plan, since you need physical cards, a logical backup plan is have additional cards. I carry multiple CC and ATM cards distributed in no less than three different places with only one card of any kind readily accessible in a wallet in my front pocket.

Multiple cards are needed even in case of no loss. Some crook cloned my primary CC, detected by my bank as a fake card when he tried to use it in the U.S., the bank disabled my primary CC card completely. It did not matter; I had two other CCs to continue my trip.

Regarding how to reduce the problem in the first place, there is a procedural issue - bank disabling the card even if you use your own genuine card due to "irregular" activities overseas. You can deal with this with most issuers of CC/ATM by telling them ahead about your plan.

You can reduce the physical loss of card by using money-belt, neck pouch,etc. Many dismiss these devices are unnecessary if you are always alert. You weigh the trade-off.

In all cases, multiple CC/ATM (that you can keep in your possession) from different issuers is an effective countermeasure.

I don't use TC for the reasons mentioned above. I carry some large US$ bills in my money belt in case all electronic commerce fails me (not yet.)

<<< Someone recently told me they had heard that people didn't like to take travelers checks anymore. >>>

Outside the US TCs have always had minimal acceptance except at banks & money changers - certainly you would never expect "people" to accept them

<<< I can get travelers checks free at my bank. >>>

I've got a bridge to sell you.

I've been using them regularly, in Paris, for over three decades. They are easy to cash at money exchange places. I use the one at 180 Blvd. St.Germain, a few steps from Cafe Flore, in the 6th. The owner of an apartment that I will be renting in Paris mentioned that she has cashed quite a number of them, from time to time, and that she has researched exchange places around town and that that's the one that she uses. When I went there it hit me that that's one of the same one that I've used over the decades. There used to be another good one, in the 6th, but it closed. A Parisian friend, who is a hotel manager, used to take me to the good ones as she had to exchange a lot of foreign money from the hotel.

I just returned from Paris, 4 weeks ago, but didn't have to exchange any money as I had so much left over from the April trip, where I exchanged both U.S. dollars and traveler's checks at 1.37. I wish the dollar had held at that rate 4 weeks ago, as my credit card charges have come in at as high as around 1.45.

I'm one who doesn't leave my residence here at home with only plastic in my wallet, so I'm not one who travels overseas with only plastic. I always have enough cash/traveler's checks to cover my trip, along with plastic.

There was just a discussion about this on tripadvisor.com as a poster started a thread asking about traveler's checks. However, if you want to pull it up, you'd need to search under, "Travers Checks" as it was misspelled.

And yes, most people use only ATM cards to get cash and to each his own. However, one of the posters on the abovementioned thread, mentioned that while on his honeymoon, in Italy, there was a security problem at his bank and all ATM cards were locked and that he was glad to have had traveler's checks on him.

I've had to foot the bill for a friend, in Paris, who had a plastic problem and had no other means of obtaining money. I usually have a Plan A/B/C. Happy Travels!

I forgot to add that the exchange rate was the same for cash or traveler's checks at the place that I went to. I'm one who personally prefers to get most or sometimes all of the money that I need for my week in Paris, at the beginning of the trip, and then not have to worry about it the rest of the trip. Happy Travels!

I wouldn't bother with traveler's checks. I always land with cash from the previous trip, but it's easy enough to acquire cash at an ATM at the airport.

As for potential pickpocketing - just don't carry all your cards in one place. And, don't carry them in a wallet.

Hi; What credit cards do you have? If American Express, you will also need a Visa or Master Card as many restaurants/stores do not take AX. Richard

I would not take them, Last time we took them (2007) we had such a hard time finding any place to cash them. You do see places. Better to try a travelers checky type ATM card that you can pre load. I too carry some money on my person under clothing, as well as copies of all my cc info my pasport ( I shrink them on the copier so they are comfortable) and an estra cc and ATM. I found the AAA travel card very user friendly.
Rosie

Christina and Guenmai posted long/persuasive reasons to take them. But they are definitely in the minority. If you want to take them - sure. But they will not simplify things at all. You would have to go to an bureau de change to exchange them and end up w/ a worse rate than using an ATM card.

Few other places will take them. Some department stores do -- but at terrible exchange rates.

When you say you can get them for 'free' - that will be for US$ denominations (which is best since if you don't use them you won't lose to cash them back home). To exchange those US$ cheques will lose you approx 6-10% between the rate and fees.

If you get € cheques - you will pay a bad rate to buy them in the first place, won't have an exchange 'penalty' to cash them but will have a small fee per cheque, and then if you don't use them you will get an even worse rate to sell them back.

Yes, they are free at my bank if you get them in USD, so there is absolutely no disadvantage to not taking them. They cost me nothing, and I can easily use them back home or just deposit them in my bank. I don't see why people say don't take them if they cost nothing. I actually use them and know the rates in Paris are pretty good, and my ATM card does noT give me a better rate. I just posted the rates I got and saw elsewhere, and it was not a loss of 6-10 pct, and I know that for a fact as I actually use them, unlike others who do not.

They are actually harder to cash in countries other than France, but a lot of what people say about these is not based on personal experience nor knowledge of the market for exchanging them in Paris. For example, a lot of people automatically tell you to go to banks to cash them, and that is just not the best thing to do in Paris.