Will merchants accept travelers checks in Euros same as cash in Germany, Italy, and France? We can get them free at AAA. Is it a good idea to make this exchange in advance for our trip?

Richard,<BR>I'd suggest you don't get travelers checks at all, much less in Euros. Many merchants won't accept them, forcing you to a bank to cash them. If you don't use them all, to redeem them back to dollars, you'll lose in the exchange rate. Most travelers comments here indicate they may carry $100 or $200 in US dollar traveler checks for emergency use and if not needed can be redeposited into bank accounts. Credit cards and ATM cards offer the best exchange rates; ATMs are everywhere throughout Europe.

You will get many different replies to this. My own advice would be to either not bother with traveler's checks at all or to get only enough for use as an emergency fund if you would have some kind of problem. They are certainly NOT as flexible as cash in terms of using them with merchants. I would agree with getting them in Euros, if you choose to get them at all -- but if you do that, then be sure you have a way to use them before you leave Europe, such as for your hotel bill, etc. With cash machines readily available, credit & ATM cards are really the way to go these days.

The AAA travelers check are not really free. Even though there's no actual separate charge, they give you a worse exchange rate than you will get by using your ATM card after you get there, so that's a hidden cost. <BR><BR>If you MUST have travelers' checks as insurance, just get them in dollars so you can redrposit the money after you get home.

If you get Amex travelers checks you can probably cash them at an Amex office in France if you need the cash. Most large department stores should accept travelers checks.

I agree that I'd not bother with travelers checks, mainly because they are not free -- although there is no fee, there is normally a horrible exchange rate to buy them or to cash them, and they are very difficult to spend or cash.<BR>But if you insist on getting them, I strongly suggest getting them in Euro if you will be in the Euro currency countries. I totally ignore that problem about having them left over. I suggest that whatever ones you do have at the end of the trip, you simply put them all onto the final hotel bill and come home with none. Simple solution!<BR>I will say that it will be even harder to cash a US dollars travelers check at a store or restaurant in Europe than it will be to cash a Euro one. And at least if your travlers check is for 50 Euro, you know that you will get 50 Euro credit for it. If it were for 50 US dollars, you are totally at the mercy of the merchant as to how many Euro he will want to give you in exchange for it. In other words I'd rather take the loss in exchange rate at the local AAA or bank when I buy them in Euro, than to be at the mercy of the person cashing one and offering me some vague exchange rate when I cash them in.

I made the mistake of getting travelers checks in francs once and had a devil of a time cashing them. I ended up having to go to a bank just as I would with dollars. Get a few in dollars as emergency backup and otherwise use the ATM and credit cards. Don't cash TCs in stores or hotels--you will get an awful exchange rate.

Sue, I think you missed my point, or perhaps you didn't read my response. Yes, all travelers checks are hard to cash in Europe, but you will certainly find more places cashing them if they are in Euro than if they are in US dollars.<BR>And if they are in Euro, then there is nothing wrong with cashing them in a store or hotel, as you will get full face value for them. To me -- if you are going to have any TC's, then the true advantage of the ones in Euro is that you don't have to be dependent upon a bank being open or available. If the store or hotel accepts the travelers checks at all (and most hotels will accept them) then at least you will get full value for them there instead of having to look for a bank to exchange them without getting soaked on the exchange rate.

A colleague of mine has just come back from Spain and said they were charged 2-4% to change Euro T/Chqs into currency. So be careful

No brainer.<BR><BR>Credit card all transactions where credit cards are taken no matter how small (but make sure you are using a credit card that doesn't add an additional 2% for foreign transactions).<BR><BR>For the rare occasions when you need cash, use ATM's but make sure your bank doesn't charge for using other bank ATM's. You will find banks in Europe do not charge fees.<BR><BR>You should have cash in US dollars just in case the ATM's are down or something happens to your card. If that unlikely event happens, then you swallow hard and take the hit for exchanging cash at an exchange place.

Patrick, I got your point; I was just saying I had a different experience (several years ago). Our idea was having the TCs in francs for cash since we use CCs for hotel and large purchases, but we found it equally if not more difficult to cash them. And my reference to bad exchange rates in hotels/stores was intended to apply TCs in dollars. Sorry for the misunderstanding.