smiley525

aren't all ATM card's dedit cards??

rj007

Patrick and P_M LOL

tomc

I definately side with all the folks who say we have gone beyond the traveler's check with ATM cards. My ATM is with Bank of America and I called there and they gave me the names of banks in several European countries where they have reciprocal agreements and there are no fees for using their ATMs. It might be worth a call to the 800 number on the back of your card. I have also been told that the ATM withdrawel will give you the best exchange rate possible (which isn't great against the Euro these days).

tedgale

Surprised that people are even giving TCs the limited endorsement I have read in these pages. I carried them for decades -- now have concluded they are useless, truly useless. In France particularly -- people stare at Euro TCs as though you were trying to scam them. And in restaurants/ hotels they are unable to give you change, if you offer a large Euro denomination. (Some funny rule about the banks requiring a copy of the bill to demonstrate that the full amount has been spent in that locale. The alternative is to line up at a bank, submit passport, yadda, yadda.

They say "they're just like cash" -- sure, in some other country's currency.

goatee

In France I imagine you could cash TCs at the post office, but yet again, long line. I think Traveller's Cheques had a valid use, i.e. before the advent of credit cards in the 70's. Same with American Express cards. Yes, you can leave home without it, because many places won't take the cards. I travel by myself, and these were my financial arrangements: brought €200 in cash, brought 4 credit cards (yes I have 4, don't ask): I kept one MC and one Visa in my wallet, kept the other two hidden in my suitcase as a backup. I used my Visa whenever possible, and for smaller items I paid cash. When I ran out of cash, went to the ATM and got more. Piece of cake!

rj007

I've said this before - your CC's and ATM card are in your wallet. Your wallet is stolen or lost - then what will you do? I get my TC's from AAA for free and I've cashed them at banks from Iceland to Italy for free. I've never lost any but if I did I can get the money replaced. I don't cash them at restaurants, hotels etc.

goatee

Well that's why I had backups in my suitcase, in case my wallet got stolen. And credit cards can be replaced too if they are lost or stolen. As well, I've read on various sites that it's not so easy to get your TCs replaced. It's not like the commercial where you're sitting on the beach and some man in a tux comes to your deck chair and hands your replacement ones to you!

rj007

That is smart to have them as a backup as well. And since I've not visited a beach in nearly 20 years, the guy would have a very tough time finding me! :}

platzman

In the event of theft, have a backup debit and credit card in a different location or have someone else carry them. Report the theft immediately to your bank. Use the alternate cards. Another trip saved from disaster.
And you didn't need travelers checks!

bob_brown

I am a creature of habit and I do carry a few traveler's checks with me. I have 4 checks at the moment that have made 4 trans Atlantic crossings. That is how useful they are!! They stay right there in my passport case, and serve as my Linus Blanket. You know, that warm fuzzy feeling they give like Teddy Bears. I have had no need for them since I acquired them.

Actually, on 9/12/2001 I was happy to have them with me. I was in Austria when the attacks occurred on 9/11.

As most of you recall, there were no flights in and out of the USA for several days, the president was on the run and saying nothing other than platitudes, which to me were hardly reassuring. Nothing on CNN Europe told us anything except that the World Trade Center buildings were in total ruins. (I must have seen those pictures of the planes hitting the buildings 40 times.) I never felt so isolated or alone in my life.

No one knew when we could get home; no one knew what was next. All we were hearing on the news was reports about passenger planes being forced down in Canada and elsewhere, passengers stranded all over for days, flights cancelled for several days, and on and on. How and when would we get home?

None of us knew what was next! Would the banking system be shut down?

After all, there was all this talk about the funding process of terrorist attacks, government freezing of various assets, laundering money, etc. So that year I was glad to have had the comfort of readily available cash.

ira

>...aren't all ATM card's dedit cards??<

No.

The reason for having your bank issue a card that is ATM only is that it can be used only at an ATM and only with a PIN.

A debit card can be used as if it were a CC, without a PIN, and the money is immediately taken from your bank account. You will get your money back (usually), but in the meantime you don't have any.

mgmargate

Travelers checks are a waste of time and money.No savvy traveler would use them.

travelbunny

..no to travellers checks. I did have a surprise when my debit card didnt work..I think because it is linked to both a savings and checking acct. I had no trouble getting money on a previous visit only months before. I was in the uk and used a Barcleys atm. In paris I was stuck and had to get cash from my credit card (thank goodness i had paid down the balance). I later found a Barcleys in Paris and it worked...no rhyme or reason as my debit card is not from barcleys bank. The moral of the story is besure you have back up source of funds!

cait

If you have more than one credit card, consider making sure you bring both a VISA and a M/C. When in Germany, many times, they only wanted the M/C.

I couldn't find any bank in Germany that would cash advance from the teller; never tried it at a Western Union or exchange office

Other thing about using ATM and CC's is that you will get the best exchange rate.

Last insight, my mom visited me in Germany and lost 20% of TC value to conversion and bank fees. Lower the check value she wanted to convert the higher (%) the banks fees.

Patrick

That's a new one, cait. We've run into several places that WOULDN'T take Master Card, but WOULD take Visa, but never the other way around. And here's a real odd one. At a fine restaurant in Stockholm they refused both Visa and Master Card, but WOULD take American Express. Go figure.

Budman

Patrick,

We had a conversation a couple of months back concerning my VISA check card (ATM card). I disabled the VISA portion of the card and had no problems using it as an ATM all over Tuscany. You thought there might be a problem using it at some ATM, especially a Deutchesbank one.

While in Florence, I walked past a Deutchesbank ATM and remembered our conversation -- I didn't need money at the time, so I just got 20 Euros to test it out -- It worked fine.

Patrick

Budman, we're talking two different things. I never thought you'd have a problem with a VISA check card. The problem is with a bank card that is NOT visa, as Deutschbank now uses VISA for their ATM foreign currency transactions. My problem was that my card is Bank of America ATM only card and has no ties to VISA at all. If it were a Visa card, I'm sure I'd have had no difficulty at all.

Budman

Sorry, I thought it was the other way.

Cobos

I beleive it was 6 years ago when I worked in a computer store someone paid with a check, yes that's a NOK check not a TC. And that happened ONCE during my year at that shop...that's how useful normal checks are, imagine using TC's there instead. I didn't have a clue at the time what to do with the check, but my boss did and somewhere on his desk he had the bank number I had to call to get the check verified, and everything was settled. But the point is in Norway at least people in their low-twenties might almost never have seen a check before (and those are the people working lots of shops, and restaurants) so they will most certainly not be able to accept TC's. And then you are left with the banks that close at 15:00 on their good days So for many European countries using TC's as emergency money might leave you a lot more stranded than you think... So in short they MIGHT be usufull as backup cash and only as that.

Sindre

Patrick

So, Budman, are you saying I owe you 20euro?