robjame

I have read the threads thoroughly and talked extensively to my bank (Royal) and to Visa (also RBC) and find the following:
As a preferred client (almost anyone with an account) the bank will waive the ATM fees and issue me free TC in €. If I buy €TC they are purchased at the "cheque" rate as opposed to the "cash" rate which is applied to ATM withdrawls. The difference is 2% higher for cash or apprx. $35 cdn. on €1000.
Visa's rate is 2.5% (AmEx is 2.2%).
All things considered I am best using TC in € where they will accept them (hotels, upscale restaurants, dept. stores) and probably AmEx where credit cards are accepted. Little advantage to ATM cash.?

AR

Just beware that TC's are not as readily accepted in stores in Europe as they are in North America. You can rarely just cash them in places other than hotels (who may charge you in addition to any charges that your bank makes), bureaux de changes and banks.

Robert2533

I think it may be because you are Canadian (a BCer?). None-the-less, and regardless of what your bank says, the best exchange rate is through the ATM's. And yes, all you really have to do is to ask your bank to waive the ATM fees when traveling abroad, but you actually have to remind them when you get your statement. TC's under any condition, will end up costing you more. You will not need any cash until you arrive and then you can pick some up at the ATMs found in every airport in Europe.

rockhopper7

AR, TC's are pretty much an anachronism in the US for the same costly reasons you cited as true in Europe. I don't know about Canada but it would seem the same logic would hold true.

AR

I've never liked TC's, rockhopper7. They're just a pain. ATM's are much easier - you just need to watch out for the scams going on in the UK where a plastic divice is placed in the card slot to keep your card. A friendly man who happens to be behind you will tell you to go into the bank and tell them. Meanwhile he retrieves your card and has watched you inputting your PIN. Nice eh?

rockhopper7

Agreed, AR, I've not been a fan of TCs since ATMs became prevalent. Nasty scam you mentioned. Yikes. The price of convenience?

robjame, If it works for you, then go for it. I can't argue with your financial logic but for me, I find that ATMs and a Visa card cast a wider net than TCs and Amex. Perhaps it costs a bit more for that.

robjame

Robert2533-with a money question I have to be from ON
AR-thanks for the heads up on the scam.
Will hotels accept TC in € as payment?

StCirq

robjame:

No, I would not count on hotels being willing to accept TCs in payment because in at least some cases the hotel will have to pay a commission to cash them - as will you most likely if you take them to a bank.
I really wouldn't bother with TCs - you'll just waste time trying to fob them off on merchants or cashing them at banks.

Travelnut

How readily accepted is the American Express credit card?

ira

I agree with St Cirq.

ellenem

Travelnut, Amex is not as accepted as Visa or Mastercard, but it is definitely MORE accepted than in the past. On a recent visit to Rome and Florence, we paid for every lunch and dinner with Amex and it was refused just once.

brookwood

I get charged a fee to cash traveler's checks in Canada if they are in US dollars.

If I buy checks denominated in Canadian dollars, I can use them at some places.
But they cost me more to acquire than to use my ATM card. I think I paid 5% above the wholesale bank rate when I bought them. I had a special reason, however. I needed to make a deposit to hold a reservation at a lodge that does not accept Visa or MC.

I think you will find that carrying traveler's checks is a pain. They have one advantage: You can get a refund if you lose one or more of them.

I have some checks in my passport case that have now made 4 trans Atlantic round trips with me.

In 7 trips I have used 2 of them! Once, the ATM at the bank in the Zürich airport was broken and once I went to a bank in a little town that was Master Card/Cirrus only. That was in 1998 and I have not used one since then.

I use my ATM card for spending money on the street, credit card for hotel bills and restaurant meals and big purchases like crystal in Ireland.

The traveler's checks are a security blanket. They provided psychological warmth on 9/12 when nobody knew for sure when we could get home. And once one of my credit cards for unknown reasons upset a waiter in a small Paris restaurant. I showed him my traveler's checks to calm him down while I located my back-up credit card in my passport case.

The waiter really did look like a tea kettle that was about to whistle!! My wife got up to go get some money at an aTM while I remained seated. I don't know what the waiter thought, but he looked like he was going to explode.
His English was about as limited as my French, which is to say we could communiate with sign language.
TC;s though unspent, came to my aid.

So if you anticipate needing to calm voluble service personnel in restaurants, then get a few of those little security blankets and take them with you. Other than that, I find them to be comforting, if unused for money.

robjame

Brookwood - Great story about the restaurant! Are you Canadian? When we go to the States for the winter we get our US money in a Canadian bank at a better rate if we purchase TC - we then immediately cash them at the same bank for the necessary US cash we need (no service charge for either transaction). We save approx 2% for our effort and the bank usually gives us the preferred rate ("cash" rate) for simply explaining what we are about to do. Otherwise the bank imposes this 2% surcharge every time we use an ATM out of the country.

StCirq

In my experience, AMEX is accepted just about everywhere in big cities. In small towns and villages, it can be hard to find a place to use it.

brookwood

No. Not from Canada, but I visit there frequently. We have flown to Calgary several times and driven as far as Yellowstone and Prince Rupert and Victoria.]

I don't get charged a fee for using the Scotia Bank ATM's in Canada. And the exchange rate is 1% above the wholesale bank rate. I have gone to Onanda several times, looked up the day's exchange rate, and tried to figure out what I was charged. As near as I can tell, I have gotten a base rate between the high and low rates for the day, plus the standard 1% that Visa charges.

The key to know how much exchanges cost you is to know the wholesale bank rate of exchange. The deviation from that rate is necessary to know if you are getting clipped or not.

I was in Banff last summer and in the bank I saw a sign that said:
Service Charges
American Traveler's Checks - $2.00
Foreign Traveler's Checks - $3.00

I concluded from that Americans in Canada were not foreign but they were not Canadian!! At any rate, Alberta wheat farmers and ranchers around Lethbridge refer to us as Rednecks.
I am not sure who is included in the Redneck set, but some of my New York friends would not think the term applied to them, particularly the one from Korea and the one from Finland.

That would be a strange role: a Redneck Korean with a Ph. D. in statistical models and simulation.

suze

<TC in € where they will accept them (hotels, upscale restaurants, dept. stores) and probably AmEx...>

I think the mistake is in believing you can so easily cash the Euro travelers checks. At best, they will still be more hassle than cash from an ATM. And second to go with American Express instead of a Visa card? Both of these are somewhat awkward methods.

The <little advantage> to ATM cash is I can pretty much guarantee it will be accepted everywhere!

opaldog

First trip I purchased TC and never used them. Now it is always the ATM.

tedgale2

In France most places WILL NOT give change on a traveller's cheque.

I was told in one hotel that the local bank required proof that the entirety of the cheque was used to pay a given bill.

(Why? And who knew?)

If your bill is less than the amount of the cheque -- well, you just gave the waiter a really huge tip.