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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that people don't use travellers cheques anymore

61 replies

Zigzag99 · 25/05/2019 18:46

Are they outdated? Do people just use debit/credit cards or prepaid cards abroad? Tell me how you pay for things on holiday.

OP posts:

EskewedBeef · 25/05/2019 22:30

My mum used traveller's cheques in the USA in 2017! She genuinely thinks they're the most convenient way to spend money abroad, but I've just convinced her to get a Starling account ahead of her holiday this year. She's dubious

x2boys · 25/05/2019 22:40

I haven't been abroad for years, but I remember getting travellers cheques for a trip to America in about 1997/98 and they were a faff then having to find a bank to exchange them , etc my parents insisted I needed them

BlackForestCake · 25/05/2019 22:51

I got travellers cheques for my first ever trip abroad in 1989. They were a massive pain in the arse and I've never bothered since.

YahBasic · 25/05/2019 22:57

I’ve got a Monzo card & DH has a Transferwise one.

Genuinely not seen a travellers cheque for about 10 years.

WalkAwaySugarbear · 25/05/2019 23:03

What a ball ache they were. My parents insisted when I went abroad for the first time without them in 1999. Never used them since. Credit card with a small amount of cash works for us.

JasperRising · 25/05/2019 23:04

One and only time of using travellers cheques was 17 years ago doing a tour of several countries over several months where we didn't want months worth of dollars to exchange as we went and it wasn't always guaranteed that the ATMs would take UK cards at that time. So kinda make sense.

These days just get cash out on arrival. Though did get caught out once at a tiny airport which turned out not to have an ATM...

UrsulaPandress · 25/05/2019 23:05

We've got travellers cheques that we can't cash. DH managed to pay them into a bank a few years ago but then they arrived back in the post.

yy558 · 25/05/2019 23:08

I have a Halifax clarity card but thinking about changing to tandem because no FX charges and Cashback

sleepwhenimred · 25/05/2019 23:11

Last used them I think in 2008 travelling in Europe. They were a ball ache. Now use Revolut card which is so easy and great rates.

SluggishSnail · 25/05/2019 23:12

I get cash out from the ATM when I arrive at the destination and then use contactless or chip and PIN for other purchases.
I really doubt that outlets take traveller's cheques these days, I haven't used them for about 30 years!

Lyricallie · 26/05/2019 00:13

I wouldn't even know where to get them. I just get currency before I leave and then have my Halifax clarity whilst I'm away.

BarbaraofSevillle · 26/05/2019 03:04

Or where to cash them Lyric. The only time I've used them was on a holiday in Spain in the mid to late 1990s. We may have bought them from the post office or a travel agent and I remember that there was a fee for each one and then a listed exchange rate - this was pre euro of course so, Pesetas, Francs etc (we drove there via France as low cost airlines didn’t exist either).

To cash them we trawlled round several shops of a type I don't remember, looking for the best exchange rate or lowest fee, on lists displayed in the shop windows.

Due to financial circumstances it was about 10 years before I went abroad again and by then I think we had the Internet, the euro and cards such as those mentioned on this thread and travellers cheques were more or less history I think.

Pinkvoid · 26/05/2019 04:53

Didn’t realise they still existed. I take some cash then draw out money as needs be, I found it’s less pricey than the exchange rate.

YahBasic · 26/05/2019 07:01

I’ve got a Monzo card & DH has a Transferwise one.

Genuinely not seen a travellers cheque for about 10 years.

floraloctopus · 26/05/2019 07:12

Cash and my normal bank card here as there are no charges since it's a foreign bank.

thomasthecheekyone · 26/05/2019 07:27

We got a travel credit card. We went for tandem, really good rates and no fee for spending. The app is fab too as within seconds of spending it tells you. (I have a link for £10 voucher if you decide to apply).

I was super impressed with customer service though, it got rejected in a restaurant, I used the app to contact them and within 3 minutes they'd replied that the restaurant had tried to use contactless!

Fraxion · 26/05/2019 07:31

Don't Monzo charge a % for withdrawing foreign currency over 200 quid per month? I was looking for a fee free ATM card so compared a few. Ended up opening a Starling bank account, purely for travelling purposes.

BarbaraofSevillle · 26/05/2019 07:39

Yes they do Frax. I suppose whether it matters depends on where you generally travel. Some countries are happy with card payments for all transactions, Sweden is a commonly cited example where hardly anyone uses cash any more.

But other countries are still very cash dominant and it is common to see restaurants, cafes etc that don't accept cards, or they charge extra for doing so (even though it is illegal under EU law).

We scuba dive in places like the Canaries and Malta so need hundreds of Euros for a week's diving and both providers we've used in the past year would have charged 3-5% extra to accept a card payment. So we paid cash, so luckily have 2 cards to take out sufficient money (Starling and Santander Zero - I do have a Halifax Clarity, but now I have the Starling, I'm going to close that account).

GinisLife · 26/05/2019 07:41

I usually just take cash but when we went to Canada last year I took at Post Office card that you top up from your uk bank account via an app on your phone. Use it like a debit card. Worked in most places. A few I had to pay cash.

JustDanceAddict · 26/05/2019 07:47

Monzo or normal debit/cc.
I don’t think I’ve used travellers cheques for 20 years or so!!

Eminybob · 26/05/2019 07:48

I remember taking travellers cheques when I went travelling in India in 2002.
There were little huts in the beach towns where you would change them for rupees. It was relatively easy and I think the advantage over cash was you could have them replaced if you lost them.
I’ve not used them before or since, but I worked in banking where they have been paid into accounts.

ShanghaiDiva · 26/05/2019 07:56

Have not used travellers cheques for about 25 years. I use credit card or withdraw cash from ATM. I bank with a Chinese bank and can pay with my debit card in loads of places - exchange rate is good and it's very convenient.

sar302 · 26/05/2019 08:12

Depends where you go. We visited a city in Sweden recently, and most places refused to take cash! Thankfully we had our Monzo cards. Just used those.

stucknoue · 26/05/2019 08:19

Not sure they still exist. We just use our credit card and draw money out the atm - not the cheapest option i know but certainly the most convenient

EdWinchester · 26/05/2019 08:22

Do they even still exist?

We just use our debit cards and take cash too. I avoid using ATMs in the US as the charges are so high.

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