How to take/have access to spending money in teh USA>

[Tansie]

Friends are going on a 3 week trip to the western states in the summer, travelling around. They have largely pre-booked their accommodation but want to know how to take money with them.

If I recall, the USA is a bit more primitive than much of Europe, isn't it, in that only local credit cards are acceptable, if at all? And so forth? They are thinking Travellers Cheques (which I must say I thought had gone the way of Ceefax etc!).

I take a Santander Zero card to Europe but do they have an alternative to TCs? They are obviously keen to avoid huge transaction and commission fees.

TIA

I've used my debit card all over California with no problems, and actually transaction fees and the exchange rate are fairly reasonable, if you see it as the cost of the convenience. (HSBC and Barclaycard).

I think traveller's cheques would be a pita, as would changing currency there. Banking in the US is a dreadful faff and not geared to the forriner.

I would take a wodge of cash dollars and some plastic.

DH travels a lot on the states and always manages to get money with our normal Visa debit card. Ok, you pay fees but if you have too much cash and you loose it you have a problem.

Traveller's cheques are a thing of the last. You could get pre-loaded cards but you need to check what happens if they get lost or stolen. Also normal credit cards are accepted.

I've used travellers cheques previously as everywhere over the takes them. I have also used a credit card and also withdrawn money from their ATMs same as I would over here. Cash works well too :)

Check out the money savings expert site, there was something about travel money in the newsletter today.

We moved to the USA last summer and our cards were accepted everywhere (both Singaporean and uk visa, Amex, credit and debit). We've now got USA accounts and cards. It's not that primitive

I lived in Spain for a while in 1994 and took travelers cheques. It took a morning to cash them as they'd never seen them before (off the beaten track). Haven't used them since, total faff.

You can use your debit card in bank machines.

I took out a FairFX pre-loaded card for my recent trip the the States. Brilliant for using wherever there's a Visa logo (which is pretty much everywhere) and at good rates. If you want access to cash for withdrawals and don't want to pay the charges/fees, then a Caxton card is also a good choice. I travel in Europe with one of these so I can get cash whenever I need without paying through the nose.

Good info here: www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

Eh?! I live in the US and my regular bank card (both UK and US) get accepted everywhere.

I used my debit card (Barclays) and it was no problem and there was no fees at a specific bank with that, although can't remember which, also used a pre-loaded card from the travel agents.