alternatives to cash in usa?

[sparkysparkysparky]

Yonks ago I used to take USA traveller's cheques when travelling in US. Safer than cash, no hideous credit card charges and good for budgeting. Haven't been to US in over 10 years and now have a dc and DH in tow. Can you recommend an alternative to traveller's cheques? Thanks

You can buy loaded prepaid cards these days. I would a read something like moneysupermarket.com travel section for the latest advice on foreign exchange and such cards.

wherever you travel, you should always have more than one form of payment - two debit cards, perhaps those prepaid cards.

you pay exchange fees whatever you do. Travellers cheques are still a good standby in the hopefully unlikely 'everything stolen' situation.

Take a debit card and withdraw what you need from cash machines. I travel to the US a lot and always do this. I make large purchases directly on a card.

It is certainly worth telling the credit card company in advance your travel plans so that they do not accidently put a stop marker on your card.

Travellers cheques are not widely used these days. The exchange rate on cheques is often poor, while they come with high fees.

Take a pre-paid currency card. I use Caxton FX. You get a good rate, you can load it online and it works in exactly the same way as a debit card. You can withdraw cash from cashpoints, pay by card where needed and it's easy to use.

Thank you for your very handy tips

We had two preloaded cards - one in my name and one in my husband's - from the Post Office. You can buy them well in advance then put extra money on them either in a Post Office or online. When you're in the US, you can use them just like a debit card to pay for stuff or withdraw cash. If you don't spend all the money on it, you can ring when you get back and they let you cash the cards in for sterling. They worked brilliantly for us.