AM Ex Travellers Cheque Card -offer

[magentadreamer]

Has anyone actually used one of these Am Ex Traveller Cheque Cards? I saw an offer in Holiday Hypermarket ( First Choice Travel Agents) today. Basically it was put $700 on the card and they'll "give" you an extra $50.Plus there is no charge for the card.

I was wondering if anyone had used it? I'm assuming that it would be a similar set up as paying on your CC or just handing over a fistful of travellers cheques just after your child has cleared out a Disney shop...........

 

[squitty]

Hi
We have one for our upcoming trip. Will be using it in a week or so

Balance can be checked online. There is a charge of $2.50 for withdrawing any cash from ATM's over there.

 

[mandymouse]

Same here Michelle, we've got one to use on our trip in 2 weeks. It's the first time we've used one, so I'll let you know how we got on when I'm back

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
I have used the Amex TC card the last couple of weeks (got back yesterday) I had no problems using the card and as you say you just use it as if it were a credit card. The only thing to watch out for is that certain retailers claim more than the actual cost of what you are spending to ensure there is sufficient funds available to cover your spend. Amex do warn about this and it can take a few days for the coorect amount to appear on your account thus affecting your available money to spend. They do not reccomend using the card to pay for petrol at the pump but go inside to the cashier, also don't use it when you check into a hotel as you would a credit card to enable room charges.I left a credit card with our hotel then used the TC card a day before we left to clear the account. This aside the card is fine and with the offer you mention I got a rate equivelent to $1.90 to the £ so I was more than happy.

Mick.

 

[kristieuk]

Welcome home Mick!

We used the card recently too - we had no problems at all.
The only advice I would give is to try to write down each transaction and save the receipts in case of any problem. The hardest part was that it was too easy to spend! We put more money than we needed on there with a view to coming home with $1000 towards spending for our next trip (so we could benefit from a free $250 0ffer). After duty free purchase, that's now only $600. Oh well!

It is way more convenient than traveller's cheques, and it does at least mean you only spend the money you have, and don't have to carry loads of cash around.

The one down side is that when you reload, you don't get the best exchange rate on the market. But if you see special offers for free $, that can make up for it!

 

[Lisa1976]

We were thinking of this, but my only concern is what people have said about retailers taking our more than they should, I would be worried about money not clearing, trying to find out balances and not knowing the correct balance etc, we wont have internet access so wont be able to check it every day, also if they take 3 - 5 days to put the correct amount through this would probably confuse the hell out of me.

Was it with everyone that your purchased through or just the odd one or two retailers?

 

[kristieuk]

We were thinking of this, but my only concern is what people have said about retailers taking our more than they should, I would be worried about money not clearing, trying to find out balances and not knowing the correct balance etc, we wont have internet access so wont be able to check it every day, also if they take 3 - 5 days to put the correct amount through this would probably confuse the hell out of me.

Was it with everyone that your purchased through or just the odd one or two retailers?

Lisa, this didn't happen to us at all. It is a little offputting if that is really happening, I agree. The genuine amounts can take a day or two to show, but if you keep a note of what you have spent, you should be able to keep track that way - I just kept a peice of paper in my purse, so when I took the card out to pay, it would remind me to fill it in. I'm usually hopeless at keeping track, but this worked for me.

I can see that it won't help if more is being taken off as reserve - I wonder how much this is? Does anyone know?

 

[Lisa1976]

Kristie, could you use the card anywhere, i.e. the wdw shops, restaurants, in the parks???

 

[kristieuk]

Yes, we used it all over - it's basically anywhere that accepts American Express, which is virtually everywhere. You can withdraw the cash from an ATM with it, although there is (something like) £2.50 charge. We just took cash as well, for the smaller purhcases and tolls etc.

 

[VSL]

I really considered getting one, but in the end we decided against it and just got some cash and TC's. We're only really going to be using our KTTW to pay for stuff in Disney and we have about $200 cash to take to US (or we could just take some TC's), so it isn't going to be of any real benefit to us.

 

[Lisa1976]

Well we've taken the plunge, just ordered the card from the American Express website, they are offering a frew $75, fingers crossed it goes ok for us.

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
For those who have an Amex TC card the website currently has an offer of $75 free when you reload the card with $1000. Nets the rate to $1.79 to the £ which is not bad at the moment.

Mick.