I purchased one for my dd-17 to take with her to Europe this year, as a back up, in case she lost her debit card and cash. She used it everywhere in Europe, and even though it was loaded with dollars, when she used it at an ATM, she would get the appropriate currency for the country she was in.
She only used about 1/2 of what was on there, so I used the rest here and there - absolutely no problems! I think it would be much easier than TC's if it were stolen, as AMEX would have an electronic record of where it had been used and how much, etc. That always seemed to me to be a problem with the TC's, as I am not a great record keeper while on vacation!
We will be cruising next year, and I am going to take the TC's left over from last year and have them transferred onto the card. It really was a lot easier.