Money!

[Mum from oz]

We had a fair few $$ on a travel card and we were fine. We took a mix of travel card, cash and travellers cheques. I only withdrew cash from the card a few time and used it as a CC most of the time. All throughout Orlando and WDW and we were fine.

 

[Travel Mum]

We had a fair few $$ on a travel card and we were fine. We took a mix of travel card, cash and travellers cheques. I only withdrew cash from the card a few time and used it as a CC most of the time. All throughout Orlando and WDW and we were fine.

Phew, that is great to hear Mum from Oz!!

 

[5ofus]

Don't forget that Traveller's Cheques in large denominations are really handy in Disney as well, as Jade mentioned. I always use TC there, buy one thing and get the change in cash which I use for the rest of the day. I always feel much safer with TC - I guess I like to 'see' my money

 

[battymum]

I have never used Travellers Cheques - What sort of ID do you need to cash them - Do they have your name on them, If I get them - Can DH use them?

 

[PrincessInOz]

I have never used Travellers Cheques - What sort of ID do you need to cash them - Do they have your name on them, If I get them - Can DH use them?

You need a photo ID. Like I mentioned before, take your Driver's License with you and that's what I've used to cash them in at the check-out.

When you first get them, either you or DH will have to sign on the TCheque at the bank. When you spend it, whoever signed for them at the bank, will have to countersign....with their photo ID.

Whenever we buy them, I get DH to buy some and I buy some. That way, he has some TCheques that he carries and I have some that I carry.

I normally carry $50 and $100 denominations of the TCheques. It's great to have the larger $100 denomination but not all places will want to provide change in cash if you're spending about $20 or less. Much like having larger cash bills, it depends on how early in the day and how much change they have in the till.

 

[Caroline NZ]

What I really like about the Travelcard is that the online site is updated instantly ( and it was so easy to add funds to via online banking prior to travelling). We still had money left on the Travelcard from the holiday, and when my hubby was over in LA a couple of weeks ago for a business trip he also did some shopping for me. I was tailing him online - so by the time he rang me at the end of the day I already knew exactly where he had been and what he had spent!
One advantage of using the card directly with the retailer is that there is no extra cash withdrawal fee. We did withdraw cash as well, but there was normally a $3-$5 fee each time.
Our cards are chipped, but I don't know if that adds any extra security?
They have a 3 year life, so they will still be valid for our trip in 2013 as well

 

[Franrose]

That's Kiwibank for you Caroline - I love how up to the minute they are as a bank (in terms of online banking). We still have a Kiwibank account but of course are not using it as often as we used to! It was a big change for us to get used to Aus banking, because NZ is so small it's advanced in terms of it's banking systems.

I've just bit the bullet and bought a cash passport, I couldn't believe how different the rates & commissions are with the card though! Buying through Auspost gave me the best rate (by more than a cent, which adds up!) and zero commission. I gained an extra $15 per $1000 by using Auspost as my pickup over Travelex themselves (and my post office is closer than the Travelex office, lol), and $30 per $1000 more than some of the other resellers! I'd definitely recommend anyone else looking at purchasing one of these cards to check out the rates the different resellers offer when you go to buy one.

NAB (in Australia) is the only reseller who are doing the chip cards at the moment apparently, they are new because Mastercard has bought Travelex. I've researched though and from what I can tell, it won't make an awful lot of difference in the US (to not have a chip card) as they don't have the chip readers anyway. Will just be careful not to let the card out of sight etc.

 

[battymum]

I went to my bank (westpac) this morning to order travellers cheques - they spoke to me like I was a total dumbarse going into an Apple store to buy an Abacus -

Seriously the girl involved about 4 people from behind the counter and they were all trying to convince me to get a travel card - (even though I dont think Westpac has them, and yes I know about them and already have one) when I insisted I didnt want anything electronic, she suggested cash, (how much cash is a family of five going to need for three weeks!) then they went to the cupboard and came back and told me to go to an American express store.

So while I stood my ground there, I have come back here doubting myself - so reassure me please, they are easy to use and widely accepted arent they???

This girl was trying to tell me that I would have to physically go into a bank to change them, they were expensive and old technology!

I went to the American express store and realised that I would need DH with me to sign them so that he would be able to use them - so we will go back on Saturday.

 

[kylieh]

I went to my bank (westpac) this morning to order travellers cheques - they spoke to me like I was a total dumbarse going into an Apple store to buy an Abacus -

Seriously the girl involved about 4 people from behind the counter and they were all trying to convince me to get a travel card - (even though I dont think Westpac has them, and yes I know about them and already have one) when I insisted I didnt want anything electronic, she suggested cash, (how much cash is a family of five going to need for three weeks!) then they went to the cupboard and came back and told me to go to an American express store.

So while I stood my ground there, I have come back here doubting myself - so reassure me please, they are easy to use and widely accepted arent they???

This girl was trying to tell me that I would have to physically go into a bank to change them, they were expensive and old technology!

I went to the American express store and realised that I would need DH with me to sign them so that he would be able to use them - so we will go back on Saturday.

You won't have any probs - just the girl at the bank being lazy. Many hundreds of moons ago I worked at a bank and the tellers bank then had certain sales targets to make - I don't think traveler's cheques would be a sales target!

We used them no problems at Disneyland in the stores and received change, the shop employees didn't even think it was anything special, just a way of paying, and in Las Vegas I cashed them at the casino cages, no commission, very easy.

I still feel safer with traveler's cheques than cash or travel cards.

If you still have a week perhaps you can order them online and pick up at the post office. (I can't remember when you go.)

 

[Luisa]

I work for Westpac and that girl sounds like she's the dumbarse! No, travelers cheques aren't a sales target but that doesn't mean we won't sell them. One big problem is Amex won't let us order extra to keep on hold to sell unless we sell a lot regularly, so often branches don't have much stock to fill orders. What she should have done if that was the case is get you to order them online- Amex commission fees are much lower too that way- then you could pick them up on a couple of days. Also, you can take them away unsigned but if you do it is at your own risk and you're not covered for loss or theft (this was something an Amex person told me years ago so things may have changed). My personal suggestion to people is take what you're comfortable with and enjoy your holiday.

 

[ArdyG]

Hi battymum

I was amazed when I went to the US, how all the shops I made purchases at, took Travellers Cheques without any problems. It was great. I thought that I would have to cash them at a bank or at an Amex location like when I had been in Europe. Luckily though, I read before I left, that in the US, shops would take them and sure enough, it was as if they were cash - easy peasy.

 

[WAMUMOF4]

we used the Amex travel card from the post office great exchange no fees and you get the card instantly.
We had no problems with it but i did regularly ring and check the transactions it had a USA toll free number to call the funds don't expire and when the card does you just call them and they send you a new one so we will start reloading very soon whilst the $ is high for our next trip.

I also used our debit visa card and used it at the atm to take out $300 cash three times and it cost me $1.50 from the US atm and $2.83 from ANZ Surprisingly even thought the Walmart Atm told me they were going to charge me $1.50 they charged us nothing.

I was quite worried myself because our debit visa card was skimmed last year after we got home in Australia and it took nearly 3 months to get our money back so i understand your worry.

My tip also would be don't let the hotel take incidental money of any card give them cash they only seem to want $20 cash but charge between $50-80 onto your card which can take up to 30 days to be released I was quite surprised by the amount of sign at the hotel warning you of this