Travellers Cheque Card

[snookhams]

We are thinking of using the American Express Travellers Cheque card during our next holiday. Has anyone used this when in Florida, any information would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[alisonbestford]

We used it last year and found it great

It was an offer, through Thomas Cook, with a 'free' card and $250 free if you loaded it with $2000.

I know that several people have said that they found it difficult to keep track of their money but we didn't find this an issue.
You can check the balance online (I just logged on occasionally to keep a check of my own accounts) and, I believe that you get a balance on your receipt if you visit one of the big supermarkets - not sure which one though

I made a couple of cash withdrawals, to cover tips etc, and just used the card as a debit card the rest of the time.

The 'free' cash offer more than covered any withdrawal fees and the slightly lower exchange rate incurred by not using a cc

 

[Frances999]

These aren't really worth it unless you get a special offer, as the exchange rate is usually pretty poor compared to exchanging for cash or paper TCs.

 

[wen-tom]

we used it last year as we got a special offer and we did find it difficult to keep track of what we had spent. You can check it online but we didn't always have the time. We mush prefer spending Travellers cheques like cash through out WDW. Much easier to count what you have left

 

[angel659]

I have a love and hate relationship with this card.

If you wanted to keep an eye on your balance and were unable to check this out via internet. You can always phone up and get a balance. My dh kept all the receipts and did a a tally up each night. The problem I found with these is.

The exchange rate was poor compared to paper TC. I only got this card originally due to the offer of free dollars. Other than that I would of got paper TC.

When we went to NYC. We had a few issues with the card. When we went out for meals the resturants seemed to take over $20 extra per meal. At first we thought PH had ripped us off, but two days later the extra was refunded back onto the card. This seemed to be a regular occurence with every resturant we went to. Luckily it was not a problem for us, but if we were on a tight budget and needed that money it would of caused us alot of problems. When we arrived home we had zero balance and then three days later we had $80 refunded back onto the card, due to resturants taking more money than they should.

Personally I would take paper TC and perhaps the card as back up if you want to top up your card whilst your out there. This can save you some expensive charges from CC or cash withdrawal.

Another downside to the card is. Once you have topped the card up you can not get your money back. Unlike paper TC. What we did was half TC and half on the card. Just because we didnt fancy taking out lots of TC when we went shopping in Macys. We made sure we spent the card first and then the TC. Needless to say we spent all our money on the last day in Macys. It wasnt a problem in the end.

Yes I love the convenience in WDW. We didnt appear to have any problems, but we didnt have internet access like we did in NYC. Perhaps we had missed the extra money coming out on each meal or bar trip. I personally think if you are on a tight budget then please be careful with the card. Also the exchange rate in my opinion is the biggest NO for taking all my money on a TC card.

Have a shop around. Oh the Visa card that Going Places do you cant top up the card, whilst your out there. You can only top it up from the shop you got it from. i.e Going Places You can get your remaining cash back when you return to the UK, unlike the AMerican Express. It really is horses for courses.

 

[wayneg]

Todays amex rate is 1.912320
Nationwide credit card 1.99
Not a great rate, but I have never seen point in using anything but credit cards in US.
I think they were good value with the offer last year, not so good now.

 

[wilma-bride]

We have used our TC card for 2 trips now. We also got it when there was an offer on and I would say that, unless you can get a good deal on it, I agree with the others who've said the exchange rate when you purchase is not always as good as that offered for cash and paper TCs (there is also sometimes a £15 charge for getting the card so watch that one).

Regarding the use of the card, we have found it nothing but convenient. The only problem we had was at Publix, when we tried to pay with it and the PIN didn't work (but it worked the next day when we used it to withdraw cash ). I didn't have a problem keeping track of what we spent as I was keeping a close eye on our budget anyway - I just kept any receipts and totted them up each night. We really only used it for meals and large purchases, we used cash for buying drinks and snacks throughout the day.

Although we have now got only $36ish left on the card, I doubt we will top it up unless we can get a comparable rate from Amex (we have the Amex TC card) - if I saw a good deal, though, we would definitely consider getting another card

 

[alisonbestford]

We had a few issues with the card. When we went out for meals the resturants seemed to take over $20 extra per meal. At first we thought PH had ripped us off, but two days later the extra was refunded back onto the card.

This happened to us , once, in Orlando but the money was refunded pretty quickly.

As far as getting your cash back I believe that you can go along to an ATM, showing the American Express symbol, when you get home and withdraw it -that's what the travel agent told me but guess the exchange rate will be pretty poor

 

[angel659]

This happened to us , once, in Orlando but the money was refunded pretty quickly.

As far as getting your cash back I believe that you can go along to an ATM, showing the American Express symbol, when you get home and withdraw it -that's what the travel agent told me but guess the exchange rate will be pretty poor

You can draw the money via a cash machine, but as you say the exchange rate is poor. You could withdraw the money out there. I think there is a little charge, but you could take it to your local TA to get it changed up. We decided to keep the balance on the card for our next holiday.

 

[Andy Lou & Meg]

I agree with most people about this. Great to get one if there is an offer but otherwise there is no point.

TC are a much easier way of keeping track of funds and also as everybody has said the Ex rate is v poor compared to TC.

I got one of these cards when they first came out in 2005, I used it for that trip and since then its been in a drawer.

Personally I will not use it again.