Traveler's Checks???

I would suggest you contact your bank to see if you can increase your daily withdrawal amount (which may still be limited by the foreign bank). Both of you could take out the cash you need over several days (from two accounts) which should cover your B&B costs. Traveler's checks just aren't used anymore and you'll likely have to find a bank and pay fees to cash them anyway.

Contact the B&Bs you have reserved and ask them. Most will not want to deal w TCs , as they incur costs for cashing them. Nobody has used TCs in many years

Cary: Yes, actually one of the few situations where we on the Helpline have found that travelers checks may make sense is the use of them you describe--IF the B&B owners tell you that they will accept the TC's from you and not require you to cash them and give the owners the cash. That way you avoid the big problem with TC's, which is finding places to cash them without charging you an arm and a leg. But unless the B&B owners will accept them from you, the problem is finding a place to cash them at all, let alone for a reasonable fee. I have not done this but people here have described using TC's in this way, giving them directly to the B&B or apartment owners, I guess you would endorse them over to them?

If we took TCs I was planning that we would cash them at a local bank. It would just keep us from having that much cash on us. And we only have one bank account so we can't draw from two different sources. I will check with the bank, though, about increasing the limits.

I second Eric's recommendation...since the fall of the dollar, what was once "enough" for daily cash flow is no longer sufficient. Both my wife and I have seperate checking accounts, and before our last trip we asked our bank to increase our daily withdrawal amounts (from $300 to $500). Together, we were able to handle all of our cash requirements...this is the least painful way of addressing our new world order. Incidently, by paying cash for our hotel rooms, we frequently got significant discounts (up to 10%). The added benefit was that there was no big Visa bill at the end of the trip.

Okay, in that case what I said above won't help. What people here have encountered is the time required to find a bank and then stand in what sometimes are long lines, and then getting an unfavorable "exchange rate" or fee from the bank. And finding a bank could be a problem if you're in country locations.

I will be facing the exact same situation when I go to Italy in July: the smaller hotels either require cash, or they give a sizeable discount for cash. I called my bank, and they indicated that I could probably raise my daily limit. I'm going to hold them to this; otherwise, I'm going to move some money to an account at a different bank, then make ATM withdrawals from both accounts.

Louis: Have a Plan B because how much in euros you actually are able to get out of an ATM machine in Europe is controlled by two things: your US bank daily limit and the separate limit that may be placed on your transaction by the financial entity owning the ATM machine in Europe you're using that day. People here have been unpleasantly surprised, and once you're there and the money you thought was going to come out isn't coming out, your options are limited.

You could pay them via wire or Paypal if they are willing. The Paypal payment could even be performed while you're there if you can't get the cash and can access the internet. Just another thought.

Kent has identified something that is somewhat irritating, that is, some of the ATMs will give you error messages when you ask for more than they are programmed to give out...(not usually banks, but sometimes)...it's an iterative process, that you will discover if you try for a lesser amount and your withdrawal is honored. Most banks will release up to 500 Euros. The best work-around for those situations where the foreign bank has placed a limit on your account withdrawal that is less than your daily limit with your bank is to merely use a different bank (works well in cities...not so much in the Hill Towns of Tuscany)

Really what you need to do is compare the math, if possible, to find what gives you the best rate. Yes, Travellers checks are an option. You avoid carrying large amounts of cash, and while businesses are shunning them, banks still handle them as do American express offices. The rate is worse than $ to Pound exchanges, but to get Pounds in the US is probably as bad a rate or worse than Travellers checks. Another option rarely mentioned is using a credit card that offers cash advances at an ATM. Yes there is a fee, but exchange rates are good and your total cost may be very favorable compared to Traveller checks and Cash exchanges in the US.

I always feel bad when people say things like: "nobody uses travellers checks anymore." I do. I don't like ATM cards and the one trip I decided to depend on it without travelers checks the card was eaten. Once I did have a bag with travellers checks in them taken, and they were replaced within a day--so I feel loyal. It's true not many places take them, but some places do and all banks will cash them for a fee. I take $200-$500 as a backup system. My bank always will cash them when I come home if I don't need them.

Gale: When you use post on this site, you irrevocably waive the right to wear shorts or use travelers checks, at least in Europe. Now you hafta do what we say. :)

Yes, Gale, Kent is right. As a certifed RS poster, you have lost your right to TC's. In fact, you will open your wallet to find them self destructing, just like in the old Mission Impossible opening. And when that happens to your shorts, well, that's embarrassing.