GETTING TRAVELER'S CHECKS IN EUROS IN USA

Sandee, it has been many years ago that we got pound travelers checks but we got them at our bank. I'm sure you can get euro travelers checks at your bank unless things have changed.

Wells Fargo sells Travelers Checks in Euro, and their website says they have branches around San Antonio.

You can get TCs at most travel places -- an Am Express around ? And I am sure your bank can get them BUT it probably will be expensive. I haven't seen that request in years. We always send the credit card number. Will they accept a credit card?

Id suggest giving them a credit card - perhaps one used just for travel or web purchases (with a lower limit?) They cant do much more than take the required amount. Also - many cards now offer a PC tool or web tool that will generate a one time number for a certain amount. Once that number is used - it wont work again (and you never have to give them the real number if you are concerned).

The cheapest way to handle this is to open an account with www.xe.com/fx and have a bank draft in euros mailed directly to your hotel. You will pay an an exchange rate only slightly higher than the official rate on the day the tranaaction is initiated. There are no other fees. For security reasons it takes a little time and effort to set up an account, but everything goes swiftly and smoothly after that.

Traveler's checks are almost NEVER accepted by merchants and street vendors and are often subject to high fees for conversion. It is best to use ATMs to get cash in Europe and to have credit card backup

Strange request. Usually they will accept CC guarantee with payment in cash when you get there. Or ask if they will accept wire xfer. Either will be a lot cheaper for you.

You will not only get a bad exchange rate to get euro based Travelers Checks in the U.S. but you will pay a fee for the privilege too.

I would not stay at that hotel as you are giving them a deposit but you may or may not recieve a reciept, what if you cancel is the entire deposit forfeited?? How do you prove you even paid a deposit.

Use a hotel that accepts a CC.

Many small hotels do not take credit cards. This past summer in Sicily we stayed at two very small B&B's - both of which were great. The first, Baglio Spano near Marsala, asked for a bank draft in the amount of one nights deposit. I used my local bank to send this but reading here and later research leads me to believe that xe.com might have saved me a few dollars. I did wonder what would happen if cancelled, would we really get our money back, but sometimes you just have to have faith!

I actually felt MUCH more uncomfortable about our 2nd place which required NO down payment, no credit card, etc. I wondered if we really had a reservation? Of course we did, and the hotel, Palazzo Giovanni, situated between Catania and Taormina was a real find. In general we found that we were able to use our credit cards less freqently in Italy-we went to the ATM's almost daily and withdrew the max from 2 accounts in order to pay cash for our family of 4. Not a problem-just different.

Sandee, perhaps this is just a generational thing (and I'm only guessing here, I really have no idea of your age), but there is absolutely no need for traveler's checks. With ATMs all over Europe you can just take out the cash you need. Find yourself a bank that doesn't charge you fees for taking out cash from an ATM in Europe. There are more out there than you realize, you just have to do the research. Traveler's checks are horridly antiquated and most places don't want them. You'll spend 10 times as long in line at banks trying to cash them than you would just using your cash card from your bank at an ATM.

The ONLY down-side to the ATM deal is that you never really have a 100% perfect idea what your exchange rate is until you get your bank statement after the trip. That's because the exchange is given when the transactions are completed between the bank with the ATM and your bank. But it's not like it will change a LOT during that few day window.

Sandee, I'm assuming that the hotel is requiring a deposit in euros but not specifically a traveler's check. Since you cannot be present to sign the traveler's check, it's simply not possible. I believe what the bank means is that they need a cash deposit in euros. I had to do the same thing twice last year to place deposits for French gites. I simply went to my local Bank of America and arranged for them to issue me a bank draft in euros made out to the party I was paying. They can also do the same thing with a wire transfer if they are provided the proper wire account information. It's a pretty quick and simple deal.

Regarding credit cards, we were able to pay the balance of our rent with a VISA card once we were in France. It appears that some merchants can handle VISA payments, but they need to physically run the card through their machine: they can't process online or otherwise remote transactions. Perhaps this is a common circumstance with some European merchants.