How to cash old euro travelers cheques

I'd call AAA's national headquarters. It should (in the sense of moral obligation) have an answer for you.

It's extremely unlikely you will be able to find anyplace in Italy (or anywhere else) to cash travelers checks. Contact Triple A (go up the chain in their organization until you find someone who can help you).

You might want to examine them very carefully to be sure there's no teeeny tiny print that shows an expiration date...

Try Travelex - the UK website indicates they will cash them https://www.travelex.co.uk/services/travellers-cheques/visa-mastercard

The US website is still down but you can contact a branch or phone https://www.travelex.com/currency

You are not going to like the answer.

Since these checks are in Euros, they will most likely be drawn against some European bank. Most likely the only way you can get money for these checks is to go to your bank and deposit them through their foreign exchange service. Since they are in Euros, you cannot just deposit them like you would a check in US$ (if you are in the US) for immediate availability. There will be a fee associated with this, only your bank can tell you what it will be, and it may take several weeks to get the money credited to your account. Most larger banks (Chase, Wells, Bank of America, etc.) will do this for you if you have an account with them.

You may also try and use them at a hotel while in Europe. Some of the larger ones will still accept them. But don't be surprised if they don't or if they too charge a fee to cash them. A third option is to try and use them to purchase Euros at a foreign exchange booth at the airport. You will get an even crappier exchange rate than with cash there, but at least it will not be a complete loss.

Just curious, how long ago did you purchase these checks? They have not really been useful since about 2000 and even then were difficult to use. And AAA should really stand behind the products they sell and allow you to get a refund on them (but that is why I never bought the checks from them even when I did use checks).

Good luck.

...and this probably shouldn't be posted under "Best Walking Shoes" (unless the only thing you can use old travelers checks for is to make shoes out of them...lets hope that's not the case).

They are printed on fairly sturdy paper. Maybe as cushion supports in your shoes?

That link Ramblin' on posted ( https://www.travelex.co.uk/services/travellers-cheques/visa-mastercard ) says:

Travelex stopped selling Travellers Cheques in 2008 and therefore some banks and agencies will no longer encash them.
There are however a number of other options available to encash travellers cheques.
By Post: Complete an encashment form and send it to our Peterborough office. Encashment form

That to me reads like cashing in Travelex's own Travellers Cheques, not those of other companies.

I would go back to the company that sold them to you (AAA). Since they sold you a useless product, you should demand a refund.
Let us know how you get on, for the benefit of others.

Hello
I recently had a somewhat similar situation as you; however it was an AMEX 20 British Pounds cheque, which I would have purchased back in 1994 and found in some really old papers. I asked my bank, but they were of no help. I decided to call American Express. They took down the details of the cheque and then sent me a cheque in Canadian funds. I had nothing to lose by calling. So, try AAA or even VISA. Worth a try.

David

hey hey
@david and mark LOL
aloha
GO NINERS!!

Here is a link to Visa Travelers checks. Although it focuses on how to replace lost checks, perhaps they can help you:
https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travelers-cheques.html

A few years ago I got stuck with a 100 euro AAA Travelers Check that I thought I was going to use to pay an advance deposit in France. When I stopped at the first French bank, they said they could only cash it if I was their customer. When I asked for a suggestion, they said to try La Poste (the post office). I did, and they did cash it. So maybe that's an option for the OP, although I don't know if Italian post offices deal with financial transactions.

If you do business with a national bank, go to your local branch and have them send the traveler's check to their international currency department. They should cash it and put the $ into your account. But don't expect to get a top exchange rate.

The travelers checks were not useless when they were sold so why should AAA offer a refund when AAA has not sold travelers checks for years.

@cel520, by chance do you bank at Citibank, Chase Manhattan, or Bank of America? If you do, you should be able to deposit the check into your account at a branch and get a USD credit at their awful exchange rate. As mentioned above, a deposit to your bank account is a way to go. Another thought: as mentioned above, you could also contact your hotel and ask them if you can use travelers checks to pay your bill. That is probably the only type of business in Italy that will accept a travelers check at this point in time.