Money

"For information on traveler's checks, see the 1995 edition of this book." (Rick Steves, Europe Through the Back Door 2009)

You could probably cash them at a bank if you brought them. But they are pretty archaic...

Travelers checks are dinosaurs. Few places accept them. Even banks can be reluctant to cash them. Get cash from ATMs. See this Money 101 article by Rick Steves.

Travelers checks have gone the way of the steamer trunk. Like big luggage, some people still insist on using them but their time has past.

We used EURO American Express Travelers checks which we purchased through our bank for our hotels only. They were accepted by hotels (even the ones that said cash only for discount in RS book) -- in Rome, Florence and Venice (not in Orvieto.) We emailed each hotel and asked. This made it very easy to pay our bills and not carry lots of cash to do so. We used ATMs for our daily expenses. It's the American Dollar Travelers checks that are hard to cash in Europe.

Pat

I strongly suspect that the merchant's don't distrust travelers checks.

It's more of the factor of being an administrative and economical burden of getting the money therefrom onto their books. Just as tourists have trouble finding a bank to cash the darn things, odds are that the merchant's bank doesnt' deal with them anymore either, thus the merchant has to trot them to another bank seven-evers away and then suffer some degradation of face value when he redeems them.

The last time I used one was at least twenty-five years ago. I traveled with somebody a few years ago who had a bunch of them (against my advice) and he wound of cashing them at change bureaus -- a double whammy.

The biggest issue with travelers check is fraud. Everyone knows what a Euro or dollar bill should look and ways to test for counterfeit. There is no standard travelers check and, at one time, counterfeit became easy and frequent. So for a small merchant it is not worth the risk. The reason is no reason for anyone to use traveler checks.

re: "For information on traveler's checks, see the 1995 edition of this book."

Nice Kent... I love it! I never noticed that line in the RS book! Smithsonian may have some too!

Sally - get a few 100 euros before you go so you have some when you land incase its late. Then over the next day or two find the large bank ATM machine for more. Use the Credit Card for larger purchase or hotels (unless they give you a cash discount!)

I remember the times before ATMs -- and before Euros. I once bought some French Franc travelers checks from American Express for a trip to France. When I arrived at CDG airport, I had no Francs, but needed some to take the bus into Paris, so I bought a book at a bookstore in the airport. I paid with a traveler's check and got change. No problem.

But, I also remember how hard it sometimes was to cash traveler's checks in some places. In my travels through Mexico and Central America, to get local currency you had to go into a bank, and often, you couldn't just go up to a teller -- you had to be "interviewed" by a bank official who sat you down in his office, examined your passport, and after a little friendly chit chat, approved your travelers checks with much ceremony and paperwork.

I tried to use a Traveler's Check recently at a local Barnes & Noble when iwent out without my wallet by mistake. Even when they could find my name in their computer they refused to cash it. My bank would. Don't get them. Pam

The situation in Germany now, is that even banks will not cash Travelers Checks. I was sort of surprised by this, but just recently found out. The only place you can cash a travelers check here is by going to one of those exchange places at the airport and main train stations. You will pay a hefty fee for doing so and get the worst exchange rate of all.

That's exactly what I thought, thanks everyone.

Sally,

I agree with the others, forget the Traveller's Cheques!

As Rick has said, "I've cashed my last Traveller's Cheque".

Cheers!