travellers cheques

[Daisy-May]

Please can anyone let me know the process with travellers cheques these days. How do I process them if I accept, is there any paper work or do I simply pay them in like a normal cheque? do I pay a fee (i'm with credit agricole).  I really want to say no to save me the hassle - any ideas please.

cheers

amelia

[Quillan]

Just take them to your bank and they will deal with them. There should be no cost to you as all commision etc is paid when they are bought, assuming they are Euro cheques. I have been told by more than one source that they are being phased out in the EU (as far as buying them is concerned), the UK Post Office no longer sells them neither do some of the banks there.

[Clair]

I have checked this with my local "Bureau de Poste", as I wanted to be able to offer this payment option for my gite: they tell me they will in cash American Express Euro currency traveller's cheques at no cost in major "bureaux de Poste".

It's worth checking with your nearest "Bureau de Poste" to find out which one will cash these, as the smaller ones do not have the cash to do so without notice...

I have not checked with my bank as I'm happy I can get them cashed at the Poste.

Clair

[okalani<P>Sarha<P><P>Okalani chambres et tables dhotes<]

Having experience many problems with the French banking system I was loathe to accept travellers cheques, but I have to say they were as easy to pay in as any cheque and cash.  I am with Banque Populaire and I literally filled in a paying in slip as I would with a french cheque, marked down the number of cheques and paid them in.  Just sign the back- no problems, no charges.  Brilliant!

[mascamps.com]

It's as well to write the passport number on the back of the cheques.

Credit Agricole charged us about 1% to pay them in which seems a bit much considering that they were issued by CA who had picked up a few % in selling them and, no doubt, had picked up something from the currency exchange too.

Can't see travellers cheques being phased out anytime soon. Short of running around with wads of cash, how else would you pay for your stay at a little B&B on some isolated Greek island?

 

Arnold

 

[Quillan]

Even isolated Greek islands have ATM's now Arnold which is probably why. Still when England gets the Euro it will be much easier .

[mascamps.com]

Most isolated Greek islands

However, the TCs are still quite popular with those on walking holidays I find. Around here they've basically got the option of lifting wads of cash from the ATMs to tide them over for several days or using TCs as the ATMs aren't in every village and loads of places (notably almost all wineries and, of course, a considerble number of B&Bs) don't take cards.

 

Arnold

 

[Miki]

[quote]Most isolated Greek islands However, the TCs are still quite popular with those on walking holidays I find. Around here they've basically got the option of lifting wads of cash from the ATMs to tid...[/quote]

Sorry Arnold, to back Chris's post, I have spoken on this point with bank staff (inc top honcho !) over several years now and it is becoming pretty much agreed that at the present time, the "ATM World" is well ahead of TC's in the tourist trade and forging even further ahead.

As Chris says, you would have to go a long way not to be able to find an ATM or bank and more the point perhaps, many little B&B around the World would not be too interested in your TC's.

Way back in the 60's and 70's I found many places even in the hey day of TC's that simply were not interested, meaning a trip to a bank or an exchange to cash a TC in. Now a card does all and, more that a TC ever did.

Similar to why many places now do not have a public phone (we haven't had one for years and never since being in Brittany)due to the ever increasing ownerships of mobile phones.

Want it or not, it is called progress, the same thing that took steam out of radios !

[Daisy-May]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Interesting to see Credit Agricole charged 1percent as according to their website there is no charge.  I have now ordered the welcom pack from American Express so I will take it from there.  I must admit I have only had 1 request to pay be TCs and they were touring on a motorbike so I guess I can understand not wanting cash, but I do think cards are far more practical these days.

Cheers

Amelia

[mascamps.com]

Don't get me wrong: I prefer the cards to TCs but when you're on a walking holiday (or indeed cycling I suspect) you just can't rely on using cards all the time. There simply aren't the number of ATMs and/or places accepting cards to do that.

Taking our own area as an example, we often get walkers starting out here and heading off towards Queribus and Peyrepertous. There are no ATMs along the way in any of the three villages that they pass. None of the wineries they pass take cards either and I'm not even sure that they auberge they generally finish up at does; certainly very few of the shops there have a card machine.

We did run across one unfortunate family who had fallen under the spell of American Express' marketing and acquired a "travellers check card" (American, of course). They had considerable difficulty in getting cash with it as only two banks accept it in France (and none in the country they were travelling to!). They couldn't even use it to buy stuff in most shops around here but were lucky enough to be able to get petrol in the next village with it.

I could also point out that in some parts of the mountains that our folk go through, mobile phones simply don't work... In fact if you look at the coverage map of France, it's dire and that's a map produced by the mobile phone companies themselves.

I sound dead negative on the card issue I know. I don't mean to be: I bought my last TCs about 10 years ago (not too many ATMs in India then!) and still have them as a backup but have only had to use it once in those 10+ years. However, I did have to use the card over the counter in a bank several times over that period and that does NOT work in France: they point you at the ATM and if it doesn't work, tough.

Arnold

 

[mascamps.com]

On the Credit Agricole account, it depends on which CA you're talking about (CA Sud Med are a completely different bank from CA Calvados, etc.). Their charges are all different for reasons which escape me. Notably even the charge for the debit/credit cards and, as far as I know, they're all issued and processed centrally!

However, even my own CA lists assorted things as having no charge and they just charge me anyway. One, of many, reasons why I hope to be referring to them as "my former bank" in the not too distant future.

 

Arnold