Okay, so we're not supposed to carry cash, we're supposed to carry traveler's checks.
I'm not totally clear on why we're supposed to carry these checks, perhaps ballast? Something to hold us down if we start feeling too light headed?
It can't be to actually buy things, because people don't seem to accept them.
Last Summer, in Europe, I carried these handy little items, just as Karl suggested. From a ballast perspective, they worked just fine, I didn't float away. I would periodically take them out and the hotel owners, store keepers, waitresses and waiters, would all shake their heads and ask what I really intended to pay with. We would have a good laugh, much like I'd offered to purchase their island with colored beads.
I found that the only place I could actually cash them was the periodic bank (not all of them) where the bankers hadn't heard the joke, "How many people does it take to cash an American Express travelers check? None." And, of course, if you could actually find a place to cash the check, there was always a fee for cashing the check which you had paid a fee to obtain in the first place. So, yes, they were just as good as cash, like Russian Rubles in Detroit, or Confederate money since 1865.
So, we make it back to the States and I actually forgot that I had several travelers checks left over with our passport folder. It was like found money! Before heading off to NYC and Aruba, I walked down to the SAME BANK that gave me the AMEX travelers' checks, paid to me in MY NAME per the teller's instructions and signed BY ME in front of the teller.
Guess what we found on our return? The checks have been rejected by AMEX for, among other things, being "counterfeit". It's possibly true, since any claim that I could actually use these checks for anything apart from wallpaper or firestarters appears to be fake.
We'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, if you have travelers checks, follow Karl's advice and don't leave home.
I'm not totally clear on why we're supposed to carry these checks, perhaps ballast? Something to hold us down if we start feeling too light headed?
It can't be to actually buy things, because people don't seem to accept them.
Last Summer, in Europe, I carried these handy little items, just as Karl suggested. From a ballast perspective, they worked just fine, I didn't float away. I would periodically take them out and the hotel owners, store keepers, waitresses and waiters, would all shake their heads and ask what I really intended to pay with. We would have a good laugh, much like I'd offered to purchase their island with colored beads.
I found that the only place I could actually cash them was the periodic bank (not all of them) where the bankers hadn't heard the joke, "How many people does it take to cash an American Express travelers check? None." And, of course, if you could actually find a place to cash the check, there was always a fee for cashing the check which you had paid a fee to obtain in the first place. So, yes, they were just as good as cash, like Russian Rubles in Detroit, or Confederate money since 1865.
So, we make it back to the States and I actually forgot that I had several travelers checks left over with our passport folder. It was like found money! Before heading off to NYC and Aruba, I walked down to the SAME BANK that gave me the AMEX travelers' checks, paid to me in MY NAME per the teller's instructions and signed BY ME in front of the teller.
Guess what we found on our return? The checks have been rejected by AMEX for, among other things, being "counterfeit". It's possibly true, since any claim that I could actually use these checks for anything apart from wallpaper or firestarters appears to be fake.
We'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, if you have travelers checks, follow Karl's advice and don't leave home.
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