Travellers Cheques

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myate

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Hi, anybody here know if it's still possible to get travelers cheques in Ireland - in US dollars? Going somewhere in remote in the Caribbean and they only take cash, travellers cheques or bank cheques (no good cause of exchange rate)...no credit card or bank transfers. We paid in 2008 in travelers cheques, but enquired the other day in the bank about them & they don't do them anymore! Would rather them than a stack of cash.
Thanks!
 
You can certainly buy Cooks travellers cheques online in UK up to a max of £2500. Don't know if they will deliver to Ireland
 
Do they not have ATM's in this place you're going to? Will they accept a US$ Draft? A US$ Draft (or Bankers Cheque) would be sold at the exact same rate as Travellers cheques. Poor old Euro has gone down big time against the dollar.

I work in a bank and we haven't sold or bought Travellers Cheques in over two years.

The number of Americans who come in with TC's is incredible. Their banks seem to think that Ireland is a Third World Country. Some of these tourists have had their Cr Cards blocked for security while travelling (!!) have no other means of obtaining funds and end up having to borrow from fellow travellers. I have been told by some that nowhere in Europe will cash them either.
 
thanks, will see if I can get a $ draft when it comes time...hopefully the exchange rate has gotten a bit better by then!
 
myate said:
thanks, will see if I can get a $ draft when it comes time...hopefully the exchange rate has gotten a bit better by then!
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Even though it's a draft (drafts can be forged) the bank in the Caribbean might insist that you wait until it has cleared through the system. This can take a long time.
 
Perplexed said:
Do they not have ATM's in this place you're going to? Will they accept a US$ Draft?
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+1 on this ... very few places in the world don't have ATMs these days that will take foreign credit / debit cards

That will be by far the easiest option unless it's a huge amount of cash you need (most ATMs have a daily withdrawal limit - usually around $300 in my experience, but varies by country/issuing bank) - you can get around this if you have multiple cards obviously.
 
It is a fair bit of currency, for 2 weeks lodging...going to ATM every day for nearly 2 weeks wont be possible. Might just bring some cash, and use atm for the rest.
 
American Express

I thought traveller's cheques were extinct, have not heard about them for the last few years. I was curious to know more and just seen on American Express site they issue traveller's cheques so may be you can buy these in some bank in your area rather than in your bank.
 
myate said:
It is a fair bit of currency, for 2 weeks lodging...going to ATM every day for nearly 2 weeks wont be possible. Might just bring some cash, and use atm for the rest.
Click to expand...

Sounds like they don't make it easy to stay there - quite an odd payment restriction ! .. Guess you know it's worth it :)
 
It was easy in 2008 when I could get travelers cheques!!! It's not on the tourist map, and quite remote but so worth it to escape from everything! Bahamian dollar is linked to the US $ so both are accepted, but nearly everywhere only accepts cash/$ cheque (no good for me!)...but cash is good as it means when I get home, no big credit card bill to deal with! But it has the obvious security issues.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
 
Just an update to this...tc's are seemingly impossible to get hold of in the Republic. But cross the border into the north & you can get them no problem in the post office, just need a passport!
 
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