Visa vs Cheque abroad

D

DubsB

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Cash vs Cheque in eurozone

We are travelling to Italy and must pay the balance of our accomodation when we get there (about 1000 euro). However, the company doesn't accept visa cards. I'm wondering is it more cost efficient to pay in cash (don't really want to carry that much money for too long) or to pay by cheque. Do euro cheques from other europen countries incur a heavy administration charge? I've had this happen when cashing a cheque in Switzerland, but I'm not sure about other european countries.

Cheers
 
Re: Cash vs Cheque in eurozone

travellers cheques would be the safest option IMO, would you accept a foreign personal cheque from someone you didnt know?
 
Hi,

If you have a Laser card with Maestro maybe they might accept that? I've used my Laser card in Italy previously.

Rory
 
I use my Irish cheque book to pay the hotel during our honeymoon in Martinique (French Carrabein Island whose currency is the EUR) and my account was only debited for the amount written on the cheque - same when I subscribe to a French magazine, I was nly debited for the cost of the subcription and no extra charges. Be aware that not all company/hotel will accept cheque coming from another country, most refuse it as the cheque take ages to get clear.
 
I'm surprised that Irish € cheques are accepted abroad and clear without hitches or additional charges!

You could always preload the credit card with the required amount of cash and then withdraw it when abroad. Or use a Cirrus/Plus+/Maestro enabled ATM/Laser card to withdraw the cash from your current account. That way you don't have to carry the cash on you while travelling - just from the ATM to the hotel. The same charges will apply anywhere in the € zone as in Ireland for such transactions.

[broken link removed] might be of help.
 
It's such a pity that the old Eurocheque system that allowed us to write cheques for any country in Europe (even before the Eurozone) was discontinued.
 
It may be of academic interest now but


  • How did eurocheques work in the absence of a single currency and a single cross border cheque clearing system?
  • What charges (in particular over an above those for a "normal" cheque and including forex charges) used to apply?
I was vaguely aware of the eurocheque system in the past but I got such short shrift from a snotty/snooty teller in NIB's Dame Street branch in the early/mid 90s when I inquired about them (she made it sound like they were doing me a favour in even divulging information about them to me, never mind actually giving them to me!) that I gave up, closed my accounts and moved my business to TSB instead.
 
Just want to confirm that I was never charge extra, only the amount written on the cheques when using my cheque book abroad. However when cashing foreign EUR cheques to my bank account, they did charge me I think it was EUR 5.00 at the time. Therefore I guess the charge is encountered only by the person cashing the cheque.
 
ClubMan said:
[*]How did eurocheques work in the absence of a single currency and a single cross border cheque clearing system?
Click to expand...
You simply wrote your currency code (GBP, FF, DM) and the amount in the foreign currency on the cheque and sent it off. A family member who worked in AIB at the time cursed the cheques, as there was a fairly manual clearing system that required a fair pile of work for the teller at each end of the transaction.
ClubMan said:
[*]
[*]What charges (in particular over an above those for a "normal" cheque and including forex charges) used to apply?
Click to expand...
There were charges built into the rate shown on your statement when the cheque eventually cleared. I remember querying charges on 3 GBP cheques that hit my account on the same day for what appeared to be different rates, but AIB explained that there was a flat fee per cheque in addition to the normal rate. Can't remember what scale the charges were, mind you.
 
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