Travel Tip #15 - Cash, Traveler’s Cheques or Credit Card???
Posted by Industry on February 11, 2007
Which one is better to travel with?
Cash is good because you have it on you and you can pay for cheap items easily and it is always accepted and you never get charged any fees when paying with cash. One thing with cash that is a little annoying is having to change it at the currency exchange which is where you will definitely be charged a conversion fee. If you lose your cash, it is gone and never to be seen again.
Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I knew anyone that traveled with Traveler’s Cheques. From what I hear, you get charged when you buy them and you have to write down all the serial numbers and then you have to change them into cash as you go….blah blah blah – can you tell I’m not a fan??
Credit Cards are one of the best things to have with you when you are traveling. You get good exchange rates and some fees and they are normally less than when you buy foreign currency. If you lose your credit card, you can cancel it straight away and hopefully get a new card organized. You can nearly 100% of the time pay for items by credit card anywhere in the world.
Personally, I like to have a mixture of cash & credit cards, just in case I lose one and then I have the other to fall back on. What do you like to travel with?
February 11, 2007 at 2:55 am
I also do prefer cash & credit cards. I’d say that the ratio is about 15%/85%.
February 23, 2007 at 12:15 am
I’m in the cash and credit card group, too. I think the last time i used traveler’s checks was on a trip to New York City when I was 17 and too young to have a credit card of my own. They were a real pain to use, and looking back, I would have been just as well off using cash only.
March 14, 2007 at 8:53 am
It’s still worthwhile carrying a few travellers cheques when you’re in less “civilised” parts of the world when you’d otherwise need to be carrying huge wads of cash. Last time I needed to do this was in India but there are many similar countries where there are very few cash machines around (some countries have none); usually these countries have substantial queues in the banks too and may not do over the counter cash advances either.
Also worthwhile to have a simple cashcard too (ie one that’s not a debit card too) as these are much less likely to be stolen. Downside is that they can only be used in machines and not over the counter in a bank.
March 14, 2007 at 8:56 am
On the stolen card front, don’t rely on getting it replaced. We have had a number of people staying with us over the last few years and none has ever been able to get their stolen cards replaced whilst travelling.
If you can, get a gold card as these always have worldwide 24/48 hour replacement. Ordinary cards usually don’t have that (though sometimes the card conditions imply it).
March 20, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I think a better ratio in less developed countries should be 40% cash, 60% credit card; travellers cheques are unuseful, IMHO.
December 3, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Heading to Belize in 2008……trying to get a handle on this cash–credit card–travelers cheque dialogue….anyone with recent Belize experience