Plastic, Cash or Travellers Cheques

The market for Traveller’s cheques has been in steady decline for a few years, despite the overall increase in travel. This has been caused by a number of factors, not least being the increased issuance of credit cards and debit cards, and the extent to which they are accepted abroad. Support for the use of cards and the undermining to Travellers Cheques has been further eroded by the massive growth in the worldwide ATM network. This is coupled with the perception (and fact) that travellers Cheques can be a pain to cash. Especially on weekends or the during holidays.

Never ever ever travel with only one means payment. Don’t carry more plastic than you need at one time: Anyone who has lost a wallet or purse knows the headache of having to call to cancel half a dozen cards. This is even more painful abroad. Take cards you wont be using out of your wallet and leave them in your room or hotel safe.

We’ve found it best to just carry 1 VISA, 1 ATM debit card and a small stash of cash with us daily. If the credit card doesn’t work for whatever reason and we do not have enough cash on us we can always go pull more on demand. This provides us with the more versatility and the less amount of risk.