How to Buy Traveler's Checks

“Don't leave home without them." While the number of ATMs around the world and their convenience have made them less important, traveler's checks are still a convenient way to carry money on trips without carrying a large amount of cash on your person or leaving it somewhere where it could be stolen.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Set your travel budget. Decide how much money you plan to spend and where you plan to spend it.
2. Determine how many of your expenses can be paid for in advance, such as airplane tickets, lodging and other fees. Total them up and subtract the amount from your total budget. The remainder is how much money you'll have to carry in the form of traveler's checks.
3. Consider where and how you expect to spend your money. Smaller denomination checks take up more space than larger denominations, but offer more control as to when and how you exchange them for foreign currency. You also can get traveler's checks in certain foreign currency denominations.
4. Visit your bank or credit union or a travel service organization of the company whose traveler's checks you are buying. You can also order traveler's checks by telephone or online, from a company such as American Express.
5. Order the traveler's checks you need. Expect to pay a processing fee, usually a set amount per $100 of checks you buy.
6. Inspect your checks upon receiving them to make sure you received the amount you ordered. Sign the checks once to activate them. You will need to sign them a second time, called countersigning, when you spend them.
7. Carry the check numbers and contact information for the issuing agency with you in a place separate from the checks themselves. You will need this information to have replacement checks issued if the ones you carry are lost or stolen.

Tips & Warnings

• Join a travel club such as the American Automobile Association. You can often purchase traveler's checks through them for no fee.
• Consider getting traveler's checks from the same company that issued you a credit card. Fees often are waived when you purchase traveler's checks from your credit card-issuing company.
• Don't try to time the financial markets when buying traveler's checks. It's as difficult as timing the stock market when buying stocks. Exchange rates will change, period.