hello people! I am going to thailand in Oct this year, i was wonering, when i get my travelers cheques, do i get them in the british currency(as im from UK) and take them thre to be exchanged for Baht? i dnt wana get aload of baht, not end up spendin it all.
thanks
Get travellers cheques in hard currency (pounds, euros, US dollars should all be okay, but US$ is definitely going to be accepted everywhere), then you cash them when you're out there. Just remember to sign them all before you leave, incredibly tedious, but if you don't it kind of makes the whole exercise pointless, and make a separate note of all the cheque numbers.
Any cheques you don't spend you can either cash back for pounds when you get back to the UK or save for your next trip.
If you're not going until October you don't really need to be ordering travellers cheques immediately though!
nice one mate, thats what i thought i had to do, had to be sure though. i'll sleep soundly tonight now. thanks again
Personally I wouldn't take all your money as travellers cheques, it's just a pain in the ass to change them sometimes. Nationwide have an account where you can use their debit card to withdraw money abroad without any fee. I got an account last summer solely for this purpose. I took some cash and a few travellers cheques as backup though.
Might be worth thinking about. You've got plenty of time to sort one out...
Quoting road_trip
Personally I wouldn't take all your money as travellers cheques, it's just a pain in the ass to change them sometimes. Nationwide have an account where you can use their debit card to withdraw money abroad without any fee. I got an account last summer solely for this purpose. I took some cash and a few travellers cheques as backup though.
Might be worth thinking about. You've got plenty of time to sort one out...
Definitely - I always take some travellers cheques and also a credit and debit card (all kept separately). The more options you have, the better.
Quoting ahernster
hello people! I am going to thailand in Oct this year, i was wonering, when i get my travelers cheques, do i get them in the british currency(as im from UK) and take them thre to be exchanged for Baht? i dnt wana get aload of baht, not end up spendin it all.
thanks
I take a combination of travellers checks and cash and keep a credit card for emergencies. I have had no problem at all cashing travellers checks. The banks do ask very difficult questions, they ask for your passport for identification, they look at you, and they often ask for your hotel and room number. That's it!
Many credit unions will sell you travellers checks without any fees if you are a member, if not join up and save the fees. Only get the largest denomination that you can buy, avoid the small sizes because the fee to cash them is on a "per check" basis. In Thailand the fee last month was 33 baht per TC. Any excess Thai baht can be converted back into your home currency at the airport just before you board.
If you use a credit card call the company up on the back of the card and ask how much the ATM fee is for overseas use. Use the card you have with the lowest fees. Also, when you take money out of an ATM take out enough to cover you for several days to avoid a lot of fees for small withdrawals. You want to avoid taking out the equivalent of 12 pounds sterling and have a 12 pound fee. Always use the security box in the hotel you stay in and hide the safety box key. You have to be as cautious of the hotel guest in the next room as well as the hotel staff for theft.
