Traveler Checks

[Jswen]

....I have not seen anything about using travel checks. Will the riverboats cash them onboard? Do people still use them or has it all gone mostly to plastic?

We are traveling from Budapest to Prague and need to know if we are able to get a small amount of Czech money from onboard the boat.

We are on the Amadagio (amadeus waterways)

Thank you.

[jgnova]

We were advised NOT to bother with traveler's checks but to use our ATM cards instead. It worked just fine. We went to an ATM in the airport and got 200 Euros each, then another ATM in Munich and got 200 more Euros each, then J got another 100 Euros. We did advise our bank(s) and credit card companies that we would be out of the country and using our ATM cards and credit cards. They asked when and where (which countries). (J did mention money issues near the beginning of his review of our Mozart trip elsewhere on this board.)

 

Don't know about the line you'll be on, but Steamboats' review mentioned that Deilmann exchanged Euros for local currency (small amounts) when needed. We also could have gone to an ATM, for ex, in Budapest, but just didn't take the time to do it. There were places in Budapest that wanted only Forints, as J has noted in his review (in progress).

 

Oh, yes. We really really liked Budapest. Hope we can go back there and add Prague to our list of cities visited -- didn't get there this time.

 

S

[GlobeMan]

Definitely use your ATM card over Traveler's Checks.

 

A couple of things to keep in mind:

- Have a backup plan; I had an ATM machine confiscate my card on the first day of a trip once. :eek: Bring an extra card.

 

- European ATMs (they call them 'cash machines') will only withdraw money from your checking account. You don't get an option to select the account you want to use.

 

- You have to enter the withdrawal amount in the local currency - not dollars, so know what you want before you start the process.

[Jswen]

J and Globeman,

Thanks for the great information. I will print it for my file. Can't beleive we leave in less than three weeks.

J

[DON M.]

J and Globeman,

Thanks for the great information. I will print it for my file. Can't beleive we leave in less than three weeks.

J

Have a great trip J. We are on the Amadagio in July. I hope when you return, you will come back and post your thoughts and comments. Don