The merchants I know prefer plastic over traveler's checks because the banks here treat traveler's checks like a;; other checks drawn on stateside banks and hold the funds for a minimum of two weeks!

I have always brought travelers checks and have never experienced any problems what so ever. There is a modern traveler check system that Amex offers. It's actually a credit card that works off a debit systemm with all of the benefits of traveler checks.

Enjoy

Scooby I had the same question. I did talk to one daysail that dropped the price down by $10 if you pay them cash. Do the ferry boats and car rental places take travelers checks? Is there a place you can go to cash them without a fee if you are not staying in a resort/hotel?

We've never used travelers checks. When we travel we just go to any ATM and get the $$$ we need for a couple of days. It's less hassle and seems to work for us.

My 2 cents.

As a business owner, I got a real wake-up call on travelers cheques last year when I went to make a bank desposit at Scotiabank and the teller mentioned that the travelers cheques would take 2 weeks to clear. Nobody at either that branch or the main branch could explain to me why they would take so long to clear and I finally 'faxed the VP who 'faxed me back and advised that this was, "the bank's policy" but with no other explanation. In the meantime I had also called all the other banking institutions on the island and their clearance was 2-3 days unless there was a problem with signatures, etc.

I'm generally not given tchecks anyway, but after that episode pretty much decided not to take them as I can't afford to wait for two weeks processing. Bear in mind though that this policy seems to only apply to Scotiabank.

Hi Scooby:

I always use travelers checks when visiting USVI. Personally, I never experienced a single problem using them.

I don't put all my eggs in one basket though. We use a combination of cash, travelers checks, and plastic.

tmax

I haven't bought travellers cheques in a long time. I stopped after coming home from one vacation without having used the cheques I brought along---used credit card and cash. Brought some cash along, got more if needed from an ATM. No longer crosses my mind to bring travellers cheques and haven't seen a need for them.

thanks everyone, scooby

As far as I am concerned, travelers' cheques are as absolete as the Edsel automobile and the typewriter. I travel a lot and never carry more cash than I need for incidentals, tips, etc. When I need more, I just go to the nearest ATM, and I charge most of my expenses to a major credit card not only for convenience but I rack up a lot of frequent flyer points in the process. I've already got my "free" airplane tickets for our next trip to the Virgin Islands.