Once upon a time, everyone who travelled carried traveller’s cheques, but not anymore. Nowadays, credit cards are the norm.
Traveller’s cheques are similar to cash and can be used as such (especially in North America, not so much elsewhere), but they also have added security features that cash doesn’t. If you lose them or they get stolen then the money is refundable.
With American Express cheques you get 24/7 customer support, plus passport and credit card replacement assistance (the things that usually get stolen alongside your money). Find out more here.
They also come in a few selected (popular) foreign currencies so you don’t have the additional fees when converting your cheques into the local currency when you arrive.
Disadvantages are that there is usually a fee when buying them (there are exceptions, for example, for American Express Gold Card and Platinum Card holders buying Amex cheques this fee is waived).
You may also have to wait around to get them changed (for hours, sometimes), and the currency exchanges and banks are not usually open 24/7 or over long weekends (unlike ATMs), so you could be without money for days if you are unlucky.
When looking around for a currency exchange, be wary of the “no commission” signs you see as here you will lose out with a bad exchange rate, wheras a good exchange rate usually means a high commission.
If you do decide to carry them then buy them in both large and small denominations as you may get charged either by the number of cheques you change or the total amount of the transaction.
Try to buy them from well-known suppliers, either American Express and Visa in the USA, or Thomas Cook and Barclays (for example) in the UK, and buy them in your home country, too, not abroad.
If you buy foreign currency traveller’s cheques remember that you will get hit with two fees if you do not use all of them (the fee to foreign currency plus reconversion when upon return). If you stick with your own currency then you can just deposit any unused ones in the bank when you get back.
Also remember that you will get the smaller retail rate when converting them to local currency (not the wholesale rate, as with credit/ATM cards). You can find some places (for example, at Post Offices in Norway) that will give you the wholesale rate.
American Express offices usually offer a decent rate, and a slightly better one for their own checks.
Overall, traveller’s cheques may not be worth the hassle for the small amount of added security you get (but I always take a few with me, though).
