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Money Arrangements for a US/Canadian Holiday - Traveller's Cheques Versus Credit and Debit Cards as Means of Obtaining Cash for Visitors to the USA or Canada from Britain

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In brief, for visitors from the UK to the USA or Canada:

• Using traveller's cheques to obtain make payments and obtain American or Canadian cash involves a total cost of 1% of the amount, payable when you purchase the traveller's cheques. There is no commission charge for using traveller's cheques as cash in retail outlets, motels, etc in the USA or Canada, provided the traveller's cheques are in the appropriate currency for each country (US Dollars for the USA, Canadian Dollars for Canada). Reasonable amounts of change are always given, so traveller's cheques can also be used to obtain cash.

• Using a credit card and ATM's (automatic teller machines, i.e. cash dispensers) to obtain cash in the USA or Canada could involve a total cost of up to 4.75% of the amount for visitors from Britain. Debits cards attract a lower charge of 2%.

For this reason, visitors to the USA or Canada from Britain would be well advised to use traveller's cheques rather than credit or debit cards to obtain cash while on holiday. Using UK credit cards to obtain cash from ATM's in the USA or Canada should definitely be avoided if possible.

Other pages in this section explain this in more detail.

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Most recently modified 25-Mar-01