I've seen $1000 denomination traveler's checks reference on a few threads - where can you get them? Also, does anybody have any advise on TC companies to deal with and which to avoid?

I once bought them from American Express.

I get mine from VISA.

I used American Express checks which I got through my bank. One possible problem is that many banks do not carry them "on hand" and you will have to order them. Living in BF-Nowhere it took over a week to get the checks here. Also, they were available ONLY as a 5 pack, so I had to buy them in $5K lots. Like everything else when it comes to traveling, plan ahead and have absolutely everything worked out weeks if not months in advance and you'll avoid adventure. (Adventure - A disaster that you lived through...)

quote:

Originally posted by Terry Blauwkamp:
I get mine from VISA.

In 2006 I got some Visa TC from AAA. I had a hard time cashing them in for Rand in RSA. It seems they had to call to verify. They worked alright at stores. never had a problem with AMEX travelers checks. By the way the local AAA office has switched back to AMEX.

I have found that traveller's checks have pretty much become "obsolete" in many places. Larger denominations can be difficult to cash, entailing sometimes several hours in a local bank and a lot of merchants just don't want to deal with or trust them. Debit and credit cards appear to have largely replaced the traveller's check. FWIW, my debit card issued by my local credit union worked in ATM's in SA and Namibia.

You can get them through your local bank....

You do not want to use debit/credit in every African situation. You will be charged with the local bank's exchange rate. If you did that in Zim, the result would give you a stroke!

You can get $1000 denomination traveller's checks from American Express. Depending on which card you have you can just have them bill your bank account and they will overnite mail them to you. I got mine the day after I called. I wouldn't plan on using them for general purposes at stores etc. and cashing them at a bank may or may not be a problem. I used them to pay for trophy fees, daily rates along with a personal check.

you also might be aware that if you buy very many the bank will file a suspicious activity report on you. I would rather have as much paid for as possible and limit TC and cash as now with current Anti money laundering laws you can get in a pickle

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
You do not want to use debit/credit in every African situation. You will be charged with the local bank's exchange rate. If you did that in Zim, the result would give you a stroke!

Good point......might want to avoid this in Zim!!

I got my American Express travelers checks free at AAA today. They told me that checks in $20 denominations were no longer available. They also said they couldn't even order $500 or $1,000 denominations. Of course, that's AAA; perhaps things would be different if you get them directly from American Express.

I have always obtained mine from my local bank. They usually had to order the 1K denominations however.

I dont wish to be rude and change the theme BUT we have found that a number of our recent hunters are now using this method to pay for their safari. It works well and saves the hassle of bringing in mountians of travelers cheques cash etc.

1) They do a standard T/T (telegraphic transfer) of the deposit upon booking the hunt

2) They do a second (balloon payment) T/T for the (bulk remaining safari amount) say in the last week before they depart to hunt.

Then they just take along their credit card and some lesser amount of cash for short term emergencies

The above (simple solution) seem to work perfectly well for most all of our personal clients

Cheers, Peter

Thanks Guys,

Just a few notes on what I found while following up:

- VISA is now exclusively using Check Cards and no longer sells Travelers Checks (Same with AAA)

- Called AMEX and they still sell $500 and $1000 Travelers Checks, they can be purchased directly from AMEX or from one of their centers

- If you buy the TC direct there is a shipping charge of $14, and a fee for each check. If you use an AMEX card, they waive the check fee, and if you buy them from the AMEX Center with an AMEX card, there is no fee or shipping.

- Called the local AMEX Center and Rep said that they only carry the $500 and that they do not sell the $1000 to folks in the US (however, she sounded new, and I'm currently attempting to confirm this) - will report back on what I find.

- On another note, I really don't have any interest in giving (or wiring) all of my money to the Safari Operator to hold prior to actually going on Safari.

quote:

Originally posted by HunterMontana:
I used American Express checks which I got through my bank. One possible problem is that many banks do not carry them "on hand" and you will have to order them. Living in BF-Nowhere it took over a week to get the checks here. Also, they were available ONLY as a 5 pack, so I had to buy them in $5K lots. Like everything else when it comes to traveling, plan ahead and have absolutely everything worked out weeks if not months in advance and you'll avoid adventure. (Adventure - A disaster that you lived through...)

Misadventure...