anybody know anything about traveler's checks?

[Alpo]

I had a dream.

 

In my dream I was exploring a bank that had gone out of business. And I found a tin box. One of those little money boxes that you would use at a garage sale.

 

In the box were several packages a brand new, $100 denomination, American Express travelers checks.

 

And I wondered, in the dream, how I could cash them. And I woke up still wondering.

 

I know that when I buy them from the bank I'm supposed to sign them. And then when I spend them I sign them again, and wherever I'm spending them at, they are supposed to compare the signatures so they know that they're actually my traveler's checks.

 

But when they're still at the bank, before they give them to me - actually before they sell them to me - how do they become spendable?

 

What does the bank have to do to them before I can use them as money?

 

Also, in my exploring in the dream, I found several packages of $100 bills. Those I could spend. I knew how they worked. A dozen or so bundles of $10,000 each? Yeah, I knew what to do with them. But the travelers checks - they had me puzzled.

 

In this day and age of everybody has credit cards and debit cards, do they still use travelers checks?

[Eyesa Horg]

I used them 53 years ago and they worked as you stated. I was traveling as an 18 year old from Connecticut to Florida. Some restaurants refused to accept them which caused me to leave my driver's license and find an establishment that would cash one for me. Never used them again!

[Stump Water]

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

In this day and age of everybody has credit cards and debit cards, do they still use travelers checks?

 

I would have guessed not.  But if you google "are travelers checks still a thing" it appears they are.  I'll guess you'd be hard pressed to find any place that would accept them... if the person at the register even knew what they were.  Heck, you'd probably get the cops called on ya for trying to pass counterfeit. 

[Eyesa Horg]

39 minutes ago, Stump Water said:

 

I would have guessed not.  But if you google "are travelers checks still a thing" it appears they are.  I'll guess you'd be hard pressed to find any place that would accept them... if the person at the register even knew what they were.  Heck, you'd probably get the cops called on ya for trying to pass counterfeit. 

My thoughts exactly. Heck the cashiers can't understand basic math with cash these days!

[Cypress Sun]

 

Haven't heard of travelers checks for many years. 

 

[Pat Riot]

4 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I used them 53 years ago and they worked as you stated. I was traveling as an 18 year old from Connecticut to Florida. Some restaurants refused to accept them which caused me to leave my driver's license and find an establishment that would cash one for me. Never used them again!

I bought Traveler’s Checks in 1988 for our move from SoCal to New Mexico. What a pain in the butt that was. 
I figured it was better than carrying several thousand dollars in cash. 
Since I closed my bank account in SoCal and I had no bank account in Albuquerque I couldn’t get cash for my Traveler’s Checks.

My Mom took me to her bank and since I was her son they would cash them if I opened an account. I was quite aggravated. I would never use them again. 

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

From the internet:

To cash American Express Travelers Cheques, go to a bank, use a currency exchange service, or redeem them online directly with American Express. You'll need to have signed the check twice and present it with photo identification to prove your identity and match the original signature. You can also attempt to deposit the checks into your bank account, though this may take longer for processing, and American Express also offers an online redemption service for all their traveler's checks. 

[Pat Riot]

1 hour ago, Tex Jones, SASS 2263 said:

From the internet:

To cash American Express Travelers Cheques, go to a bank, use a currency exchange service, or redeem them online directly with American Express. You'll need to have signed the check twice and present it with photo identification to prove your identity and match the original signature. You can also attempt to deposit the checks into your bank account, though this may take longer for processing, and American Express also offers an online redemption service for all their traveler's checks. 

 

From experience:

It doesn’t work that way when in a strange city with an out of state drivers license. 

[Jabez Cowboy,SASS # 50129]

Just try getting them cashed anywhere in East Africa....

It's a No Go ...

 

Jabez Cowboy

[watab kid]

i didnt know these still existed , 

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

PLUS ONE for watab kid !!!

 

It's been so long since I saw or had a "Travelers Check" I am also surprised they still exist !! 

[Texas Maverick]

On 9/13/2025 at 10:35 AM, Stump Water said:

 

I would have guessed not.  But if you google "are travelers checks still a thing" it appears they are.  I'll guess you'd be hard pressed to find any place that would accept them... if the person at the register even knew what they were.  Heck, you'd probably get the cops called on ya for trying to pass counterfeit. 

I had the cops called when I tried to use a $2 bill one time. They had never seen or heard of them. What a nightmare. Luckily the cop verified it was real.

 

TM

[Texas Maverick]

5 hours ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

 

PLUS ONE for watab kid !!!

 

It's been so long since I saw or had a "Travelers Check" I am also surprised they still exist !! 

Only in Alpo's dream or nightmare, not sure which cuz if he dreamed he had just found a hundred thousand dollars it could be a nightmare since when he woke up and found out it wasn't real he could be stressed out, LOL

 

TM