Travellers Cheques

LegacyUser

Hey,

I am off to California for four months on wednesday and need to know what exactly I need. Are travellers cheques good for me? I intend on setting up a bank account over there? What do you think about that? I do not have a cyrus card but I do have a credit card but won't be taking money out with it.

Rcuomo

hmm, i suppose if you're not going to use the credit card then travellers cheques would be the next best bet...easy to use cos there's plenty of banks...just make sure to keep your receipt separate from the cheques cos if you lose them you can just have them replaced....

where in cali are you going?

LegacyUser

I am going to Santa Barbara...

I will be using the credit card sometimes I suppose but I intend on setting up a bank account over there.

Basically, I have money in my irish account and do not want to be carrying a grand in cash on me basically so I was thinking what else can I use....?! Are travellers cheques accepted everywhere??

Also, what else do people do when travelling for four months? Do they bring cash on them??? I would be real nervous carrying cash of a thousand dollars upwards on me...ya know?

Ruu_Old

load a heap of money onto ur credit card and use that, dont bother with the travellers cheques.
For setting up a bank account you will need your passport and proof of a US address as far as i know. Do keep some cash on you, small bills preferrably. Alot of places dont like you coming in with big bills and having to change them.

PunyHuman

I set up a bank account in San Francisco no problem. Just bring all the relevant forms and passport. Your employer then pays your salary directly into your account. Only problem is if you don't use your bank's own ATM machines you get charged a fee. Just gotta open an account with the biggest bank.

In my opinion TCs would be a bit of a waste as you'll only have to sign them all again to lodge them into your bank account. They can also be a bit of a pain to process.

If I were you I would reconsider using the card. If you've got a credit balance you can withdraw cash with no fee (from the card company). Alternatively you could credit your card with whatever you'll need to get yourself going, set up a bank account ASAP and then dump the cash into it, and keep the card for emergencies.

LegacyUser

Ok I think I am going to say "Bye Bye!!" to the TC's. They seem annoying. I think my plan would be ideally to bring the money with me and dump it in a bank account ASAP. My only concern is, I will not be in Santa Barbara for roughly 3/4 days after I arrive in LA and then we have to find accomodation etc so I imagine I could be carrying that money on me for the best part of a week/week and a half until I do dispose it somewhere.

Do you know if it is possible to credit a student credit card if it has a limit of 400 per month? I am with Bank Of Ireland. Should I go down on Monday to ask them about it?

PunyHuman

AFAIK you can charge up your credit card with as much money as you want.

It shouldn't have anything to do with your 'credit' limit, which is actually a debit limit as far as you're concerned, as you can see from your bill - if you owe them money it's listed as a debit balance.

But I'd call 'em anyway to be sure.

Bah

PunyHuman wrote:

AFAIK you can charge up your credit card with as much money as you want.

You can... but if it's lost/stolen and somebody uses it fraudulently, you don't have *any* protection - it's you're money they're using, so once it's gone, there's no cover for it. If they were using "credit", then at least you'd have some protection.

The best solution is online banking - lodge all your money into your bank account, set up online banking, go to an internet café eery few days, when you need to, transfer money from your current account to your credit card account - free banking, minimal risk, and wasy easier/safer than travellers cheques/cash.

I'm going to the US for the summer from Monday, and this is what I'm planning on doing for the first few weeks anyway.

Sangre

Hey Im off to Santa Barbara on Saturday

I have a lot of stuff to do first but only finished exams yesterday.

LegacyUser

Bah wrote:

The best solution is online banking - lodge all your money into your bank account, set up online banking, go to an internet café eery few days, when you need to, transfer money from your current account to your credit card account - free banking, minimal risk, and wasy easier/safer than travellers cheques/cash.

Ok I get ya. Do you have banking365???

And do you have a student credit card too? Just so I know...

LegacyUser

Sangre wrote:

Hey Im off to Santa Barbara on Saturday

I have a lot of stuff to do first but only finished exams yesterday.

Awesome. It is meant to be amazing. Are there many of you going over? Latest report back is the beaches are amazing, there are plenty of jobs and also accomodation is not hard to find.

Bah

cheesedude wrote:

Ok I get ya. Do you have banking365???

And do you have a student credit card too? Just so I know...

Yeah, Banking 365 - just ring them on Monday with your info (account number, CC account number, passwords, etc and they'll set up the card as a recipient - it takes about a day for the money to go into your CC account (it's taken from your current account instantly though...), so just be sure to transfer a few days in advance. Like somebody said already in this thread, when you use the credit card at an ATM to withdraw money (and you have funds in your CC account), you won't be charged any extra fee. This is the cheapest way until you get some kind of US current account and ATM/Visa debit card.

Sangre

Have a job lined up with a removal company so thats pretty cool, 20 hours a week. Don't have accomodation yet but Isla Vista is the place where the parties will be happening, its in the college district.

I really need get off my ass and do stuff!

LegacyUser

Yeah I am staying there too....Can not wait. Was that removals job hard to get? May apply for one. I called up about movie extras work over there. Apparently loads of films being filmed this summer.

Nephew

cheesedude wrote:

Ok I think I am going to say "Bye Bye!!" to the TC's. They seem annoying. I think my plan would be ideally to bring the money with me and dump it in a bank account ASAP. My only concern is, I will not be in Santa Barbara for roughly 3/4 days after I arrive in LA and then we have to find accomodation etc so I imagine I could be carrying that money on me for the best part of a week/week and a half until I do dispose it somewhere.

Do you know if it is possible to credit a student credit card if it has a limit of 400 per month? I am with Bank Of Ireland. Should I go down on Monday to ask them about it?

i'm in the exact same position. i enquired about the student credit card last week and i was told ideally you need to be lodging e127 a month over the previous 6 months to have a good credit rating in order to get a student card. it take weeks for them to actually process your details and issue you the card.

btw the student credit card limit is e400 a month for first to third years and e500 if you're in your final year in college.

Sangre

No, you can get a student credit card in few days
No credit ratings for students. They filled it in for me

LegacyUser

Well I already have a student credit card, I was just wondering if i could put more credit onto it?

Nephew

Sangre wrote:

No, you can get a student credit card in few days
No credit ratings for students. They filled it in for me

are you sure about this because the bank of ireland told me differently when i enquired about a student card. i had around e500 in my account and i told them i could lodge a grand to it the next day but they told me it wouldnt affect my credit rating over the previous 6 months.