TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Traveller Cheques

We are looking forward to our upcoming trip in July. I am trying to do some planning now and the question of how to pay for items has come up. In the past I have carried traveler's cheques but our last trip was in 2009. I do not like the idea of carrying a large amount of cash. What do others on this board do and recommend? Thank you in advance for your help and assistance.

On a recent trip, we carried cash ($800) and used credit cards. Also, got some euros from the atm. My wife does a lot of international travel for work and uses one of those hidden money belts, although on a recent trip security made her take it off for inspection. Last time I used a traveller cheque was 1993.

We use cash and credit cards. Also we just went to an ATM at RBC bank (great Canadian bank) and took out some US dollars. Worked great if you don't want to bring too much cash.

Credit cards work quite well.... There are ATMs available so you can take cash out as you need it.

We use our Capitol One Venture Card for everything wherever it's accepted, which is most places on the island. It charges no currency transaction fee or foreign transaction fee. For those places that don't accept cards, we carry cash. Travelers Cheques are (sadly) a thing of the past. Since the island internet systems are sometimes unreliable, we always make sure to have enough cash with us to cover our anticipated expenses for the day, just in case

All the cards I use have now done away with the foreign transaction fees where they used to have charges. I used to pay all in cash where now I use the cards where accepted. I still pay in cash for some excursions if they tack on a 5% fee to use a CC.

We used cash everywhere. You can get it from the ATM's there. Lots of places $=€ if you were paying cash.

We, like you used to use traveler's checks but fewer places offer them and few accept them. Double check with your credit card provider but it's true that most have gotten away from % fee for foreign use. ATM's are generally better than they used to be but there are still fees from cc and or the ATM bank. Several recent comparisons enable you to get the best value credit cards. Suggest you google internet for that information. You are probably aware that AMEX is not accepted as much as VISA and MC.

Pretty hard to find travelers checks these days, and merchants are not required to accept them.

You can get travelex or other pre paid cards at the airport for use overseas.

As noted, ATMs are pretty simple to use

We still use traveller checks - cashing them mainly at the casinos. We bring about $800 cash with us for 2 weeks, use credit cards (no fee), and the travelers checks. I don't trust the ATMs - we had an ungodly mess one year after using one. I know tons of folks use the island ATMs without any issues but I'm scarred for life. We also hit the casinos and there's no way I'm carrying that amount of cash we use gambling while traveling. It is way more difficult to use the checks when out & about - something to do with one of the island banks no longer accepting them (if I'm remembering correctly), which is why we primarily use them at the casinos.

We bring around $200 with us. After that it's ATM cash (fee reimbursed by Schwab) or a no foreign fee CC.

Thank you all for the replies. The information you provided is very helpful. Like Mary Beth, when we used to go and take travelers checks we would cash them at the casinos. Sure wish July would hurry up and get here. We miss our Island.

dmj,

I'm very late to this conversation, but we were die-hard TC users and while I can still get the AE TCs easily and free of charge , I've finally given up the game and have gone over to the method of using just cash and CCs while on the island. But the truth is, as late as November 2015 I only had one place tell me they no longer accepted TCs and they accredited the policy change to their own banks policies. Fact or fiction? I don't know......

Our most recent visit was a short one but we split a thousand in cash (a couple of hundreds to decrease bulk but mostly fifties and twenties....) between us and used credit cards whenever and wherever it was possible to do so. We have the CapOne card and enjoy getting our reward checks in the mail. It worked like a charm and we were able to put most of the cash back into our vacation account on our return.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I would hesitate to use ATMs on the island although they are free with our at home bank covering the foreign fees and I would NEVER even consider using my bank debit card. But that's just me. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Marybeth,
Do you mind sharing what happened with using your ATM?
Is it something we could learn from?
Thanks.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />
That is exactly what we do.
Love Schwab ATM.
I missed their old CC though. 2% cash back automatically deposited monthly in your checking account, No annual or foreign transaction fee.

It was about 10 years ago, maybe a bit more. I got money from the ATM by the Peli Deli. When I got home (no readily available Internet at that time to check frequently) my account had been hacked. My bank at home made good on it after a lot of back & forth, and the SXM bank - don't ask me which one cuz I forget - was NO help at all. So my take away was to never use an ATM on the island again. I use them all over Europe & know the same thing could happen anywhere, but it was a nightmare trying to get anyone to send a simple form back to my bank.

Thanks for sharing.
We all learn so much here, both the good and the bad.