MilesBuzz! - Can you Buy Fee Free Amex Travelllers Chex

With an Optima Card and Count as Hilton Honors Points

with a swiss Amexco Gold card you get them fee-free from Amxco Switzerland.

Not sure if they are Amex but you can get fee free checks at your local AAA office if you are a member

AAA uses their own brand of TC's now.

Yes with the Platinum Amex in the US

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mlibers:
Yes with the Platinum Amex in the US</font>

No. Amex TC's can be purchased with check or cash without a fee if you have a Platinum Card. But purchases with the card are treated as a cash advance.

Just curious, but why would you want travelers cheques as they are troublesome to to cash outside the US and the exchange rates are terrible?

I never carry TCs anymore, just US $$ and my ATM card.

At one time you could purchase at AAA AMex Travellers checks as a purchase and some AAA allowed any Credit Card.

Someone Gathered over 1 Million Miles that way.

Yes if you are either Gold or Platinum DL SM AMEX cardholder

Just got my monthly bill from Starwood AMEX - listed a promotion that I can obtain AMEX traveler checks fee free from AMEX Travel centers - you may want to check it out

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Boraxo:
Just curious, but why would you want travelers cheques as they are troublesome to to cash outside the US and the exchange rates are terrible?

I never carry TCs anymore, just US $$ and my ATM card.</font>


For people who don't want to carry cash with them and don't want a trail of where they have been like a credit card or an ATM card would leave, TC's work perfectly.

"Gee, I don't understand why there are charges on the statement from a pub in London the day I said I was with my brother in law in Jersey watching the final match, I'll call the bank in the morning".

I would guess the same people who don't want their passport stamped carry TC's

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Boraxo:
Just curious, but why would you want travelers cheques as they are troublesome to to cash outside the US and the exchange rates are terrible?
</font>

Old-fashioned TCs are still usable as currency even when ATM/Credit Card networks are inoperable, which is not uncommon even in seemingly-civilized places like Western Europe.

For international trips, I still carry $500-$1500 in TCs spread between my wallet 2 bags so that I'm not broke even if I lose 2 of those 3 articles. I never plan to spend them, and they're free, so the only penalty is the loss of the &lt;sarcasm&gt; whopping 2.1% yield &lt;/sarcasm&gt; on the $ in my money market account for the duration of the trip.

[please delete--reposted when I meant to edit. oops]

[This message has been edited by studentff (edited 06-19-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gnomie:
Just got my monthly bill from Starwood AMEX - listed a promotion that I can obtain AMEX traveler checks fee free from AMEX Travel centers - you may want to check it out</font>

I believe this is true but I have not actually done it. I went to one of these AMEX travel centers to get some Euro currency before a trip to Europe. I picked up a brochure that mentioned "FEE FREE American Express Travelers Cheques for American Express Card holders"
If you actually charged them to your AMEX card I don't know if they would process as a cash advance or a merchant purchase however.

See if theere is an AMEX travel center near you.

http://travel.americanexpress.com/travel/personal/resources/tso/

I believe there is a fee to charge them, but not the percentage that is usually part of a TC purchase. You then have to factor in the charge.

------------------
Ms.DtG

Amex/Delta advertises Fee Free travelers cheques as benefit. Anyone able to get $1000 in cheques for $5.95 postage and have the $15 order fee waived. That's $.006/mile...not quite as good as savings bonds.

http://www.americanexpress.netfirms.com/

I think the original post was asking if one could charge travelers checks and earn points, Hilton HHonors points in this case.

Let me relay my true TC anecdotes, one good experience and one bad:

Good: was a time when AAA in Colorado permitted purchase of AMEX Travelers Checks using a credit card; in this case a VISA card. A friend charged the max limit he could each month, and immediately paid off his balance each month. Af course he accrued quite a few frequent flier miles using this method, to the tune of about $30,000 per month. This loophole has long been closed...sigh...

Bad: Last summer, we went on a 5 week trip, traveling thru France, Italy, and Belgium. Though I use credit cards almost exclusively, wanted a "just-in-case" kitty, so purchased about $1500 worth of traveler checks at the local Credit Union, which offered "fee-free" checks. (no I could not use the credit card to purchase them). I thought I was being smart by purchasing Euro-denominated checks. What a mistake...

First problem was the exchange rate; though updated daily, was significantly different from bank interchange rate. So I lost a few points there (still fee-free though http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif ).

Second problem was finding how few places actually accept them in Europe. Seems there is a bit of fraud everywhere, and most merchants won't accept them. Banks charge a fee to cash them in Belgium, and one hotel refused, even though they had a decal in the window stating they were welcome! These were Euro checks in Euro countries!

Third problem: Amex travel centers don't exist in every city - there were none in Brugge, Belgium, our last city on the trip, so no way to turn them into euro cash without a cashing fee at a bank.

So I waited until I returned to the US to convert back to cash at an AMEX center; some good news, as the Euro appreciated a bit in the 3 months I waited to cash them in. But still more bad news, when there was that little euro-to-$ conversion rate that differed considerable from the inter-bank rates quoted in the WSJ.

Moral: never, never use TC unless you are aware of the "hidden fees" or inability to cash without a fee at some places, or inability to even use.

Unless of course, you can still find some AAA office or Bank that will accept a CC to purchase a TC.

By the way, when I complained to AMEX, there was little they could offer to make me hole again. Alteogether about $100 lost out of the $1500.

The original poster wants to be able to get HHonors points by buying travelers cheques. Many suggestions were made on where to get them fee-free, but were not applicable to the question since they involve using a non Hilton HHonors credit card, much less a reward card.

Some suggested that Amex will sell fee-free travelers cheques to Gold and Platinum cardholders. I just wanted to point out that such transactions are treated as cash advances and do not earn HHonors point or any kind of points. Plus, cash advances incur fees and interest.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by anthonyanthony:
The original poster wants to be able to get HHonors points by buying travelers cheques. Many suggestions were made on where to get them fee-free, but were not applicable to the question since they involve using a non Hilton HHonors credit card, much less a reward card.

Some suggested that Amex will sell fee-free travelers cheques to Gold and Platinum cardholders. I just wanted to point out that such transactions are treated as cash advances and do not earn HHonors point or any kind of points. Plus, cash advances incur fees and interest.</font>

Actually, the original subject was CAN you purchase them fee free, not where. Many people stated that you can get them fee free, but as a cash advance, and other things that would not work. So they were in fact answering the question, no you can not get them. The poster didn't say Where can I get fee free checks, but can they.

Probably each and every post was applicable to the question CAN you get them. It was pointed out to them that you can get fee free ones, but they would be treated as a cash advance.

A few years back, it was possible to get AMEX TC's fee free from AAA using a UA affiliated credit card. (at least in the wash dc area). People were getting free loans, and miles.

Only after lots of publicity was this stopped.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cordelli:
Actually, the original subject was CAN you purchase them fee free, not where</font>

The original posted also said "and Count as Hilton Honors Points." So far, nobody has mentioned any method of purchasing that can earn the points.

Actually, I believe there is some bank or small credit union or forex firm out there somewhere that will probably allow it, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to post it here since it would be abused and eventually disappear. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Some banks, such as Washington Mutual, offers them free to their customers, if you have the approriate type of account with them. You may want to check with your bank to see if they do.