Paper or Plastic? Determine What's Best for Travel Funds

Travelers today have so many options for managing their travel dollars: Exchange dollars for the local currency before leaving and travel with cash; Buy traveler’s checks - the traditional favorite. Rely on your personal credit or ATM cards. Or transfer funds to a new, prepaid card. Which option best fits your needs?

Travel advisors suggest a mix of solutions - some local currency, a prepaid card and a backup credit card. Top considerations are safety, security and convenience during your trip.

The Visa TravelMoney prepaid card offers a safe alternative that isn’t connected to your bank or credit accounts. You’ll have easy access to your funds because the card is accepted at millions of merchants and ATMs around the world. It also helps with budgeting travel funds - no surprise bills at the end of your trip. It’s perfect for traveling to multiple locations with varying currencies, and you get a low 3 percent exchange service fee. And the Visa TravelMoney card streamlines bulk - you don’t have to carry around wads of cash or traveler’s checks.

Traveler’s checks are a good solution, but do come with some challenges. They may not be accepted by all merchants, and you could encounter limits or high fees. For international travel, the strategy is to buy foreign-denomination traveler’s checks before leaving the United States to lock in an exchange rate. Because the value of the dollar may improve during your travels, "plastic" will give you the rate at the time of your purchase or ATM withdrawal.

You still want the benefits offered by credit cards, and that’s why the Visa TravelMoney card gives you emergency card and cash replacement, reimbursements to replace lost luggage, protection to replace stolen or damaged purchases, and special travel and emergency assistance benefits such as translation assistance, medical and legal referrals, emergency trip arrangements and emergency messages to relatives. Plus, you’re not responsible for fraudulent use of a lost or stolen card.

You’ll love how easy it is to get the Visa TravelMoney card: go to your local AAA office, order online or call 1-866-674-9622. Reloading the card is just as easy, and can be done as many times as you wish on the same card by simply stopping by your local AAA office, or online at AAA.com/travelmoney. Best of all, you can link up to four Visa TravelMoney cards to one account. Give cards to family members for easy money management, or store them in a secure location as a safety precaution.

Whatever your travel plans, AAA can help you determine the right mix of travel money. Call or visit your local AAA office, or learn more online.