Invented by American Express in 1891, its great advantage is that it is quickly replaceable whilst not being in danger of disappearing silently into a wall as can happen with a plastic card via a cash machine. Although the chances of this happening are alleged to be slim, statistical rarity is little comfort if it does happen to you. The majority of what you think you will need should be in travellers’ cheques because of their ease of replacement – the drawback is that cheques and cash have to be paid for in advance whereas a credit card can spread the cost of a holiday over a longer period.”
Elizabeth Phillips of the Credit Card Research Group points out that most people pay for their flights, accommodation and many general expenses in advance. But other purchases such as special dinners out, presents or perhaps unscheduled games of golf have to be paid for separately “For these things you need the equivalent of cash. Martin Fielding of Card Protection Plan says: “Taking a variety of payment methods allows you greater flexibility, particularly if you keep them separate so that you are not left without finance if someone steals your wallet or handbag. Cash is obviously the most convenient method to buy anything outright, but the least secure by miles. Cash, travellers’ cheques and cash cards all have their pros and cons, and the unanimous advice is to take a mixture of payment methods.

Even credit card companies accept the value of travellers’ cheques and they, in turn, see the benefits of using plastic. Its Internet home page address is: http:// www.esi.co.uk. Apart from contracting a serious illness, probably the next best way to ruin a good holiday is to get into a mess with money arrangements. It is already conducting two trials in East Anglia, one in association with BT and the other in partnership with a cable company, that could lead to it being available sooner rather than later for home shopping, home banking and home share dealing.Infotrade Portfolio can be purchased through any BT shop, or through BT telesales on 0800 226600.ESI can be contacted on 01223 566926.

Unlike Barclays, though, the share dealing is execution only, carried out in partnership with ShareLink.But the leader in the field until now has been NatWest. Using touch screens in 280 bank branches, the service has been used by 3 million customers, particularly for the big privatisation issues. The system has had to be updated to work with Crest, but will continue for the foreseeable future.Eventually, though, NatWest believes that many of our financial transactions will take place using interactive television in the lounge. From Vienna they went to join the Prince and Princess Esterhzy at nearby Eisenstadt. The chief attraction of Eisenstadt was, of course, that Haydn lived there.