Whats the best way to give a high $ cash gift?

Question

I want to give my sister in law a decent gift for her wedding and have decided on cash. I was told by her parents that they haven't alotted a lot of money for their honeymoon and from past experience money can severly limit the amount of fun you can have. I also want to prevent them from being "responsible" with the money and just blow it having some fun.

Checks are out because she's have to deposit it and use it when they get back (after 7 days of clearing for an out of state check)

Gift cards tend to charge an enormous amount of fees and have maximum amount. For example I'm hoping to scrap up $1k for her but I'd have to grab 5 $200 cards with a min $5 fee for each of them. Not to mention all the other "hidden" fees

I'm rather young and have grown up in the "plastic" world but I remember back in the day travelers checks were popular. Are they as convinient?

Any advice would be great!

Answer 1

Give them cash money, in bills from the destination of their honeymoon, in a nice envelope with a card. An international money exchangers will change it for you, you just have to find one that does it for free.

Answer 2

If its for the honeymoon contact where they are going and maybe get gifts cards to local resturants, activities or the resort.

there is a fee with travelers checks also but a small percentage.  You can get them in various amounts and are taken anywhere but make sure you know where they are going and what curency they accept incase you need international checks.

Or when you are there for the wedding go to thier local bank and make a deposit for them, you dont need the account #, they can look it up.  And tell them you want a receipt of some sort to add to the card.

Answer 3

travellers cheques are good and if they don't use them all on their honeymoon they can cash them in.

if you know her credit card number you could go to the bank and put a credit on her credit card!  that way she'd have no problems at all!

personally i'd go to the bank and get brand new bills and give them the cash!  let them decide if they want travellers cheques or whatever.........

we were given a prepaid visa as a gift and i was very surprised at how many stores/shops/establishments wouldn't take it.

Answer 4

what about those prepaid visa cards? Or figure out where they're going for their honeymoon and you could get a gift certificate for that place.

You could also do a cashiers check from her bank so that she could cash it immediately.

Answer 5

Cash is an option too. It's not really any riskier than any cash equivalent where you pay in advance and anyone can use them. My sister-in-law got a lot of cash at her wedding, to the point where on their way back to the hotel after opening gifts they requested a stop at the bank. And this after keeping enough to pay their hotel bill in cash.

And (if you're not in the states) they can have the fun of looking the the card, seeing it's a $100 bill, and then discovering that there's more than one. It'll be a very nice presentation.

Answer 6

Do you know what hotel they are going to for their honeymoon? My parents called ahead and left a $500 credit there for us to put toward food, drinks and whatever else we wanted. It was such a great surprise and a great gift.

Answer 7

Traveler's cheques are still available, but they are not very common these days.  It's also difficult to find places that accept them within the United States.  It is actually easier overseas!  American Express was the company that supported them and you can still get them from a number of banks and credit unions.  There is a fee, but credit unions used to waive the fees as a courtesy to their clients.

I know that American Express does have gift cards that you can purchase and they might actually be less hassle.  Perhaps giving her a combination gift of cash/card/cheque might be a good idea.  Just tell her that it's spending money for their honeymoon and you wanted to make it easy.

Best wishes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

They do make traveler's gift card type things.. that would work.  I've never used the checks, but those should be just as easy to use.. if they're staying in the states..

Answer 9

i advise against travelers checks....if i recall, i tried to use one on a trip once and they weren't accepted. i like the idea of a prepaid visa card but i don't really think they charge a fee to have one. otherwise no one would use them.

Answer 10

Check with your bank and see if they offer the prepaid cards and what their fees might be. Also ask your bank what the policy is on giving traveler's checks to someone as a gift.

Answer 11

Travelers checks can only be used by the people who have purchased them.  And if you mean you buy a traveler's check and make it out to her, then it gets treated just like a check with the waiting time for the cash to be available.

go with the gift cards that are pre paid charge cards.  Look for one that doesn't use fees or has very low fees--you'll need to shop around (VISA and MasterCard gift cards have lower fees than the AMEX gift cards).  You can pick them up in the grocery or drug store and they can go as high as $5000.  You can get higher dollar ones from the bank.

Answer 12

Get a pre-paid credit card with whatever balance you want to give as the gift.  Easy and secure.

Answer 13

How about American Express Traveler Cheques? They are a wonderful way of gifting and she can use them everywhere.

Or if you're concerned about how the money is spent... give her half the amount before her honeymoon and then wait to give her the other half for Christmas.

Answer 14

Traveler's Cheques are ok....but I know you said that you dont want to do the gift cards thing but I have found the American Express Cards are the best thing. for $1000 I think they only charge $15 and thats it. Also, American Express is accepted everywhere, and you can get them at mostly any bank.

Travelers Cheques  are convienent but sometimes are a bit of a hassle if they dont have their ID, or something  like that.

Answer 15

Travelers checks as a gift would not work as the person buying them needs to sign for them at the bank... I would just give the gift as cash in a card and maybe make a cute little list of fun things they could do with it like:

TO Be in used during Honeymoon for:

For a crazy and wild adventure!

To get a couples massage

In case of Emergency! Etc...

Answer 16

When we went abroad to New York, my parents got a credit card that works as a regular card in any shop (obviously without the overdraft) but with just the amount they put on there, to be used specifically in the country it was going to be used in. I believe it may have been from capital one, and my parents are pretty thrifty so I don't believe they would have chosen one with a large amount of extra fees.

Answer 17

here's a sneaky, fun way:

get her parents to get a check from her or somehow find her account and routing number.

Then, arrange to have the money transfered directly into her account the day after the wedding.  Any bank can do this.

Put a card in her luggage telling her to check her account balance...Surprise!

prepaid credit cards kind of suck too: you can never seem to get the last few dollars off because you have to not go over the limit or it's declined.

Answer 18

I would actually give her a beautiful card with a heartfelt note and an envelope full of $100s

Answer 19

go the prepaid credit card route.  i don't think you can get travelers checks for other people because you hhave to sign for them so they can match signatures in case they get stolen.  and what gift cards are you buying that they charge you for them?  i've never had to pay to get a gift card anywhere!