Back in the 70s, actor Karl Malden told American TV viewers, "Don't leave home without them." He was referring to the traveler's check, then the safest way to carry money while traveling for business or pleasure, but now it seems that traveler's checks, just like those commercials, are becoming a distant memory.

While many hotels and tourist destinations still accept traveler's checks, many retail outlets, particularly in Europe, have ceased to accept them and are putting many travelers who have relied on these checks for decades in cash-flow limbo.