Cashing US Visa travelers checks in Taipei

My girlfriend is bringing Visa travelers checks in US$ to Taipei to be turned into NT$ and put in red envelopes.

Would she get a significantly better rate in the city than at the airport, or would it just be hard to find a place to cash them in the city?

Banks will cash them at a fair rate, service charges vary. Word of advice, banks will all be closed over Chinese New Year for the whole week, so she may be advised to make her exchanges early.

Good luck!

Another point – money put in red envelopes needs to be crisp, new bills (using old ones is very bad form). ATMs and banks sometimes run out of those at CNY. So if I were her I’d go ahead and change them at the airport if they have new bills, and damn any minor difference in rates or commission.