That's entirely possible. I remember a Florida vacation many years ago when I tried to pay for an item with an American Express Traveler's Cheque, and it was utterly refused by the clerk.
This was a LONG time ago. I had saved paper-route money for months to buy Traveler's Cheques. I asked my father why they were refused...he told me that "she's young, probably new, and they probably told her not to "take any checks." She didn't know that some checks -- purchased with cash from a bank -- were eminently negotiable with no risk.
But the main thing that brought up this old memory is the thought that today, she's probably an airport security screener.