ATM fees

Bank of America customers can withdraw local currencies in Europe free of any transaction charge. E.g. Parnter bank in France is BNP, in Germany it's Deutsche Bank etc.

I have never had any charges from the European banks.

In all of my travels we have never been charge an ATM usage fee similar to the usage fee often charged by US banks when you use an ATM not owned by your bank. BUT -- that could change tomorrow. Except, I thought I read once that there were some European bank regulations that prohibited charging for using an ATM. To the best of my experience there are no charges beyond the currency conversion fees imposed by the network and your bank.

You might want to consider setting up a travel account at another bank that charges less. I bank at a small local credit union, and they charge no fees at all for international ATM transactions. Every time I travel I check when I get back, and I have only been charged the actual exchange rate for the day I made the transaction. And I've never been charged an ATM fee for the bank in Ireland, or Spain, or China whose ATM I'm using.

Linda: WaMu only charges 1% to withdraw money with your debit card. The big problem with most banks is cash advances. Those fees can be quit expensive, so the best plan is to have plenty of money in your checking account before you travel and just use your debit card. You can still have a credit card as a back-up in case you can't use your debit card for some reason. Some travelers recommend having at least 3 cards that you can use (both debit and credit) just as a safety factor.