Credit Card in Europe!

I believe the Capital One card meets all your requirements. I don't have this card but it is recommended on this board all the time. I have a Chase Priority Club visa that I am very happy with. Priority Club is the frequent guest program of Intercontinental Hotels group which includes Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites, etc. This card has no international transaction fees. It does have a $49 annual fee BUT each year on your anniversary date you get a certificate for a free night. I'm using mine this year at a Holiday Inn in London; it would have been 150 GBP if I had paid for it. If you can use the free nights, it can more than offset the annual fee.

Visa, MC, Plus, and Cirrus are collectively called the "Network" and operate in Europe, paying card takers and ATM owners and collecting from the US Banks. They charge about ½% of the amount for the service, and about ½% for currency conversion. Big banks, with a foreign currency operation, pay them in Euro, thus avoiding the ½% currency conversion and then charge you 3% (nice guys). Small banks, like 1st Bank here in Denver, just pass on the 1% total, what is charged to them. Some banks and credit unions don't even pass the 1% on to you. So, check with your local banks and credit unions. Someone will not charge anything, or at most 1%. And, BTW, don't use a credit card at an ATM. They'll charge you for a cash advance and begin charging interest immediately. Use a debit or ATM card.

On our last two trips we have exclusively used cash and only used the credit card on the last couple of days when trying to manage the cash flow so that we come home with a 100 Euro or so. We do not find using cash as impractical. And often can get a discount especially for hotels. Solves a big problem of worrying about the credit card number being compromised along the way.

My Capital One card charges nothing additional. My VISA from my local credit union charges nothing. They also charge nothing for withdrawing money from a foreign ATM with my debit card from the same credit union. Shop around - there are lots of options.

I think all of this credit card business is something to bandy around and not worth getting wrapped around the axle about. What I can't understand is why anybody would want a credit card with an annual fee except for one major exception which is of little interest to most people. I'll leave that facet right there. Now, let's take an example. I like my ownself, but you can run ratios on my numbers and see how it works. Essentially we go out for a month at a time and just about always spend two hundred bucks a day (no airfare, but car, gas, hair and feathers). The car has to go on the credit card, so does the gas since that would eat into my cash. That's fifteen hundred bucks, toss in a couple of hotels and some junk and call it two grand. I pay a one percent FTF which comes to a whopping twenty american dollars. I wouldn't deal with anybody who had the gumption to charge me three percent, but sixty dollars wouldn't exactly put me in the poor house - - two dollars a day is about the price of a cup of coffee. Somehow, I've got to come up with another hundred and fifty (probably one twenty five if you pull out the few hotels) just to keep moving. ATMs are everywhere. My little bank charges me nothing per transaction and wouldn't have the guts to try it. The exchange rate is the exchange rate, mine has always seemed fair and nothing is passed on to me. Because I loose stuff, my withdrawel limit is $200 per day on the primary card and I only rarely (once or twice a trip) need to get more on the same day from the back-up. I don't think I've ever had two hundred euro in my pocket. Heck, even if you go for two weeks and spend twice what I do per day, you're still at the same number. Interesting, I guess, but sometimes I just don't understand why it takes up time that could better be spent reading history so you don't have to hire a stinking guide.

Please read "Graffiti Wall > Money/Communication > ATMs: Minimizing Fees" for some good information if you have not done so already. We go to Europe every summer and each take a DEBIT card tied to a CHECKING ACCOUNT at two different financial institutions. We get all our local currency from ATMs in whatever country we are in. We do each take a credit card for back up insurance but have rarely used them.
Our (my) primary debit card is from a local credit union that marks up withdrawal 1% and since I have belonged to that CU for over 40 years, I chose to stay with them rather than trying to find someplace to avoid the 1%. Happy travels.

My husband and I have also always used our Capital One card with no problems in Australia, Canada and Europe. We earn cash back on the charges. As you have read, they don't charge any transaction fees. We also got cash debit cards at Travelex. We found ATM's tied to the Travelex cards.

Why isn't carrying around a lot of bills practical or safe? Taking out large amounts of cash at a time is often the cheapest way to go in Europe, although we're really just talking a few dollars here and there versus using credit cards all the time. The advantage to cash is that it's accepted everywhere in Europe. Credit cards and especially debit cards are not, although how often they are accepted depends on the country. Germany is one of the countries least likely to accept credit cards. You can usually use it at fine restaurants and upscale stores, or less fancy shops catering to tourists, but that's it. Grocery stores (even large ones), smaller restaurants, basic stores...no CC. It was a tough adjustment to get used to carrying a lot of cash, but we have adjusted. And it's fine. If you travel, split it up - if you put your cash in a moneybelt no one is going to get it off you unless you're mugged with a weapon (not a common occurance). For me the convenience and cost-effectiveness of taking out large amounts of cash at a time (to minimize fees) is worth the slight risk of carrying that cash (half of which I stuff at home, usually - for travelers, it would be your hotel safe). Americans are very used to using debit cards and resent doing this - I did too, at first! - but I really think in the majority of cases it is the best way to go. You won't be stuck trying to find an ATM when you really want to buy something spur-of-the-moment or find yourself with a large restaurant bill and not ATMs nearby.

When I looked at the Travelex debit card the fees were around 10% mostly buried in a poor exchange rate. Has that changed. A standard bank debit card was a much better deal.

Why would it be cheaper to take out gobs of cash at once instead of dribbles unless your bank is nailing you to the wall?

It only makes sense if your bank has a large fixed withdrawal/transition fee associated with the withdrawn. Some banks will charge a fixed fee of $5 plus a 3% currency conversion fee. In that case it makes some sense to make fewer but larger withdraws.

I take a little cash to get me started then use ATMs for most of the trip. I contact my bank and raise my withdawal limit to a practical amount. Also, be sure you notify your CC company of your trip's dates so they will honor the oversea's charges.

What Frank said. While I am aware I could have a checking account that would charge me less for withdrawing cash, I absolutely love my bank in every other way - and who ever says that about a bank? I get ATM fees reimbursed but you still get hit a little bit on the currency conversion thing - most banks do this - so it's sensible to withdraw a lot at once and just convenient when you have to do 90% of your transactions in cash anyway.