exchanging money/travelers checks

Good luck finding anyone willing to cash travelers checks - seriously. They have a big problem with counterfeiting...and banks want you to use your ATM. So will will most every poster who answers you here. ATM.

I cashed my last Travelers Cheque in 2000. I can't remember the rate, but it seemed like 4% + €4. But you probably won't find anyone to cash Travalers Cheques anymore. Shop around for a bank. If you can find a small bank (not Mellon!), one without a foreign currency exchange operation, they will charge you 1%, the Network charge, plus $1-$2, whatever they charge for non-bank ATMs. BTW, I don't know what your bank told you, but Visa (the Network - Visa, MC, Cirrus, Plus, et al) only charges 1%.

Two to three percent is standard and not unreasonable for currency exchange. Travelers Checks will be much higher, closer to 10%, if you can find anyone willing to cash them. The cheapest and most convenient way to obtain local currency is via a debit card and ATM. And even better if you can find a bank or generally a credit union that does not charge currency conversion fees. There are no ATM usage fees in Europe. ALL FEEs are solely determined by your card issuer.

No.Travelers.Checks.Ever. Ally Bank (online) charges only 1% for foreign ATM withdrawals - no per/use fee, and they will refund fees charged by an out-of-network ATM (you won't encounter those in Europe). My local credit union charges absolutely nothing. Shop around for a better deal.

Catherine, As the others have said, forget the idea of Traveller's Cheques! As Rick often says, "I've cashed my last Traveller's Cheque!" ATM cards are the easiest method to obtain cash in Europe, but you'll have to shop around to find a Bank that offers reasonable fees. I don't know what Banks are available in your area? A few points to note..... Your travel funds must usually be in a chequing account with a four-number PIN. Be sure to notify your Bank on which dates you'll be abroad and also review your daily withdrawal limit with them. I've found that it's a good idea to carry a "backup" ATM card if possible, in case of problems with the primary card (I've had that happen!). Happy travels!

Check out the free Capital One online banking. No fees, ATM cards and works in Europe. Got an account and two cards with $600 daily withdrawal limit on each card, deposited all the cash I wanted to exchange and notified them I was traveling to Europe. It worked great.

My Credit Union charges 1% conversion fee and allows five free withdrawals/month at ATMs. My Capital One account (checking, not credit card) has no fees of any kind, and refunds the first $10/month of any fees charged by foreign banks. The fees charged by credit cards vary according to who issued them. Again, Capital One has no fees. Make sure you tell your bank and credit card cos. you're traveling.

Thank you all for your replies! They have been very helpful. Now I would also be interested in hearing if you all tended to use debit and credit cards, or did you just withdraw cash and go cash only? Thank you again!

Re Debit Cards for cash: I was with Wachovia, part of Wells Fargo, they charge 3% plus a $5 fee for each ATM withdrawel (about the highest in the industry). I shopped and ended up with a USAA account that charges 1% of the transaction. There are some options that charge nothing but you need to make sure their rules work for you. European ATM's won't charge a fee the way banks do here in the US. The only fees you need to be concerned with are what your bank charges. ATM's are widely available in airports, train stations, even medieval city centers. The only problem I've had is finding a handy ATM around ferry docks. As everyone else has said, forget travelers checks - even the banks don't want to cash them and virtually no retailer will accept them.

We tend to use mostly cash. We simply find it easier and more convenient. Obviously if you don't use your credit card, you lessen the opportunity for the number being compromised. Second, most hotels, at least the ones we use, will give a discount, generally 5%, for cash. The only time we will use a credit card will be during the last day or so when we are managing our Euro so that we return with about 100 to 200 E in our pocket.

Since my Capital One credit card gives me 1% cash back, I tend to use my credit card for hotels and some restaurants, and things like train tickets, otherwise I use cash. I don't shop, except occasionally for picnic food, but if I did I would probably use my credit card for that, too. Otherwise I use my ATM/debit card in ATMs, I never use it as a debit card, at home or abroad.

I totally agree with the other posters. But I want to stress that you need to call your credit card company/bank several times before you go to confirm that they know you will be out of the country, where you will be and when. Otherwise, their "security", which is essentially a computer program, may well freeze your credit and debit/atm cards. Not a bad idea to carry the phone number of your bank just in case some idiot still doesn't get the word.

Definitely look for a different bank the charges you describe are outrageous! Ally is a good low-fee option, as is a local credit union. I switched to a credit union a long time ago, because banks are a rip-off in many more areas than just foreign transaction fees. For one thing, I get up to 6% interest on both my savings and checking instead of Bank of America's dismal under-1% interest on savings. Back to your question: I used my credit card to pay for something only a couple of times. I took out some cash each time I arrived in a new city (every few days), and 99% of the time, I used cash to pay for everything. I will mention that our accomodations were on the cheaper side (hostels), so if your hotel bill is pretty significant, it may be better to pay with a card as most banks have a per-day limit on withdrawals (my CU's was $1,000/day for cash withdrawals and $5,000/day in card transactions, I believe).

Catherine, Are you with PNC? Its sounds like my fees. I was charged $2-3.50 per withdraw (can't remember exact amount) plus atm fees. If we chose to do credit we would get the percentage fee plus the couple dollar fee. All we did was cash withdraws and I did not get ONE atm fee in Italy at all. We did withdraws of around E280 each time or a little more, always making sure to not go near $500 b/c that was our daily limit. When I came home I had a total of less than $9 in fees added for all of our withdraws...We never charged anything via debit or credit. I would so say go with the debit card...

In my last four trips to Germany (52 days), other than paying for online purchases of Sparpreis rail tickets, I've used a card for POS payment 4 or 5 times, all for DB tickets, several of those times when that's all the automat took. There is a very good reason for using cash. Small, family run pensions and Privatzimmer don't take plastic (of the places in which I have stayed (22, only 1 accepted plastic). I averaged €32/night in these places. I would have spent a lot more to stay where my CC was accepted.

And along with getting a Capital One Account-try the Hi Yield Money Market Account, they are a great placce to have a MasterCard - because not only is it 1% cash bask (2% gas and groceries is my program) but they also DO NOT HAVE THE 3% International Fee -actually, no fee. Use the ATM card from their bank for cash (machines only, it's not a debit, and use the credit card for those things that cash is insufficient (just don't get cash using the credit card, that is an advance and burns high interest).
Note that they are a tad slow on deposits. For established accounts, even though they will pay your interest due, it's 6 business days before they will clear the deposit for withdrawal. And that will be longer for the first electronic transfer on a new account.

Lee - how are you finding the places you're staying? Do you just get into town and ask around, or are you using guidebooks, and if so, which?

In almost all cases I have found the places using the town website (www.town_name.de) for the place to which I am going. A lot of these websites have an English option, others are in German, but there are only a few key words (Unterkunfte, Übernachten, Hotel) you need to find the list of host. A lot of the accommodations have websites in English. In comparing the town websites with booking websites, I find that the town sites have a better selektion of places. The places listed on the booking websites tend to be on the higher price end.

Thanks Lee - that's an interesting technique - I'll have to give it a try. I agree that many booking sites are higher end, although I usually try venere.com or eurocheapo.com if I'm not using guidebooks and forums.

Reminds me, I have to make sure my bank doesn't cancel my card when I'm in france. Another question I have is how will I get these euro's at the atm? Is it like our money? Will I get 20's and 10's?

Just like the US a variety of bills. Larger withdrawals tend to get larger bills. Asking for 300 might get you a 100 and four 50s. Some suggest asking for an odd number like 135 will get you a greater variety of smaller bills. Some report problems of cashing or acceptance of bigger bills but I have never had a problem with 50s but am not going to ask a street vendor to take a 50 either. If I need to break a 100 often will ask the hotel in the evening when the cash drawer may be full of money to break it. Most of the times they will.

I don't think I have ever gotten a cash from a Germany ATM that wasn't €100 in small bills (3 20s, 3 10s, & 2 5s) and the rest in 50s. I don't think I have ever received a €100 note.