Money

I used my Schwab card everywhere. It was great to not pay any fees and get the best exchange rates.

Here is a page of links with all of Rick's excellent money tips. Read them all, and you'll be a pro: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/money-travel-tips.htm In the US, prepaid Visa cards have very high fees, both directly and in the form of poor exchange rates. Debit cards, by contrast, have excellent exchange rates (the best available to those not exchanging millions of dollars), and low or no fees.

The cheapest and most convenient way to obtain local currency is a debit card at a bank owned ATM. Nothing is cheaper unless your print it yourself.

It used to be I could go on the AAA website and read exactly how bad their pepaid card is. Now they have hidden that information. Nuff said!

If you just go to the search box up top and type "AAA prepaid card" you will get very current information about the card, including a schedule of fees. The information isn't hidden, it's just not on the front page of the AAA website, but it's not a good deal.

Thanks to all who replied. Just an FYI: Schwab does not charge fees worldwide if one has a brokerage account with that bank. My concern is someone stealing my password and having unlimited access to my funds.

Has anyone ever stolen your pass word? How are they going to steal you pass word at an ATM if you are careful? That risk is very low and near zero if you avoid using any type of a stand alone ATM.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, if you report your missing ATM card before any unauthorized transaction, your maximum out-of-pocket amount is $0. If you report within two business days after you learn of a loss or theft, then your maximum out-of-pocket amount is $50.