Best Way to Pay

We have moved over the years to nearly total cash. It is just easier and safer. A year ago October spent 33 days between Amsterdam and Athens and only charge one item - a hotel that would not give a discount for cash. Just back from the Christmas markets of Germany and Czech Republic and may have charged two items. Cash is king. We carry three debit cards tied to three separate accounts. Our main debit card is from a credit union that charges zero fees. The other two account are standard bank debit cards that do charge fees - 3%. But in all the years we have never had to use those cards because the credit union has never failed us from Russia to Athens. A couple of times it would not work but just moved to the another ATM and it did work. Carry three credit cards Capital One with no fees is the main card. We do carry about 150 Euro into the country. If we have not saved them from a prior trip we buy locally before going and pay the fees. I don't like find an ATM in the airport because, sometimes, they are not easy to find. I like using an ATM attached to bank during open hours so if something goes wrong, wife guards the ATM and I go into the bank. Has never happened so the practice is untested. I avoid standalone ATMs anywhere but think airport ATMs would be potentially safer than standalones elsewhere.

Kathy, First check with your bank to see if they have a visa debit card that does not charge you a fee for withdrawals. I use a seperate account for travel, and load it up with the amount I think I will need for the trip. Use the ATM with this card to withdraw cash. Try to pull out enough for at least 2 days expense at a time. That way you're not out at nite looking for an ATM. I also carry an extra card in case one of these machines eats my card. Just ask your bank for an extra, and make sure you notify them of the countries you will be traveling to. Use your credit card for purchases only, hotels trains car rentals, gifts and of course that ONE I need to take this home with me item.
Check other helpline posts for recommened banks.

You're mixing apples and kangaroos. FTFs apply to credit purchases. Think about how much you will actually charge. I just grindered my last statement for last year. FTFs were less than fourty bucks. Assuming the other one was close to the same, that's less than a hundred. Hefty? Not really, we were out of the country close to six months last year. We spend cash out of ATMs. Next think about what happens to credit rating/debt ratio if you get another card - - that's personal, figure it out for yourself. Finally, think about the cost if you charge everything - - maybe a two-week trip at three hundred bucks a day is $4200. A two percent FTF is $84 - - not exactly a bank-breaker. ATMs (in europe) charge no fees for use. Fees come from your bank. It might be a minor issue and not be worth the pain in the tail to switch. Even if your bank stiffs you five bucks per transaction and you spend the $4200 above all in cash with withdrawel increments of five hundred dollars, that's $35 - - again, not a huge amount of money.

We just returned from Rome recently and we were asking the same questions! What we did was to obtain enough euros from our local bank to cover our expenses the first couple of days. We did pay a fee for this service and it took about a week to get the euros. If you have the money with you, you can get on the train without having to find the ATM (I am sure there was one but I didn't see it) and begin your holiday. We used a Visa debit card for ATM withdrawals and I used it once in a department store. We used cash for tourist sites and restaurants. Make sure your bank knows you will be out of the county so your card will keep working! Have fun!

Kathy, You are loking for an ATM or debit card to get cash. This will give you some ideas http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange
but you really need to call around to the financial institutions in your area.

Hi Kathy. I have a Capital One credit card that has no fees when used out of the country. For cash, I have an ATM card. You should NOT use credit cards (ANY credit cards) for cash withdrawals from ATMs. The interest is through the roof. I do have the PINs for my Capital One card and my backup credit card in case I need to use them to get cash on a trip, but only in desperate emergency worst-case-scenario situations.

Agreed about never using credit cards for cash withdrawals. Never. If my children were kidnapped and I had to come up with ransom money, I'd still be very hesitant ;-)

We set up a Capital One Money Market account which we used as our debit card account. No fees of any kind AND you actually earn interest. We also used a Capital One credit card which charged no fees. It takes a few weeks to get the MM account set up.

The Capitol One option is the one I recall from past research. They sent applications for their credit card every other day for about a year, back a couple years ago, and I always tossed them. It may be time to check them out, and I'll continue to explore other options as well. Thanks for all the 2¢ worth postings.

Go to British airways and apply for their card. It accumulates miles and has no foreign conversion fees.

Try a local credit union, and see what they offer for cards; we have a debit and credit card through our credit unions and those cards have NO international transaction fees. Just returned from Italy and there are no fees on my statement, I have used this card every time I travel overseas.