Euros, bring them or get them there.

By all means, use the ATM. It's the quickest way to get cash. But, what country will you be in? In England, the ATM gives you Pounds. In Switzerland, the ATM gives you Swiss Francs. In most other EU countries, the ATMs will give you Euros.

Be sure to call Customer Service for your credit cards and ATM cards and give the dates you will be in Europe. If you don't, some computer may freeze your cards for what it recognizes as unusual--and therefore possibly fraudulent--transactions. To read what Rick advises on this subject, go here.

Use your credit or atm card!! Whatever you do, don't go to one of those Western Union kiosks all over Roma to get cash. My boyfriend had a $100 on American, and ended up with only 44E and some change after the fee they charged. Most of the exchange rates when I used my card were only 41cents to a buck and a half.

Cyndie,
I know of no place in the US that you can buy several thousand or less euro for less than 5% over the interbank rate. I do know of ATM cards that will give me euro in Europe for 1% over the interbank rate see http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange So to come out ahead the dollar must fall more than 4% (this doesn't count what you lose from not having the money invested).

Use a debit card at the ATMs over there (assuming the card's daily limit will get you enough).

Be sure not to use a credit card at the ATMs. If you get a cash advance on a credit card you'll pay a very high service charge. If you use a debit or ATM card you'll get the best rate.

Piggy backing a question, hope it's okay Cyndie.

So, it is better to get money over there rather than even through AAA where they told us the exchange rate was comparable?
We were going to get some before we go.

Over there we are planning to use our UBS American Express card which apparently works like a debit card from an ATM. Unless, someone says this is not a good idea?? I think that there are many banks there that accept American Express at cash machines???

We are in the minority - but we always get euros here. AAA has a fairly good deal - and you don't have to order them ahead of time. We always are in a remote village with no ATM nearby.

I have a very hard time finding anyplace that takes American Express in Europe.
I often get a few euros from my bank here in the US, just in case if the airport ATM's are down or if the banks are on strike. You never know. I take 100 Euros to get me started on my trip. Normally, ATM's are just fine, and most likely you wont have a problem to get cash for your hotel.

I don't know why AAA would tell you the exchange rate is "comparable". Comparable to the stiff rates charged at the airport currency exchange places, I guess. And BTW the nice folks at AAA aren't the ones giving you currency; they have sub-contracted to Travelex to do it, as it says right on the AAA website.

AAA is split into a bunch of different operating companies. Here in CA they list the fees at http://tinyurl.com/5zl53m and you'll pay 5.5% PLUS a $10 shipping fee. In WA they don't list the fees on their website but they do give the following Q & A

"Why are rates quoted on the site different than those in the newspapers?
A: Rates quoted in newspapers are not indicative of rates that the average customer can secure."

Yeah, right. You CAN secure close to those rates by using any debit card in an ATM. Some banks have added on junk fees for using the ATM or padded the conversion rate, but some don't; Capital One is a bank with a good rep.

See Rick Steves article about ATMs at http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/moneytip.htm

All that said, I'd recommend bringing 100E that you change here just so you have money when you land. As the thousands more you'll need for the rest of your trip, get them from ATMs.

We went with about 10 Euros, 2 debit cards, 2 credit cards and 2 ATM cards. Called all banks with dates before we left. 2nd time out of country and did not want or need to pay the fees here to "feel safe" arriving with euros. Also took 2 blank checks,(not sure why, but felt all bases were then covered!) all in money belts. It depends on your comfort level, but with the dollar so bad right now, we felt confident one of our cards would work, and turns out they all did fine. And we had a credit union charge 1$ per withdrawal. Regular bank charged 2% fee. Travelers checks are no longer common with the easy access of ATMs. Good luck, you will have a great time.

My husband and I struggled with the exact same decision regarding how much euro to bring with us on our trip to Rome, Assisi and Florence in June. Whether to rely on ATM's for daily cash withdrawals? should we do half euro on hand and the other half from ATM's? After a lot of thought about this and getting different advice from lots of experienced travelers, I realized that we needed to do what made us feel the most comfortable. We dedided that we did not want to take any chances that we could not access our money via the ATM's for whatever reason (can't find one, it ate the card, it won't accept the card, etc.). I just knew that any hiccups in accessing money would make me so nervous and upset that it would spoil my trip. I didn't want to spend a single minute dealing with ATM card disasters. So, we decided to order all of our euros (based upon our budget) from our bank before we left. We paid a flat $10.00 fee, but the exchange rate was higher (we considered it the price we paid for feeling secure about money). We bought Rick Steves money belt and my husband became the steward of our funds. We also brought the ATM card and the credit card. Each day before leaving our hotel, we counted out what we thought we would need for the day and then split that between us. The rest, along with the ATM card and the credit card, went securely into the money belt comfortably around my husband's waist under his pants waist band and neatly tucked in shirt. It would perfectly for us.

Bottom line - you'll get lots of different advice on this. But ultimately you should decide what will make you feel the most secure so that you can enjoy every single moment of one of the world's most extraordinarly countries.

Linda at Pittsfield, you didn't tell us the end of the story!

How often could you not find an ATM?

Were any cards eaten?

Were cards frequently not accepted?

Any other problems with using the ATMs or the charge cards?

Hi Patrick:

I used the credit card to purchase linens and leather wallets in shops in Florence. I used the ATM (which has the credit card logo and directly accesses my checking account) to pay for one accommodation in Florence and one meal in Rome. No problems at all doing this. I did not attempt to use the ATM card to get euros because we brought it all with us. And since I knew we had our cash, I made an effort to look for ATM's but I did notice them occassionally as we walked along our sight seeing routes. So while I believe that ATM's are perfectly efficient and that many travelers are confident using them, I just felt more comfortable having the cash on hand. Partly because we wanted to be on the fly, ready to go, with a little bit of spontaneity, too - not running in circles looking for a bancomat. Just a personal preference.

And I like to also point out that at no time did we ever feel threatened that someone was going to rob us. Unless someone was going to tackle my husband and violently strip all of his clothing off, the money belt was like Fort Knox!

We just returned from our trip and there were a couple of things we did that I would have done differently knowing what I know now. One was I would NOT have purchased any Euro here in the states. I too felt I needed some as security upon entering but it was totally unnecessary. The ATM machines are all over and extremely easy to use. We had plenty of time to recover our card after the purchase. The machines are very self explanatory and since we went with 2 ATM cards, we had access to $500 ($250 each) everyday if we needed it. The higher rate you pay here in the states is not worth it! Wait to get your Euros is my advise.

Grazie! I truly appreciate all of your shared opinions! I have contacted my bank and my credit card lenders (I agree, there is nothing worse than having your card stopped because they think there are odd transactions occurring)!
My bank also gave me an emergency collect call number to use if I run into any problems with my Debit or credit card. I am going to bring several cards (photo copied in case they are lost or stolen): MC, debit card, ATM card, visa, and (just in case I find someone who takes it) an AMX card. Now if I can just make sure I remember all my pin numbers!!