Money - Want to be safe but don't want to get ripped off!

This is a constantly rehashed topic here. The short answer is that there are ATM cards and credit cards available that don't charge international fees. Capital One provides both, but it can take a while to set them up. Some credit unions do as well. I suggest calling your existing card holders and ask them what their fees are and if they would consider waiving them while you're in Italy. See also this link from the FAQs: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/moneytip.htm Best wishes.

We just got back from Italy. We used a Capital One ATM card and paid for just about everything with good old cash. Worked just fine! Capital One has no international fees unlike just about every other card.

Cash all the way. Research as mentioned and try to get a debit card that has no fees (Charles Schwab is excellent) and a credit card as a back up (we like Capital One for no fees). Use the CC for train fares, for example. Your lodgings will usually appreciate cash, especially B&Bs and apartments. Carry 50 euros or so easily accessible (inside pocket, a secure purse) and put the rest in your moneybelt along with the debit and credit cards. Oh, and take debit cards from two banks in case you have a problem with your first one.

Why fret over "exchange rates and/or fees" when they represent a tiny percentage of the overall cost of your trip? Those costs, plus the money for tips you will be handing out as you travel, are inevitable and mainly unavoidable. Consider them part of the package.

I'll agree with Norma. The overall cost for two or three weeks in Europe, including travel, is substantial enough that I've traded some really modest cost savings for convenience and relative safety. Many here use debit cards. I prefer to pay some very modest cash advance fees and (in my case $1) to use a credit card that I obtained by joining a local credit union. That's right--credit card. I somehow believe that the protection offered by VISA and MC is more sure than may be offered by my debit card (which I use for nearly all domestic purchases, e.g., groceries, etc). I'd much rather have my credit card exposed than my cash in the bank represented by my debit card (there's at least a spending limit on the credit card, but a misused debit card can reduce one's cash balance to zero). There's a larger cost for the CC, but it's very small in the overall travfel budget. My wife and have also decided to spend the extra monies for laundry service unless our hotel is very, very close to a laundromat. We've found we wasted a great amount of expensive touring time in Florence and Paris doing our laundry to save a modest cost. I guess my modest Economics BA was not completely wasted.

I don't think anyone advocates using a debit card for routine purchases in Europe. Most will recommend a credit card for routine purchases if that is your preference - and a debit card for obtain cash only from an ATM. The balance between credit card usage and cash is your decision as there is no one, right way. Over the years we are moved to nearly all cash. On the last couple of trips we have a couple of credit card charges towards the end of the trip when we were managing cash flow to preserve some Euro for the next trip. We find using cash far easier and convenient than giving a credit card to a waiter, keep track of the receipt, confirming the charges later against the statement, etc, etc. Makes tipping much easier and the element of fraud or misuse of your credit card is zero. And cash at most hotels will get you a 5% discount.

Frank's right that no one should be using a debit card to make purchases. It makes no sense at all. Our general practice is to use our credit card when we can (especially if there's no cash discount), and pay cash for everything else. I like getting the airline miles and the account statement is a nice log of where we've eaten/stayed/etc. We've never had any problem with credit card abuse. You can memorize the phrase "Scontino contanti?" if you want. It's a simple way of asking if there is a small discount if you pay cash. The full sentence would be "C'e' uno scontino se paghiamo in contanti?" but that's a mouthful for most. :-) Good luck.

I use my (1) ATM/debit card for cash, (2) usually a credit card for larger expenses (hotels, pricey train tickets, cuckoo clocks), and for Italy in particular...(3) cash everywhere else. Especially restaurants - you can more easily pay for what you actually ORDERED and CONSUMED when you aren't at their mercy because you've given them carte blance with your credit card...meaning if I order €20 of food and they try to charge me for €42, I leave the €20 on the table - if necessary - and walk away...(gets kinda tricky because you are required by law to take your receipt away with you...but that's another topic...). Your best exchange rate will be from an ATM. DON'T use a debit card for purchases. If your card is compromised and someone clears out your checking/ATM account, you'll have to do the back-and-forth dance with your bank - from Europe - and until that's resolved you have NO MONEY in your ATM account 8^/ Be Sure to have some duplicate system - bring two cards (same or different accounts/banks) in case one card doesn't work (for whatever reason). Same for credit cards - in case one account is compromised or just doesn't work... Short answer - yes, ATM and credit card!

Here's a bit of a PS clarification or expansion to my 8:37 AM post: I've rarely used a credit card in Europe for a merchandise or restaurant purchase. I've used it for my hotels, of course. I really put up with the relatively small (again, from my credit union credit card) foreign transaction fee and cash advance fee to withdraw cash from ATMsusually enough to last for a couple of days (meals, etc), keep the larger amount of cash and my card(s) in my zipped hidden pocket and perhaps $10-15 at the most in my front trousers' pocket for coffee, etc. The only non-hotel bill CC purchase I can recall in Europe was for an apparently (at the time) corkscrew I purchased in Beaune. (I'd not hads the $35 in cash on me at the timemy trip to the ATM was overduer and the ATM was not likely to be close to the wine store.)Ironically, I'd not thought of the corkscrew as a "sharp" object and it was confiscated at security at Heathrow. My wife saved my corkscrew by transferring to me most of her carry-on "stuff" from her carry-on bag, going back out of security, begging back my corkscrew from the wastebasket in which the security guy had thrown it, packing my corkscrew in her carry-on back and checking it as checked baggage. A further irony is that the corkscrew broke quite soon after I got it home.