Pre Paid Debit Card

They're accepted at any merchant/atm machine that has the Visa/MC symbols. Downside is that they have high fees. In addition it's not a good idea to use a debit card for renting cars or hotels, as they place holds on the funds in your account until you return the car/check-out...so you could run into some cash-flow problems.

It depends on the prepaid debit card. Some are not valid outside the country, some do not allow any ATM transactions, some do not work at gas stations, some are neither Visa nor MasterCard. You will have to contact your card provider to get the details and pay attention to Michael Schneider's warning about debit card holds.

You would be much better off to put your travel funds in a checking account at a credit union and use the regular ATM card that comes with it. It will have much lower fees than a prepaid card. Because it's still a debit card, though, you will still have the problem with security holds when booking a hotel or renting a car. But there won't be a problem using it outside the US or using it for purchases where VISA/MC are accepted.

I followed Nancy's advice given in an earlier thread and it has worked perfectly. Janis, You should too. You will ahve to open a credit union account with checking if you don't have one. Then, load the checking account up before your vacation and use the debit card at ATMs when overseas. It chouldn't be easier.