Friends, <BR> We are going to rome and venice, I need info on the exchanging foreign currency. Do we need to carry lira or euros. and if so, i have read on this site that withdrawing money with your ATM card is prefered. Is the exchange rate better and no service charges. please respond. <BR> cris

ATMs are everywhere in Rome and Venice, and the exchange rate is usually the going rate. Can't answer your question about service charges.<BR><BR>You should get lira from the ATMs, but there's no need to extract a ton of money when you do it, because ATMs are so prevalent that you can literally stop at one each morning and get the (estimated) amount you'll need for that day. And remember, you don't need a lot of cash, either, since most places take credit cards.

When are you going to Italy? If before Jan 1, 2002, you won't be able to get euros, so everything will be in lire. If after that date, you will be able to use lire for a few months (3?), while they phase in euros. After that, lire will disappear.<BR>ATMs are the way to go. Actually the rate is the bank-to-bank rate which is better than any other rate you can find, so you will save money. However, your saving may or may not be offset with surcharges. You'll have to check with your bank on what surcharges they charge. If only the $2 or $3 charge, you'll probably still save some. Even if they charge a forein surcharge, you will probably still save money if you are buying $200 or $300 worth of lire/euros each time you use it. Just be sure you have a 4-digit PIN and that you notify your bank you will be using your card overseas or they may think your card has been stolen and cut you off.

ATMs/Credit Cards<BR><BR>CRIS--ATMs (called "Bancomats") are everywhere; you'll have no trouble finding one even in the smallest villages. <BR>Linda is right on target: be sure to let your credit card bank(s) know which months you will be in Italy so they will clear your card(s) for overseas transactions. <BR>Also, w/o exception, I got about a 2% better exchange rate w. my MasterCard than w. my Visa, on both cash draws and purchases. Furthermore, MC cash draw fee was less than Visa for amounts up to L500,000 (the max you can w/draw at one time). Good idea to ask all of your credit card banks to see what their cash draw fees are when you call them to clear your cards for overseas use and/or obtain 4-digit PIN.<BR>Enjoy your trip.

ATM Addendum<BR><BR>CRIS--Just realized I forgot to respond to Jim's suggestion to just draw the amount you need on a daily basis. If your credit card bank charges a fixed transaction fee regardless of the amount w/drawn, this will cost you much more than a single, large draw. For example, if your bank charges a flat rate of $10 per w/drawal (a fairly standard charge), you would spend $50 drawing L100,000 lira per day for 5 days. By w/drawing L500,000 all at once, it costs you only $10.

CHRIS<BR>I returned on 11 jun visiting france, belgium, spain,and germany using rental car. I used my credit card for everything including toll roads. The only time i needed cash was for street parking and tips. Some banks in germany are now charging 2-3% for ATM. Just get about 50 -100 $$ when you get to the airport in ITALY and use your credit card. If you have money left at the end of your trip, just have the hotel take the remaining cash and billed you the difference that way you get rid of the liras.<BR>

I disagree with az's comment that $10 is a "fairly standard charge" for ATM withdrawals. No way! I've never been charged more than $1.50-$2 for an overseas ATM withdrawal. And, if your bank is charging that much, I'd change banks. Or am I missing something here?

Response to Howard<BR><BR>No, you're not missing anything. Your banks apparently charged a percentage rather than a flat rate. This is clearly a less expensive way to draw cash. <BR>The point I was trying to make is IF your bank charges a flat rate, you may pay more than you need to in order to draw cash. For those that do charge a flat rate, I am unaware of any that charge only $2--again, $10 seems to be a fairly standard FLAT rate--but if you know of any, I would like to have that information so I can contact them. Thanx.

$10 per withdrawal?? Never heard of anything so high. My bank charges me $1.00 for out of network withdrawal and the ATM's owner a service charge (anywhere from .75 to 2.50 - depending on where it is) I've used my AT

$10 per withdrawal?? Never heard of anything so high. My bank charges me $1.00 for out of network withdrawal and the ATM's owner a service charge (anywhere from .75 to 2.50 - depending on where it is) I've used my ATM in Germany, Italy, Ireland, England and Puerto Rico in the past year and have never been charge a service charge by 'their' banks, just the normal $1.00 fee from my bank.

I caled Fleet yesterday and their fee is $ 5.00 per transaction regardless of the amount of money.<BR><BR>SQ

Howard, Stacy, Suzy<BR><BR>I think I may have figured this puzzle out: I am talking about credit card (Visa, MasterCard, etc.) w/drawals and you are talking about ATM (bank) card w/drawals, right?? If you ARE referring to credit card w/drawal fees (for overseas w/drawals), which cards issued by which bank(s)? I would like to contact them, so phone # or e-mail would be appreciated. Thanx.

We've had several posts on this. While $10 for an ATM use seems unusual, different banks charge different amounts and for different things. Az's point is well taken. Different charges apply to credit card use and ATM use. It is wise to check your fee schedule to see what your banks are going to charge you. Otherwise you may get a surprise when you see your bill. Charges may include using another bank's ATM, "international transaction fee"($3 on each use of credit card) and "currency conversion fee"(about 2% of the amount used but sometimes with a minimum charge.) Or, you may get a combination of these fees that can add up. This is on major widely used bank cards.<BR>For example when I paid my hotel bill with a major bank visa, I was charged an "international transaction fee" of $3 and a "currency conversion fee" of $26. My wife made an $8 purchase with her visa card(different major bank) and was charged "international transaction fee" of $3 and minimum "currency conversion fee" of $2 (on a $8 purchase)! Many of these fee schedules are recent and are becomming more common. <BR>I only used ATM's to get cash in Europe. But I tried to take out the maximum each time(as AZ suggested) to minimize the bank's "take". ATM is still the best way to go.<BR><BR>Gerry <BR>'

Possible source of some of above confusion: There is a difference between an ATM withdrawal and a credit card cash advance. The first is just getting $ from your own account. The second is getting a loan and incurs more fees and obligates you to pay interest.

Thanks, az, for saving my sanity about ATMs vs. credit card advances! <BR>As for transaction fees, I didn't pay any fees as cited above when I made purchases of any kind with a credit card last fall. I'll certainly find out if things have changed since then before I go over this September!

Cris,<BR>To actually find out if there is any fees are involved, you'll have to compared, after the fact, the effective exchange rate you got vs historical exchange rate and find out the actual differences. It is easy to hide behind a bad exchange rate and pretend there is "no fee."<BR><BR>There are quite many places where the service charges creep in. Discussions about them are confusing because the speakers talk about different part or aggregate of all sorts of service fees. <BR><BR>Here are my observations on where these fees creep in.<BR><BR>1. FRONT END FEE. This is more problem in US than in Europe where abundance of independent ATM operators make living out of this type of fee. Profit hungry banks are getting onto the bandwagon, however. This fee "pays" for the owner of the ATM machine. It can be fixed amount per transaction, I have seen high as $4/transaction or some 2-3%, or can be BOTH! This has been $0 if you use bank ATMs in the past, but it is beginning to change.<BR><BR>2. INTERNATIONAL MONEY EXCHANGE: 1%, had always been there and always "buried" inside your exchange rate on your statement. This pays for currently traders. They need to make living also.<BR><BR>3. NETWORK CHARGE: unless you are using rare same bank ATMs in foreign country, you get hit with ATM network usage charge, usually $1.50 fixed fee per transaction.<BR><BR>4. YOUR BANK: Your bank can be nice and adds nothing to the above or adds fixed fee per transaction, or some percentage (~2% seem to be a new trend) or can be both.

I'm curious.. are travelers checks not <BR>advisable anymore??