I know that this subject has been thoroughly explored on this board, but my bank has seeminly thrown a twist at me. <BR><BR>They willingly sent me an "ATM only" card, but now are claiming that only my Debit card (for the same account) will work in Europe! The ATM only card has the Plus logo on the back, but the operator at the 800 number for VISA also claimed that I should use the Debit card for ATM use otherwise I must look for machines displaying the Plus logo (which he claimed were fewer in number) as opposed to machines displaying the VISA logo (which he claimed were everywhere). Don't the <BR>ATMs in Europe utilize the Plus/VISA system which would mean that they would accept either card in which case I would prefer to take only the ATM card. <BR><BR>I have to admit that this has gotten me paranoid enough to think about taking BOTH cards (which defeats the purpose of obtaining the ATM only card in the first place!)<BR><BR>Any thoughts on this (probably) minor issue?

Timothy:<BR><BR>If you have a major credit card, prepay it with all the funds you would have used the ATM/debit card for. In essence, you will have a interest free credit to use on your trip, along with no major problems if your card is lost or stolen.<BR><BR>In addition to that, bring along travelers checks or cash for purchases you can't use a credit card for.<BR><BR>I am also having a time with the ATM/debit card thing..."will my account be cleared out if my card is stolen." So, this is an option I'm considering.<BR><BR>Good luck.<BR>

I found four atms in France that did not cough up any dough when I stuffed my basic atm card with a plus logo on it into the machine. Two of them were displaying the message 'out of money' duh. Never having experienced that before, I did not think to look first. The other two were within a few metres of others that did work.<BR><BR>After arriving home, I read the paragraph in the guidebook that warned about French atms running out of money on Sundays. Hmm, should have read that one before I left.<BR>The plus logo works for me. I think your bank is on with the scaremongering techniques.

It is probably true that more banks have the visa logo on their ATM's than the plus logo but that should not be that big a problem.<BR><BR>Personally, I feel this business about debit cards has been somewhat overblown but I can see the other side of the coin. My solution is not to use my prime account for ATM transactions so if it is wiped out, my other cheques would not turn to rubber....

Your bank is selling you a bill of goods. The ATM locators all list Visa/Plus (same thing) MasterCard/Cirrus.<BR><BR>There are lots and lots of Pluses in France.

go to google.com and do a search on Plus ATM Locator, it will bring up a website to show them(Plus) anywhere in the world, there is a lot, everywhere

Timothy,<BR>First of all, tell us what bank you use.<BR>I have recently applied for and received an ATM card from Bank of America. The front of the card is identical to my check card, except the ATM card does not have a Visa logo. The back of both cards are identical showing the same Plus and Interlink logos. Your ATM will work in Europe.