Going to venice,florence and rome next week and wanted to know about using atms. Such as fees,can I just draw money out of my account and get euros and any other info you might have. Thanks Todd

First of all, you'll have no problem finding ATMs in all three cities. And, it's really fairly simple, as the instructions are in a variety of languages, including English.(Only once have I ever encountered an ATM that didn't have an English option. I simply pressed the "annulla" button, got my card back and went to another machine.) Any fees for withdrawal will be whatever your own bank charges. Be aware that you can only withdraw money from checking accounts, no savings.

We used our bank card all over Italy. It's interesting to wander a town that looks like it stepped out of the middle ages, and find a bank machine sunk into the wall somewhere.<BR>I have seen comments saying that you should have a 4-digit numeric pin, others saysing the longer ones worked. Ours was 4 digits, never had a problem; <BR>I would play it safe and get a 4-digits PIN. <BR>I forget what the usage charge was, but it wasn't exorbitant. No worse than the USA or Canada. Exchange rate seemed pretty good too. Of course, we took out about 300.000L ($US150?) at a time. I wouldn't get into the habit of hitting the machine all the time.<BR>We didn't have problems with the bank machines until we got back to NYC - it was less than a month after Sept.11 and some of the JFK ATM's were still not reconnected to a functioning network. We had just enough cash to get downtown, although I imagine the bus would take VISA... <BR>

Maurice. 5 digits pins are common in italy. I have had two different Italian bank accounts so far, and the first had a 4 digit pin, the other has a 5 digit pins.

Two weeks in Italy the first of June this year and here's my sad story! I took with me 400EURO TC's (left over from convent deposit needs) and 500 Euro currency purchase prior to trip from Thomas Cook and my VISA debit card along with a couple of misc. credit cards. Arrived on a Sunday and did not try to use the Debit card. However on Monday I tried to make a withdrawal and was refused, the Bancomat telling me that my card was "not authorized for international use." Prior to my trip I had spoken to the bankcard department at my bank, checking out the issues discussed on this forum about loss of a card and unatuhorized use, etc. I told them that I would be travelling in Italy, and even went so far as to have them send me a new card, since the mag stripe on mine was getting a little worn. And yes I have a 4 digit PIN. I talked to them at least 8 times over various issues relating to the use of the debit card in Italy. I called my bank (7 hour time difference) and as it turns out (3 phone calls and most of a 20 EURO phone card) there is a significant problem with the integration of the Cirrus/Star/VISA network in Europe and many (no exact number) of bank networks in the USA, and they knew before I left that there was a strong probability that my card wouldn't work in Italy. In the end my debit card never worked (many apologizes from VISA), and I was stuck with having to get cash advances from Thomas Cook and American Express. This was somewhat inconvenient because there isn't a Thomas Cook or AMEX on every street corner, and you are limited to 230 EURO per day cash advance. I guess the reason for my post is that I see many pepole here tell other posters that there is no need to take cash or travellers checks with them, and I am here to say that I am glad that I had a source of money to fall back on during those first couple of days in Rome. BTW, the lines at FCO ATM machines were huge!! As many as 50 peolpe waiting at several we walked by.

We have no problem using a BofA 4 digit pin atm card anywhere in Italy. My husband, who does not speak/read Italian, pushed a few wrong buttons on an ATM and the machine ate his card. This was on a weekend so we had to wait until Monday for the bank to open. Luckily, we were still scheduled to be in that town for a while. We were informed that the card would be sent back to BofA in the US and they would under no circumstances return the card to us. I had my card so in the end no problem but on my next trip I wanted to make sure we had a backup way to draw cash from our checking. I enrolled our AMX cards in the appropriate programs and made many calls to AMX to confirm the details prior to leaving. We got there and it didn't work. Just be sure you have a few different options.

Like Jim, I recently had a very bad experience using my ATM card in Italy, and very nearly ended up stranded (my bank had changed credit card vendors while I was gone, truly an unfortunate coincidence, so I was in a precarious situation). <BR><BR>I'd used it without difficulty in Italy previously (one year ago), and since then in Germany and England (and previously all over Europe), and have basically never had any problem whatsoever. I had used it on this trip without difficulty on Tuesday, and on Wednesday AM it was refused (at all of the twenty or so machines I tried) as "not valid for foreign withdrawals". <BR><BR>I ended up paying my hotel bill in a combination of Euros, dollars, and a personal check (for a small amount, and it will be interesting to see if they even bother to collect). I was lucky to have so much cash on hand.<BR><BR>Unlike Jim, I've had exactly zero success getting anybody at my bank to address this issue. I've now gotten another credit card as a back-up, but the issue of the ATM remains problematic. <BR><BR><BR><BR>

I've had problems using my ATM card in Austria (never have in Italy so don't know) and got that exact same message about it not being valid in a foreign country or something. I never could use it in Austria but had no problem in France during the same trip. I had no idea what the problem was but that was a few years ago so I assumed those networks maybe weren't integrated very well in Austria and now maybe are better (mine was Plus, a common one).<BR><BR>I do wonder though, Jim, why you had to get cash advances at only those two establishments? Why couldn't you go into a bank and get one if their bank had an ATM with the VISA logo on it, as many do? Luckily, I've never had the problem as I always carry enough TCs to get by for a while if I can't use my ATM card and I've never not been able to use it for more than 1-2 days sequentially, but I thought you could get cash at a bank on it.<BR>

Sorry and surprised to hear that others have had trouble using ATM cards in Italy. I've been as far south as Naples and as far north as Venice three times in the past five years and never once had any difficulty.<BR><BR>For what it's worth, my card is on the Cirrus and Star networks, and I've got a 4-digit PIN. My bank charges $1.50 per transaction (I've never been charged anything by the foreign bank), so I usually take out more rather than less - at least $200 per withdrawl, unless I'm able to put everything on a credit card.

Just back from Germany, Italy, and France. Used BofA 4-digit bank card with no problem. Exchange rate was whatever the bank was offering that day, which seemed fair. When I checked my bank entries after getting back home, I see that no fee was charged by the banks in Germany. The banks in Italy and France (their name is on the bank entry)did charge a $1.50 fee (which seems fair enough to me). My conclusion is that BofA didn't charge me any fee (I have an Advantage account which may include this benefit).

Good point Christina, another part of the saga I left out of my earlier post. I went into no less than 3 different banks displaying the VISA, PLUS, STAR symbols, armed with the correct phrase for "cash advance, please" from my Rick Steves phrase book, and in EVERY case was told to go to "Thomas Cook." Only times through the whole trip that I thought people were anything buy kind and helpful, even the taxi drivers. LOL.<BR><BR>My advice is to just be prepared for anything, and don't put all your eggs into one basket. It just galls me when I read some "expert" traveller telling a poster "Don't worry, don't take any EURO or travellers check with you, there are ATM's everywhere in Europe." You know the old saying, "Water, water, everywhere, not a drop to drink."

A poster on another site had his card withheld by the machine. By the time he had returned to the bank the card was gone, but his checking account was down $1500. My credit union doesn't offer an ATM card so I use the Capital One card and the only disadvantage is the charge for the cash advance which can significantly lower the exchange rate. I asked them about prepaying the card to avoid the cash advance, but have had no response. However, the machines are in varous locations in most of the towns and you should not have any problem finding one. M.

Todd: Most of us (I think Jim is referring to us as "the so-called experts") who travel around Europe give the same, rather standard advice: First,always hit town with enough Euros for a taxi ride in and at least one meal. Carry a) two credit cards, b)at least (we always have two) one ATM, and c) a backup amount of Traveller's Checks.<BR><BR>In five years of travelling Europe, we have never, ever needed to use our Traveler's Checks. They are ragged. But we still throw them in the bottom of the suitcase.<BR><BR>That's not to say it's always been smooth sailing. I know that my drive-in bank frequently has glitches and "out of service" signs, so I think you should expect that in Europe. In Rome (not Florence) we would always find some ATM that didn't like our card. We would just go to another one.<BR>One day we visited three with no luck, so we just tried again three hours later. Presto!<BR><BR>We figure we can use our credit cards for cash advances in the event that the ATM goes down for the count. <BR><BR>But we've never had to do that. Let me repeat that. It just hasn't happened. And we are allowed to say that we've have no problem. That's not to say it won't happen--it's just that it hasn't.<BR><BR>We are not throwing caution to the wind. Just recently Patrick, whom I think most of us would agree is an expert, had a problem in Belgium with his ATM because he had the non-VISA version. Many of us take that kind now to Europe so that someone can't steal our ATM and charge things to it, thus exhausting our checking accounts. Only in Belgium did Patrick have a problem with his non-Visa card; he says he's not going to switch back--he's just going to be aware of the possibility.<BR><BR>So the message still is: Most of us have had no real problems with our 4-pin ATM cards, most of us carry credit cards, most of us still carry a bit a cash, and probably most of us have a moldy group of Traveler's Checks in some pocket of our suitcases. And when disaster happens, we are, I assure you, prepared.<BR>

I just got back from three weeks in Italy and for the first two weeks my ATM did not work, even at a cirrus site bank. I got a message that my card would not work for international usage, even though I had spent alot of time with my card company before I left the US informing them of my travel plans, and being reassured over and over that my card was fine. <BR>I finally tried a Bank of Germany in some major Italian cities and it worked every time. No explanation for that, but be sure you have a back up card.

I did finally hear back from my bank (after I'd called again to remind them that they were supposed to be returning my call), and they point out that I need to make sure that I use banks that advertise the PLUS network, not CIRRUS, as my card is an ATM only. <BR><BR>As I'm quite sure I managed to hit PLUS network machines in my early morning tour of bancomats, the issue is still not resolved, but at least I'm aware of potential difficulties.

Had trouble in Paris last fall using ATMs: they didn't list the networks they were on. Got cash advances on credit cards at exchanges (they book them as a purchase so an outrageous fee is only charged by the exchange. Once I got to the other side of the city, found ATMs worked fine. <BR><BR>Glenn