I have two ATM cards and one of the pin numbers starts with a zero. They both worked fine in Paris and Rome last March. Maybe it was the way I held my mouth??

I have one of my ATM cards with a pin number that starts with a 0.
Could you elaborate on just how did you hold your mouth?
I may need to practice this before I leave.

Hi everyone, it was not my financial institution but different friends in Italy that have told me a pin number starting with a zero will not work in Italy. Evidently this has changed. My pin numbers never started with a zero so I have no personal knowledge.
I just always pray that my ATM card will work. And sometimes it hasn't. Then I have gone to a different bank ATM five minutes later and it has worked fine.

No hostility. I just want to point out for the benefit of anyone who doesn't want to throw money away that there <b>IS</b> a cost associated with AmEx traveler's cheques.

I just checked American Express's web site, and today they're charging 1.24891 for a Euro. The xe.com mid-market rate is 1.20595, a difference of 4.3&cent;, or about 3.5%

I have traveled frequently to Europe since the '60s, and as soon as I was able to get cash out of ATMs over there, I gave up that TC ripoff forever. I have never had a card lost, stolen, or refused by a machine. Your mileage may vary.

Hello Guenmai, I have come to understand that Robespierre offers tips to save $$ and euro and it just seems to come off as hostility. For example, we had a long discussion about taxis vs. RER to and from CDG. I just prefer to take taxis whereas he prefers the RER. I think we both had good points for each. It's the same for traveller's checks. I can understand why some people prefer to carry those and really it should be left to the individual to choose.

Hi,
I had the same experieince as Luisah, when I was in Paris(2years ago). I went to get out 500 euros at the airport atm and my card was rejected. I think there was a message about the amount(in French), so I kept lowering the amount until 300 was accepted. This happened at a couple of atm on the weekend, but when Monday came I was allowed the 500. I am not sure if others tried smaller amounts of money or not, but maybe this info will be helpful.

OK...so AmExp charges 3.5% more according to your calculations. Big deal. So, for those who want to chance their ATM cards working then that's their choice. However, my piece of mind knowing that I won't be stranded without money is more important to me personally than 3.5%. I can cut corners in other ways....like not having 50-150Euro meals or taking taxis to and from the airport. I take the RER and save a bundle there. But for those who want to take taxis, then that's their right...it's their hardearned money and vacation. I know folks who get charged big time when they use their ATM cards overseas. But, they still use them...fine...that's their right,too. To each his own. Happy Travels!

When I think of traveler's checks, I also start thinking about the good old days of hissy sounding eight track tapes, typewriters with messy ink spools, going through the operator for long distance calls and black-and-white TVs that took 20 minutes for the screen to warm up.

Forgot to add this fact amidst all my rambling on. If headed to Austria with traveller's checks, be prepared to lose about 15 cents on the dollar when you cash them in. I know France has better deals than that. But Austrian banks charge fees per check, plus the exchange rate is poor.

I use atms and I am not taking any significant risks about being stranded without money. I have my debit card. I have my credit card. I also have some cash. I have never been robbed, after many trips, but if I lost everything in a disaster, I'd have someone at home wire me some money.

We all have things that we are comfortable with, and it's not necessarily scientific. Someone above said &quot;to each his own&quot; but before that said &quot;...chance their atms working.&quot;
The implication there is that some of us are taking a silly chance. We aren't. Everything has risks, but so does getting out of bed in the morning.
Not every town in Europe has an American Express office.

In a dozen or so years and about 100 attempts using at ATM card in most western Europe countries I have had but one problem with an ATM card. The first time I used my brand new credit union card at a Barclay's ATM at Heathrow about 6:30 AM the card was confiscated. Neither Barclay's nor the CU had a definite explanation. I used another ATM card in the same machine with no problems.

I've always travelled with 2 ATM cards (now 3) and 2 CCs plus a hundred or so in US $.

A few times when an ATM wasn't readily available or out of order I've gone into a bank and used the ATM card for cash. That has never been a problem and I have never been charged.

We're not talking about every town in Europe having an AmExp office. We're talking specificially about Paris.Happy Travels!

Hi Seamus, thanks for starting a new thread!

Regarding my first evening in Paris and the hunt for money: The First ATM (PIN starting with a zero and tied to checking and savings) and Second ATM(PIN not starting with a zero and tied only checking) that were tried that evening have been used repeatedly in Spain (including some quite remote places in Asturias on a Sunday morning), Italy, Germany and Switzerland without any problems at all. AT ALL! No problem whatsoever.

The third ATM is a credit union savings account and I never find out if it would have eventually worked or not.

During the first attempt, I tried to retrieve 200 EUR with the three cards. The second and third attempts I tried 100 EUR using the 'fast-cash' option and the regular withdrawal option with each of the three cards.

In the fourth attempt I got 100 EUR using the 'fast cash' option with the card that did not have a PIN starting with Zero and then 300 EUR with the ohter one (zero and check/saving combo).

Fortunately I knew enough to avoid a full blown panic attack and just had to deal with a mild sense of impending doom ;) for several hours - the first attempt was around 5:30 PM and money was finally obtained at around 10:00 PM.

I never managed to get the metro tickets with the credit card in any of the automatic machines but this had also happened in Madrid so it was not surprising. It was the combination of everything happening at the same time that scared me!

Learning point: do not panic. Keep trying and it will eventually work.

One comment about using debit cards linked to your checking account - and this may have just been my bank since no one else mentioned it - but when I used my debit card in Paris 2 1/2 years ago, I had no problems at the time and the transactions were all processed fine. HOWEVER, when I got back to the US, due to the minute fluctuations in the currency rate, my bank continued to hold money because they thought I had outstanding authorizations on purchases. Say the authorization was for $25 but when the transaction went through it was for $25.11 - my bank took the $25.11 out of my account but still &quot;held&quot; $25 because they thought I had another transaction pending for $25! I had to sit down with a desk person to get it straightened out. Might not be a big deal to many, but money was pretty tight for me and it was a big hassle to have them holding my money for no reason! I'm going to Paris again in 10 days (for my honeymoon this time - yay!) and I will not be using my debit card at all. Just thought I'd add that to the mix.

I've had no problems getting local currency at ATMs in many places, including Paris, although you have to be aware that your bank, and the ATM owner, both place limits on how much you can draw.

I no longer carry travelers checks because of the disadvantageous exchange rate (especially at banks and those few merchants who will take them), the few places that will accept them, and the time I would have to spend going somewhere to exchange them. Since stolen currency is unreplacable, I would be very reluctant to go to AMEX on arrival and get enough cash to last the length of my visit.

My mother, on the other hand, was very comfortable with travelers checks, since she was from the old school where the husbands handled the money, and it would have been unladylike for her to look into something like exchange rates or fees. She also had a rotary dial phone until the day she died.

I have no problem if someone wants to use travelers checks; its a free world. But I think people, particularly those watching their expenses, should understand that ATMs are a more convenient and economical was to obtain local currency.

I believe European ATM cards include a microchip, while American ATM cards do not. I had read that there was a period of time when some European ATMs would not work with American ATM cards because of the lack of the microchip, but I thought this incompatibility had been resolved, and I have never run into that problem.

If you're concerned that an ATM will &quot;eat&quot; your card, be sure to use a machine outside a bank that is open. You can dash inside and get help. This may require a little advance planning, but it's a strategy that will prevent loss of your card.

Flwrhead, your bank is incompetent to handle foreign currency transactions. If they don't know that currencies fluctuate from minute to minute and make allowance for that fact in their software, I would be very reluctant to entrust my money to them.

No kidding, Robespierre! They get as little of my money as I can possibly give them and like I said, I will definitely NOT be using my debit card this go-round (although it worked great in the ATMs). I'll be cash and credit only. :o)

Some banks have a deal with VISA to use only VISA ATM Cards.