Are there alot of ATM'S in Paris & London? What is the fee for using the machine? I heard the best is to carry about 200Euro then use the atm for extra cash.. Any thoughts to this. Also, No traveler cheques any thoughts..... Credit cards o.k. <BR>4 digit number for atm password, any help would be great!!!!

Well - this topic is rehashed constantly here so if you do a search you'll find LOTS of info. Basically there are ATMs everywhere in London and almoost as many in Paris. You will have no problem finding one when needed. the Banks over there will not charge you - but your own bank probably will tack on a $1 to $2 fee.<BR><BR>Euro will do you no good in London - the UK is not in the euro zone so you will be using UK&pound;. If you want to take a FEW euro or &pound; with you, fine, but most people just wait until they arrive.

And yes, use 4 digits.

ATMs? In London and Paris? Come on, we've only just heard about the wheel in Europe, it'll be about another 4000 years before you see an ATM in Europe.

Good thing you asked, Fred. There are no banks in London or Paris. Just bring dollars with you, as they are accepted EVERYWHERE. No need to bother yourself with foreign currency.

I think asking whether there are ATMs in Europe or not is a perfectly valid question and do not deserve mockery.<BR><BR>Personnally, perhaps I'm stupid, but it took me a long time to realize that I could use my ATM card in other european countries. It just didn't occured to me until I lost my luggages and was told I could use my card. Of course I knew there were ATMs, but I assumed for some reason that an ATM would work only with local cards. So, I was even more ignorant than the OP.

If you plan to use the ATM call your bank and ask about fees in addition to the "machine fee". My bank charges an additional 3%. <BR>

Fred, I find using my card at aTM machines is easy. The 3% indicated above is highway robbery.<BR>My general experience has been that I benefit from the bank wholesale rate of exchange, and then I pay 1% above the exchange rate for that particular day. <BR>The bank wholesale rate is the best rate you can get, so 1% added onto (or deducted from) that rate is a relatively minor charge.<BR><BR> I do not know which specific rate from the day's continual stream of fluctuating rates the banks use. That is I don't know if it selects the high, low, close, some type of average, or the closing rate from the previous day. <BR><BR>I calculated my costs for ATM withdrawals after a recent trip and the rate I got was somewhere between the highest and lowest for the day, less the 1%.<BR>Some banks charge $1.50 for off net transactions, but other banks let you have two such transactions for free before they charge you. In Europe I have not been charged anything to date by the bank to whom the ATM belonged.<BR><BR>

In EU-countries it is illegal for a bank to charge for ATM withdrawals. If there is some surcharge it is your own US bank that is doing it.

Hey Backward and Ann - take your snotty attitude and get the hell off this board. I'm so glad you're perfect and know absolutely everything there is to know in this world.

Actually, I just got back from London and while I did eventually find some ATMs, they were not nearly as plentiful as in most other European countries I've been in, and not as easy to find as in Paris. Part of the problem was Barclay's ATMs would not accept my card for some reason (don't know why) even though my card was on the PLUS system which they had posted. Also, a few ATMs I found were extremely poorly serviced and in bad condition, so I would not use them (one had a monitor so old and dim that the instructions were not readable). I had luck with Lloyds ATMs and I found some in Selfridges which was convenient. I am cautious with ATMs, however, and won't use ones in very public areas with a lot of questionable people standing around, so I liked the ones inside the dept. store.<BR><BR>One thing I found very surprising, not having been to London in about a decade, was still how many exchange bureaus are in the city, more than any place I'd ever seen. Obviously a lot of people are not using ATMs, but I wondered why there are so many of them in London nowadays with ATMs.

classic reply backwards and Ann. I'm sure Fred knows there are ATM's in Europe but what kind of rate do they charge to take out money. Also, Did you know you have to have a 4 digit pin number. I would have been totally screwed if my bank did not tell me before hand.

FYI:<BR>There is no apostrophe used in a pluralism. It's ATMs; not ATM's.<BR>Thanks.