Jessabella617

Im going to Italy by myself in a couple of weeks and Im trying to get the most up to date info about what I can use to access my $$.
Do people carry travelers checks anymore? Are they accepted at small restaurants and b&bs?
Am I correct in thinking that as of now no American credit/debit cards have chips in them?
I have heard Capitol One CC have a low rate for making a withdrawal, is that true?
Any suggestions about how best to avoid paying exorbitant fees while Im travelling through Italy without having 5,000EU strapped to my stomach.
Im kind of nervous and Im hoping I can get some clarity from you well traveled folks

adrienne

<< Do people carry travelers checks anymore >>

TCs are not accepted. Don't use them. You might be able to cash them at a bank or an exchange but why waste your time trying to get them cashed or pay a premium rate.

You should use an ATM card to get cash as you need it. You can use credit cards to pay for meals or hotels or large purchases.

There are thousands of threads asking this question and getting the same answer.

Michel_Paris

No, travelers cheques are obsolete. You can still buy them, but few places if any places will take them (banks...OK).So..maybe, just maybe, you bring a few in $, as an emergency fund. But..if you have multiple credit cards, you already have that.

No chips in American CCs. Just means that you need a live person versus machine.

Use your ATM card(s) for cash, tt is the cheapest and best means to access cash. Use your CC for big purchase only.
Do NOT bring large amounts of cash, be it $ or euro. Not required.

I have gone on many trips without using CC at all. But, worthwhile letting CC company know you are going overseas. Not required for ATM card.

november_moon

The fact that your credit cards and ATM cards don't have chip and pin is pretty much a non-issue. Merchants can swipe the card or enter the transaction manually. ATMs read magnetic stripe cards just fine. The only real issue is with automatic ticketing machines and other unmanned terminals like that - you'll have to go to a person or pay cash in those situations.

nytraveler

Trav Checks are dinosaurs and practically no place will take them - including many banks.

You use your credit card for large purchases - hotel, major meals, expensive sights etc and pull cash from ATM (debit card attached to your checking account) for walking around money. ATMs in europe do not charge if connected with a bank (commercial ones in a store will) so the only fees are from your bank back home. Doing this will cost from 1 to 3% of your money - depending on your bank.

Trying to change cash will cost from 8 to 10% of your money - a huge waste.

greg

How you access your fund depends on your usage model: what are you using them for and where and what time? Covering all possibilities requires extensive writings. You get responses covering general areas and what others have experienced with their usage models. If your usage model is different, then these recommendations are not relevant to you.

Why don't you post where you intend to use "large" enough fund?

Even hotel question is not that straight forward. Some take cash only, some take both but gives cash discount, some take CC unconditionally, some takes CC but try to leverage better exchange rate for themselves by using a scheme like DCC, some claim their CC machine is down so they demand payments in cash, many don't take AE, etc.

kayd

If your ATM card is also a debit card that you use for purchases, then you should alert the bank as you do for credit cards. There's not much risk from a lost ATM-only card because its use requires a PIN, but if you also use your card for purchases with a signature and no PIN, your account could be quickly depleted if the card is lost or stolen.

Michel_Paris

For Italy, may find that cash is more acceptable, from some reason

ellenem

"I have heard Capitol One CC have a low rate for making a withdrawal, is that true?"

You are misunderstanding and mixing two ideas together. Many credit cards will charge you fees for international purchases . . . perhaps a foreign transaction fee as well as other fees which might total 3% of the transaction. Capital One credit cards have low or no fees for international purchases and that's probably what you heard about.

However, I suspect Capital One, just like all major credit cards, would begin charging you exorbitant interest the moment you use it to withdraw money from an ATM. A credit card considers a cash advance a loan.

So, as adrienne said . . .

Use your ATM/Bank card for CASH you might need from ATM
(The same card you use to get cash at home. ATM is called Bancomat in Italy)

Use your Credit Card for PURCHASES and payments
(Check the fees for your credit card for international use. You might decide to get a Capital One card if your current credit card has high fees.)

Michel_Paris

As a note, for ATM withdrawals you will not be able to select 'checking' or 'savings' account, it will select your primary account for withdrawals.

JBX

Several other threads which address issues ......

Credit/Debit/ATM Cards and Foreign Exchange >>>>
http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...reign_Exchange


US credit card usage ?  >>>>
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...card-usage.cfm


How much are ATM fees?  Does it all depend on bank you're with?  >>>>
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...youre-with.cfm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trav_Eller

I use my Visa debit card, withdrawing just enough cash for a few days at a time. I use debit cards, rather than credit cards because not all foreign ATMs give you a choice of which account to withdraw from and may treat the withdrawal as a credit advance. With my bank that leads to interest on the withdrawal. Using a debit card avoids that risk.

I use credit cards only for actual purchases or accommodation and similar payments. As others have noted, most places prefer cash.

Check the card fees with your bank; if they are high, find a different bank that has better fees for international ATM withdrawals and open an account with them for travel. Also check their exchange rates for the day when discussing the new account and compare that rate with xe.com to see whether they make excessive rate-difference commissions. My bank is usually less than 1% different.

Cheers, Alan, Australia

nytraveler

I have been to italy as least 15 times and I have never found a hotel or restaurant that didn;t take ccs -- as do all major sights. (If you re staying at a very modes B&B they may prefer cash - but will tell you so when you reserve.) And franklythere is no way I wuold carry that much cash around -it'sjust too risky - anywhere in the world.

Granted I don;t try to pay for a drink or a sandwich with a CC - that's why you pull cash from the ATM. And no hotel or retaurant has tried to pull any sort of currency scam eigther. Perhaps I/we're just lucky - but we have eaten lunch at many casuale places - cafes, tavola caldas and sandwich shops- and never had a problem.

joannyc

Make sure your PIN on your ATM card is a 4-digit number. Most European bankomats don't accept a longer number or alpha code.

As noted previously, use an ATM for cash. Use a credit card for purchases and payments.

Cap One doesn't charge forgeign transactions fees with it's credit cards. I recently received notice from Chase that they aren't charging foreign transaction fees on my Visa card now. Call your credit card provider to find out what your PIN is for your credit card.

flirtinfilly

I have a Capital One CC and used it in Italy with out fee or other charges and only for purchases - not for cash advances. I used my ATM/debit card for getting cash. Before I left for my trip, I ordered 350 Euro's from my bank so as to have cash to pay for incindentals while waiting for my connection in Rome and to get through the first couple of days. I made sure to find out what banks in Genoa were connected with my ATM card, did a google map to locate them and avoided the "double fee" for withdrawals.

Have a great trip!

kayd

flirtinfilly, you would not have faced "double fee" for withdrawals, as European banks do not charge fees for ATM withdrawals with US-issued ATM/debit cards. The only fees Americans would have are those of their own banks.

alanRow

"Most European bankomats don't accept a longer number or alpha code."

US ATMs don't accept alpha PINs - however US ATM keyboards have letters on them so you can convert a PIN into a cute word. European ones do not have letters on them so if you remember you PIN as "Snug" you'd better find out what numbers "Snug" actually is

Christina

You should really get clear on the difference in CCs and ATM/debit cards or you are going to spend a lot of money. Cap One does indeed have typical fees for using their credit cards to make "withdrawals", which I presume means money at an ATM. It is interest charged from the date of withdrawal plus a flat fee of either 3 pct or a MINIMUM of $10 per withdrawal, I think. Something like that which is fairly typical for cash withdrawals using credit cards. (I am not talking about the foreign exchange transaction fee which other credit cards would probably add on to both these types of fees for cash withdrawals). Credit cards are for charging things, not for getting cash which is essentially taking out a very expensive short-term loan, of course.

It's kind of unusual for someone to not know the difference in using an ATM card and a credit card to get cash to worry so much or even know about this CC chip issue, it's really not that important.

Tommmo

For Aussies, I'd recommend the NAB Gold Card as a special purpose trip fund. Low fees and linked to a high interest i-saver a/c. You get free travel insurance if you spend $500 on a part of the trip, like flights,accom.car hire etc.

markland

Also, be aware that you may not be able to withdraw as much as you want from the ATM.

We were only able to take out, I think it was 200Euro at a time, instead of the 500E we wanted. That was well below our own bank's limit. Of course we paid our bank fee each time we withdrew. And a couple of our hotels and the apt we had in Rome didn't take cc's, so the fees did add up.

Not a big deal, but if I'd known that in advance it would have saved us dashing from bank to bank trying to find out what the problem was.