Capital One, Wells Fargo, Schwab Credit and Debit Cards
 

WELLS FARGO: For our upcoming trip to Italy I checked with Wells Fargo and confirmed they charge $5 a pop for ATM withdrawals and 3% on top of all foreign transactions. The only piece of good news is that they let me increase the debit amount to thousands rather than hundreds, so we wouldn't have to get socked with the $5 fee as many times. Most of our B&Bs want cash and gave us a discount, so we need to be able to get cash from ATMs.
CAPITAL ONE VENTURE CARD: Several posters recommended this card, which I have. I confirmed that they have ZERO foreign transactions fees...sweet. However, when I tried to open a new checking account with debit card (as several posters have recommended) she told me that they have a new policy of only allowing new accounts to be opened at a bank branch (not over the phone or online as before). The only glitch was...there ARE no Capital One banks in California! It sounds like a great way to go if there is a way get a debit card in your state, however.
SCHWAB: Another poster recommended Schwab. We have all our retirement funds with Schwab. They were wonderful about opening a checking account with debit card for us, with ZERO fees! This can take up to 4 weeks, though..but is just in time for us.

Thanks for all the great advice - wanted to pass along to others what I just found out.

One other piece of advice....be careful with promises from yuor bank of increasing your amount to be withdrawn. The bank issuing the cash in many, not all, instances sets its own limits for individual withdrawals so it's very possible to Wells Fargo to allow say a €2000 withdrawal but the Italian bank may restrict withdrawals at one time to €500...there is no unanimity on the part of the local banks as to just what withdrawal limits they put on individual withdrawals.

We use our Capital One Credit Card and Schwab debit card when traveling . It has saved us well over a thousand dollars in the last 6 years.
I would recommend, however, that you also carry at least one other credit and debit card in case any problems arise.
By the way the exchange rates on these 2 cards are excellent. Additionally, Schwab will refund any fees that the issuing Bank ATM charges; also, Capital One does not charge the 1% Visa fee.
IMHO, these are the best cards to use when traveling abroad.
Have a great trip and treat yourself to a great dinner with the savings.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card does not charge foreign transaction fees either. And I got 60,000 miles after three purchases last year...paid for my ticket to Paris this year. I only use the ATM once for withdrawls when I arrive, and then I use my Chase card every day for purchases. No need to open a checking account that way.

leslieq,

Open an account with the San Francisco Credit Union and get their credit card and ATM card. Put your travel money in the checking account that you will open, and use it with your ATM card. There is no charge for withdrawing money in a foreign country (unlike withdrawing money in a state sides bank). You might have to pay a 1% conversion fee. As for the credit card, the same applies and the 1% conversion fee (definitely applied in this case) is reimbursed by the credit union's standard 1% cash back on credit purchases. Warn them about traveling abroad, or even in the States, so that no hold is placed on the credit card--it has happened to me in NYC.

Thanks, everyone. We will be travelling with two sets of debit cards. We'll primarily be using the Schwab one with no fees, but have the Wells Fargo as backup. Good point xyz123 that while Wells Fargo has upped our limit, the Italian bank might have tighter restrictions. Hope not to have to use Wells Fargo, but have it just in case.

Our Wells Faego Visa doesn't have rhose doreifn transacrion fees. See id you can have your bank issue one of them
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If your own bank has a higher daily withdrawal limit than what the local bank in Italy allows, you can usually make multiple withdrawals, or just use ATMs from different banks until your limit is reached.

Correct Alec.....but the OP's problem is the main bank is Wells Fargo which charges $5 for cash withdrawals in Europe in addition to the highly immoral 3% foreign transaction fee.....

Make sure your pin is only 4 digits. Some of the ATM's in Italy will only take a 4-digit pin.
And the key pads are in numerals, not letters. So either change your pin or memorize it by the numbers.

I have Wells Fargo but use my B of A when traveling. Bank of America has partner banks in Italy...they are Deutsche Bank and Banca Antoniana. I did't get charged an atm fee when I withdrew cash on my last 2 trips.
I checked online and made a list of the banks near my hotel, marked them on a map.

<i>Bank of America has partner banks in Italy...they are Deutsche Bank and Banca Antoniana.</i>

That is surprising because it used to charge even from partner banks outside the country of origin, and there is the BNL (?) of Italia which is a partner bank.