Lucio Guerrero

Hoping that your experiences will help. What is the easiest way to pay for things in Europe? Traveler's cheques? Credit Cards? or Local currency??? <BR>Thanks.

Sparky

Use credit card whenever possible. It is far more convenient, safer and cheaper. Be sure you keep the credit card number and telephone number to call in case you lose it. It is cheaper because you get the wholesale exchange rate. For items under $10 or $20 you will have to pay cash.

anna

Here's what we did and it worked beautifully: Pay with a Visa card wherever they accept it. Bring an ATM card with a 4-digit, completely numeric PIN to get your cash every day at the daily wholesale exchange rate, often with no fees at all. Bring $150 in traveller's checks in case the only ATM machine you can find is out of order or it tells you it is having trouble communicating with your bank. We never ran into this problem but others on this forum have, but always fixed within 24 hrs and you can survive for 24 hours on $150

Paciano Diaz

We went to Europe for our honeymoon this past April. <BR>My suggestion is take two credit cards, a visa or mastercard and American Express if you have one. American Xpress is very convenient because there are many traveling benefits such as getting traveler's cheques. Use the credit cards especially on things you buy, such as souvenirs,in case your purchases get stolen,most credit card companies insure them. We also took a good amount of money in traveler's cheques and exchanged as we need. They are widely acceptable. Lastly, we took a couple hundred dollars in cash. You will get the best return with cash because they want your dollars.I suggest that you balance. I also suggest that before you leave for your trip you buy your local newspaper and usually in the business or money section, they will have exchange rates for currency around the world. Cut it out and take it with you so that you know what a good rate is!!!

anne

We've taken a couple 100 dollars of trav. chex along on 2 of our last 7 trips to Europe and never have needed them. Even in tiny towns w/o an ATM you'll be directed to some restaurant or store that will do the transaction for you and you still get the great bank rate!! Yes - use credit cards when possible for ease and not having to carry alot of funds around, but use the ATM's for daily cash - you can't beat the rate!!

caryne

Credit cards and ATMs are the only way to go. We are on our trip now and have not had to use one single travelers check (we brought $150 for emergencies) You get a better exchange rate, too. <BR>

Jackie

<BR>a cautionary tale:I was delighted when my visa card offered me " cash advance" thru <BR>bank ATM machines.The only glitch is a 2.5% transaction fee AND daily interest charges(billed separately from monthly balance)!NO WAY I SAID !

Julie

Although I have heard that traveler checks were not used by many travelers, we're glad we took them. We, too planned to use the ATM machines, however our card would not work in any of the countries we visited. I don't believe it was their system, but a problem within our own bank and card. <BR>So we relied mostly on a Visa card and a couple of places wouldn't take it, but accepted another card, MasterCard. As others mentioned, some places will not accept credit cards, so it is necessary to convert your cash or checks to the local currency.