how convenient is it to use american express travelers checks in euro denomination? i heard atms are widely available, but how is the exchange rate for the american dollar? one more thing, do they really charge a service fee for using VISA or mastercard?

isadora,<BR><BR>I have not used euros yet but I have used ATMs on numerous occasions and believe this is the best way to go. You get the going rate for that day and it is very convenient and safe. Only get out a few hundred euros at a time so if you get robbed you don't lose everything.<BR><BR>Regarding VISA or Mastercharge - I've never gotten a surcharge. So unless that is something new, I never heard of it.<BR><BR>JB

Many cards charge 2% now, but that is generally against the interbank rate, so the exchange rate is excellent. I would strongly suggest using ATMs vs. travelers checks from the standpoint of convenience. We've had many long discussions on this board about cards that don't charge the conversion fee, etc. I remain unconvinced that $20 per $1,000 is worth standing on my head for as if it is some kind of big deal, but that is for each person to decide on his or her own. Travelers checks offer a measure of safety, but they are an extra hassle, too. After going both ways, I no longer use travelers checks.

1. Most report that travelers cheques in Euro are a pain the rear. Most merchants do not take them and if you take them to the bank, they will charge a fee for converting to Euro bank notes.<BR><BR>2. ATM's give you the interbank rate with a 1% mark up done by the shared teller network (Cirrus-MC or Plus-Visa). The rules of the shared teller networks do not allow the bank who owns the machine to surcharge the transaction. You will pay whatever fee your banks feels like levying on you which can go anywhere from $0 to $5.<BR><BR>3. Credit cards issued by the big credit card banks (Citibank, Chase, Bank of America, First USA among othersw) exchange purchases with an added 2% conversion fee. The actual conversion is done by Visa/MC which use the interbank rate and add 1% for that. No matter what anybody says, we all pay the 1%...that is buried within the transaction. People dumb enough to use a credit card issued by the banks that put this additional 2% are paying for what heaven only knows as the exchange is done by MC/Visa. While the previous poster feels it is not worth it, I disagree as it is easy to get a credit card from a bank such as MBNA or Capital One that does not gouge its customers with the quasi legal 2% charge. If only everybody would do that and we would see this charge go the way of the annual fees that once upon a time banks imposed on credit cards...

I agree with XXX. Jim says no problem on $20.00 out of $1000.00. You would have a problem if someone took it out of your pocktet, which is exactaly what the banks are doing.......for doing NOTHING.<BR><BR>If you don't mind being picpocketed for the extra 2%, no problem. I'd much rather have the money in my pocket.<BR><BR>Capitol One or MBNA do not add any extra fees or %. Smart.<BR><BR>Dick Yeager

There is a surcharge for using a credit card. You don't see it as a line item, you see it in the exchange rate. Because minute by minute exchange rate data is hard to obtain, it is darn near impossible to recapture the exact rate used to compute the dollar amounts you end up paying when you get your bill.<BR><BR>I just recently tried with my charges in Canada. I could get close, but never could hit it exactly. I gave up after deciding that I paid a 1% based on an exchange rate that was near the day's average. It was less than the high, but greater than the low.<BR><BR>Some banks, such as Bank of America add 2% to your charges in addition to the 1% that Visa has always charged. Master Card levies a similar fee.<BR><BR>I use MBNA and don't pay the extra 2%.<BR>Granted, on $3,000 worth of charges it is about $60, but the banks do nothing for it. Visa reports the converted amount; the 2% banks simply tack on the charge.<BR><BR>I am with Dick Y. and his comments. If a Paris subway pickpocket relieved you of your wallet and $60.00 you would be screaming for the police.<BR>As I see it, only the method is different. Both take your money, sometimes without your knowing it.<BR><BR>Bear in mind that Europe is much cash oriented than we are in the USA. Here we think nothing of paying a bill in a store with a personal check. I lived in Germany for a year and never wrote a check for anything because they were not commonly accepted. It was easier to keep cash on hand and pay that way.<BR>Often, if you did not have the currency to pay, you did not buy.<BR><BR>My strategy, and it has worked well so far, is to use my credit card to avoid carrying large amount of paper money, use my ATM for currency, and carry a few traveler's checks in case of some unforeseen circumstance, such as the ATM not working or my card not being accepted. <BR><BR>I know a $100 check bailed me out in a small cafe in Paris. I think the machine in the restaurant would not take Cirrus cards, i.e. Visa. The waiter came back all excited and said my card was "No good." My wife got up to go to the bank near the restaurant to use her ATM for money. I think the waiter thought we were skipping out and he really did blow a fuse. I pulled out a traveler's check to show him I had money. Then I handed him my second credit card, which was a Master Card.<BR>He came back in a few minutes, all smiles, and said OK.<BR>I did not actually use the check, but at least it prevented the waiter from having apoplexy.<BR>

topping this great thread, with its great message header<BR>