OK, I understand from a similar posting that the best way to get cash in Europe is still through ATMs. However, my bank (Bank of American now) recently began a 3% surcharge on international transactions. I am consiering a Capital One card for an upcoming trip, but credit cards charge through the roof for cash avances. So is the ATM still the way to go?

Use the credit card for making purchases or paying for the hotel. Use the ATM for cash (or payment). Using your credit card to get a cash advance is very expensive because you start paying interest as soon as the transaction takes place.

A 3% surcharge on the internatinal bank rate is still much better than the 9/10% or so you pay by trying to exchange cash or Trav Checks.

And never take a cash advance - just use your ATM to pull from your checking account.

cindyj: Banks apply the 3% surcharge to charge card transactions; are you assuming the same for ATM withdrawals? If so, double check because I think that may not be the case.

My guess is your checking account is with Bank of America, so if you used their debit/ATM card, they would charge you 3% for the transaction, plus if it was tied into VISA/Mastercard, that would tack on 1% = 4%.

Some banks don't charge you anything for using your ATM card to get cash from your checking account. I would search for a bank that does not charge these high fees. For those on the East Coast, Commerce Bank doesn't charge anything.

As for credit cards, there are some that do not charge the 3% transaction surcharge, just the 1% VISA/Mastercard fee. USAA is one of those cards.

"However, my bank (Bank of American now) recently began a 3% surcharge on international transactions."

all that's happening is that they are showing it separately now, before they hid it in the exchange rate