J62

I typically pay down my final hotel bill with leftover euros, and save about 50 for my next trip.

Sarastro

<i>I had a 7 digit PIN on my card and I couldn't use it in Germany</i>

You should not have this problem in France. French bank ATMs will generally accept 7 digit PINs. If you have any problem with any ATM, try another location.

janisj

In the past PINS did need to be 4 digits -- but AFAIK that hasn't been true for several years.

Nikki

"...or to get an actual credit card (Since I'm only 19, I do not already have one and doubt I would get a very good rate.)"

I think it is a good idea to get a credit card in the event of an emergency. You don't have to use it if you don't need it, but for backup.

It should not matter what your interest rate is, you just have to make sure it is paid in full every month and you won't have to pay any rate. You should be able at 19 to get a credit card with no annual fee.

DebitNM

FWIW - there is a true CHIP and PIN [no signature required] card available to US residents. Andrews Federal Credit Union issues it. It can all be done online. There is no annual fee; there is the 1% VISA charge. I applied last week and am now waiting for the cards. This is a CREDIT CARD, not ATM or Debit.

http://www.andrewsfcu.org/globetrek

DebitNM

Follow-up: our new Andrews FCU CHIP and PIN card came today, 10 days after applying for it [ 2 weekends probably slowed it down some].

nanabee

I would never use a credit card to get money out of an ATM machine. It is considered a loan to you and the fees can be anywhere from 10-20% and the loan begins at the time you make the withdrawal, not when you get the bill.

When using an ATM bank card, your bank may or may not charge you an ATM fee, but the bank who "owns" the ATM machine will. Unless your US bank is a "sister" bank to the European bank. For example, Band of America is matched with a number of European banks to provide no fees on either end.

xyz123

nanabee...I know what you wrote is the conventional wisdom but it is not ncessarily so. First of all, according to the rules of the shared teller networks, the bank owning the machine you use to get cash is not allowed to charge a fee when it is an international transaction. Some private ATM's do charge a fee but if the withdrawal is from a cirrus or plus network bank ATM in Europe and you have a USA debit or ATM or credit card, the bank owning the machine levies no fee. Your bank may charge a fee and as you noted the situation there is very variable. Some banks do, some don't. As you wrote, Bank of America in general does unless you use one of its partner bank's machine (Barclay's in the UK, BNP in France; otherwise the fee is something like $5 per withdrawal. The other part of the fee is currency exchange. You withdraw sterling in the UK. Using cirrus or plus, your transatin goes through the mc or visa system as cirus is fully owned by mc and plus by visa. The rules of mc and visa clearly show a 1% currency exchange fee abover the interbank rate at the instant the transaction hits their system. But your bank can add to that fee, just pass it along or eat the fee (in the same way some enlightened US banks eat the fees charged by banks if you have the audacity to use their machines for a cash withdrawal). It's a bank by bank situation. You have to check with the bank whose ATM/debit card you use and if there are any fees, I suggest you look on the internet, open up a checking account with an internet bank that has no minimum balance, move money into it when you travel, use that bank and that bank only for any cash withdrawals while on holiday and at the end of the trip, drop the balance back to a minimum...again it requires a bit of homework but the rewards are substantial.

Finally the question of a cash advance from an ATM with a credit card. Yes, the rates are high, in some cases as much as 24% but that's an annual rate...they are prorated by the month. So if it's necessary (say your debit cars are damaged and you use a credit card to make a cash withdrawal from an ATM, say $100, at the end of the month that comes to $2. Pay it back as soon as you get home and that's the end of it. The problem is that some but again not all banks charge outrageous fees for a cash advance on a credit card but again there are some enlightened banks around for which these fees are non existant. In that case, it's hardly a big deal.

I hope this helps with how it works.

sassy27

In my experience, the only place that wanted to charge me for using my ATM card was in Madrid, Spain. I had the option to decline which I did because there was always another that didn't charge only a few steps away. You won't be going there so you shouldn't have to pay a fee unless your bank charges.

I'm not sure I would feel comfortable with only having an ATM card for 2 months. I only travel for maybe 2 weeks at a time and always take my ATM and one credit card. Many times, I don't even use my credit card. I carry it for back up.

ReadyToGo586

Just wanted to say thanks to the OP and all the replies... This was the best post Ive read on ATM / Credit cards. I have been really concerned with the Chip and pin mayhem I have been reading about on the other threads, and feel so much better after you all cleaned it up!! So thanks esp to everyone who said not to worry about swipe cards

Do you think there would be a problem with swipe cards in smaller areas like Manarola?

Thanks

mohan

I have not read all the post carefully but I do want to say that we were NOT able to use our credit cards in some places in Stockholm, Sweden last year. Our credit cards were rejected at the tourist booth where tourist buy the passes to museum and the transit system. Our cc were Master, Visa, Amex issued in USA. The teller kept swiping but the machine asked for a pin number. I replied there is no pin number attached to credit cards. She said there is nothing she can do unless I punch in the pin number. On the same trip, we went to Estonia and Latvia, we had no cc problem there. The year before S.E. Asia, no problem there and no problems in Italy and Paris previously. Fortunately our atm card worked well.
RE: fees to Atm. Citibank told me there is a fee everytime when one withdraws cash out of the ATM machine outside of the USA except for ' gold members'. To quality to be gold members you park a large sum of money in their bank earning almost no interest. It's a bad deal I know that. Let me ask this, do the bank have the obligation to post the fee? I have a feeling they don't. If you figure out a good way to avoid fee, please share.

xyz123

Just for future reference, many have reported in circumstances where a pin is requested that you can try entering any four digit number (a lot claim 0000 works) or the pin associated with using your c ard in an ATM. Some have reported success. Some say no go anyway. It's worth a try.

xyz123

...or enter nothing and press the green button. All have worked for some in the past but no guarantees. Incidentally, some Europeans report when using an American swipe terminal say at a gas pump that requests entering a zip code when they don't have one, you can try 0000 and it has been known to work.

kayd

There's no need for a chip-and-pin ATM card because an ATM card can only be used in an ATM, and that always requires a PIN.


US credit card issuers will let you establish a pin for the card so it can be used to get cash advances from ATMs. (Could you use a credit card to get cash from an ATM without a pin? I don't think so.) I used that PIN for a credit card purchase in a Copenhagen store several years ago, but I don't know how common that practice.

kayd

Oops, sent too soon. I should add that the credit card in the Copenhagen transaction was the usual American swipe variety and the store terminal asked for the pin after the swipe.

xyz123

In theory, it's supposed to be two different things i.e. the pn provided for use n ATM's for cash advancdes with credit cards. Some on various boards have said they used their ATM pin when asked for a pin on a mg strip card and it worked but then again there is a theory out there, as I said, that any four digit combination would work too. I really don't know but the solutino for everybody is now obvious and it is here. Any American who does any amount of foreign travel should immediately apply for an Andres FCU world traveller card. Tje siccess pf the Capital One credit card program was built on their willingness to not only not charge a foreign transaction fee but to eat the 1% visa/mc fee. I am sure their bean counters have looked into at least passing along the 1% visa/mc fee and have come to the conclusion that to do so would lead to a mass abandonment of their credit cards. This Andrews fcu card might just be the tip of an iceberg of more emv chip and pin to come sooner rather than later. Interesting stuff ahead.

kayd

Those who do not make frequent trips to Europe can get along just fine with swipe credit cards, knowing there are a few situation where they won't work--avoiding those and/or being prepared with cash from ATMs.

xyz123

Granted...but then why would they be on this forum?

mohan

Well, you just don't know what machine where would ask for a pin number. I am going to Turkey and Greece and I hope i don't get stuck in a situation where I have no language skill, not enough cash and my cc don't work.

justineparis

I guess I didn't see the post where the OP said she was American,, so in case she is Canadian,, we do have chip and pin cards here, most banks have changed to them. Get one. Get a CC too just for backup.
Better to arrive with 100 euros for emergencies, American or Canadain cash is NOT going to be accepted,, even in an emergency in 99% of places,you willl have to find a bank or exchange bureau,, not easy at night, or in a small town on a sunday etc etc. , Euros will be.