I have friends coming for a visit and I'm not sure what to tell them is the best option for money in the US.
I will suggest the debit card, but not sure how common it is for them (they live in Moscow, are paid in Euros).
I'm thinking that while here, their best bet might be to bring travellers checks in $US.
Any thoughts how they can get the best exchange rate?

They probably have ATM cards and that will be the easiest way. One problem though - the Stateside banks will charge a per-transaction fee, which is unusual in Europe. So not as good a deal as getting € from European ATMs.

If they want to bring a few TCs too that would be OK. US$ TCs are much easier to use in the States than € TCs are in Europe.

But if they have an ATM card w/ one of the major systems (Plus, Cirrus, etc) they won't have a problem. Though they will probably only have English and Spanish choices on the ATM menu.

Tell then they're best off charging as much as possible on credit cards. Then ATMs - but make sure their ATMs are part of our regular networks - Cirrus etc.

Are you travelling to Europe any time in the near future? If so, you could have them bring Euros and YOU could trade them for dollars...then you're both prepared for your travels. ;-)

As to ATMs in the US charging fees, it's worth checking individual ATMs. Our credit union ATMs charge fees for non-members EXCEPT for those from other countries. I guess the ATM can identify a card as being from another country by the numbers.

Beanwew24, I did the very same thing last year. I knew that I was going to Europe and had my foreign exchange students bring me Euros and I exchanged them for dollars at the going rate. We both made out and cut out the middle man.

My ATM doesn't charge any fees for non-US cards, either, it has a sign right on it that says that. I could be wrong, but I think that is some kind of banking network agreement, rather than being nice (same reason European ATMs don't charge US customers, or so I've heard).

It is true that USD TCs are generally easy to use in the US without any fees at all. I always use any leftovers I have from my trips abroad back at home in the US without any problem (grocery stores, etc.). These are in USD.

I don't know what kind of exchange rate you'd get if you tried to cash them at a bank or exchange bureau in the US, rather than just using them. I don't even know if a bank would do that for someone off the street who didn't have an account. I imagine some small stores, etc., wouldn't take them in the US, either. But, places that do take them don't charge fees, in my experience.