We're taking a 17 day trip to Italy soon and I'm just curious what some of you do.

If your hotel offered a 5 or 10% discount for cash, would you forego using a credit card?

At home, I use credit cards with rewards attached (Amex, AA). For those who do the same, do you forego using them for a card like Capitol One when abroad? I ask because we will be spending a considerable amount and I do like accumulating mileage. Is it worth it?

When traveling by car, I never leave anything in the trunk once we've checked into our hotel. However, going from Bologna to Parma, we plan to stop in Modena for a few hours. I'm worrying about my full trunk already. What do you do?

When we arrive in MXP, is there someplace in the airport where I can easily buy a sim card for my iPad?

And lastly, do you routinely leave a little extra in gratuity in a restaurant that has service included?

We have done numerous road trips in many parts of europe including a bunch at least partly in Italy. We have left all of our belongings in the trunk of the car while visiting small cities without any problem.

But - you must leave noting at all visible inside the car. Also - you cannot put things into the trunk after you arrive - you must put everything in there before departing in the am. Also, where possible we park the car where it can easily be seen and put the trunk up against a wall, a tree or another car.

I would never pay for a hotel in cash - since I don;t want to carry that much in cash - or use any of the expensive ways of getting large amounts of cash. If you can pull enough from ATMs at one time to pay the hotel bill - then go ahead - but don;t carry the cash around for days.

As for tipping - we tip in all restaurants. We don;t leave 20% as we would at home - but we generally leave 5 to 10% - based on the prices and how good the service is. I know the tipping police will tell me this isn't necessary in europe - BUT I worked as a waitress in college and know how hard the work is. And esp in modest places I don't have the heart to leave the loose change that's recommended - nobody deserves a tip of 75 cents it's always at least a couple of euros.

Does your hotel cash question involve more than simple computations?

CC: no discount; plus whatever % fee your bank adds to your CC foreign transactions +0%, +1%, +3%, etc

Cash: minus 5-10% discount; plus whatever % fee your bank adds to you ATM withdrawal +0%, +1%, +3%, etc; minus the value of lost mileages -1%,-2% etc; plus intangible security risks carrying additional cash.

If you are one of those approaching some landmark mileage such as million miles, then the value of lost mileage to you can be much greater.

No need to tip in restaurants. Wait staff in Italy are paid a reasonable wage, unlike wait staff in the US.

Greg, I guess I should do the math. At this point, I don't have that kind of mileage. I'm always getting flights for my kids.

We switched from a Delta Amex which accumulated mileage which was increasingly harder to use, to a Charles Schwab credit card which charges no fee, no currency conversion fee and gives us 2% cash back. We use the cash toward airline tickets.

We also use the Schwab Visa or the Costco Amex.

For our upcoming trip to Italy I think we will be using a Capital One Visa only because they have no conversion fee.

I'm going to look into a schwab card. Who do you use for an ATM card?

Iamq - going to Umbria, right? Have the best time!

We found a local bank that doesn't charge the currency conversion fee that our old bank, Wells Fargo, charged. They were happy to have our business!

cpg, Yep Umbria.

As far as an ATM card. M is going to see if he can link the Schwab Visa to his Schwab account and use it as an ATM card with a pin number. If not, we'll use my B of A card.

the british airways chase card has no foreign conversion fee and is offering 100,000 ff miles

You can set up a bank account w/Schwab for an ATM card.