I do not have a ATM or debit card. I am planning a trip to Italy and plan to bring cash and credit cards for backup. I plan on cashing USD into Euros at the airport.We will be in Rome for 4 days and the rest of the time with family. Do you have any comments or suggestions about CC cards or USD $$. Thanks.

Hi

I would recommend that you get a ATM card as it makes travelling a lot easier. My wife and I have travelled without cash for years and it is great Isn't it better to bring travellers checks compared to cash?
My wife and I went to Rome last year. I have posted a trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there. Have a great trip to Rome.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

I think you should get an ATM card as well. They offer some of the best exchange rate. I would use it ever few days. Dont carry alot of cash.
Hope you have a great trip...

Since you are using US$, I assume you are from the US. Cashing US$ into € can be quite expensive. If you have a checking acct., I recommend you also open a saving acct. from the same bank. I use USAA ATM and credit cards (both M/C & VISA). USAA doesn't charge a fee for using any ATMs oversea (no fee in the states up to certain point). I also request that my ATM card is NOT a debit card.

Before my trip, I would deposit a reasonable sum which I think I will need for the entire trip into the saving acct. When I need the money I just transfer (on-line) what I need into the checking acct., then I withdraw practically the entire sum as soon as I can to prevent theft. USAA allows you to withdraw up to equivalent of US$600 per day. I always offer the merchants or hotels to pay with cash if they are willing to give me cash discount. I use Priceline hotels in major cities, but I use B&Bs in the small villages which always give you cash discount. I have never had anyone turned me down except in New Zealand. There is a reason, but that's another story! I normally receive between 4%-6% cash discount. USAA has a very good exchange rate and no fees or points. USAA only passes the 1% that VISA & M/C charge them to the customers. I also have both checking and saving accts. from my local bank. I use this as a back up since they charge $1.50 per withdraw. I carry the AmEx as a back up since it charges at least 3-4%. Sometime cash from the ATM is your best bet. Don't be shy to ask for discount. Anything is negotiable! You still can have free checking acct. with zero balance plus an interest bearing saving acct. just ask your bank.

Hi

You can use your credit card as a cash card. Just deposit the cash in it!

According to numerous posts here, even if you do have enough cash on your credit card when you make a cash withdrawal, the CC company will still charge interest on it. It may not be fair, but so it goes. So definitely consider getting an ATM card.

I don't understand. Unless you have really messed up finances, you have a checking account. An ATM card should come free with it.

Teatravel is incorrect about AMEX cards charging 3 or 4%. They charge 2% conversion fee which is better then most CC's and only 1% more than your "no fee" USAA card which you say charges 1%.

Hi P,

Another suggestion to get an ATM only card from your bank.

Rather than carrying around a large amount of dollars (which can be stolen) and paying the high fees (7-10%) to convert to Euros, you can withdraw Euros as you need the money.

Safer, more convenient, cheaper.

I know that everyone is promoting ATM cards (which I have) but I also carry cash. You will get the best exchange rates with the new style $100 bills. Many places will NOT take the old ones with the small center picture. The old style bills are sometimes seen when I get cash at the bank, and I always note them, pull them out, and ask for new style ones.

We have been using ATMs for our travel cash for years with no problem. Cheapest, most convenient way to get money usually. You often don't get a very good rate of exchange at airports. Occasionally we took a few travelers checks but they have become increasingly difficult (and expensive) to use, so we stopped.

We always call the issuers of our two ATM cards (which are managed through the VISA network) to tell them we are leaving the country.

From time to time I have read posts on this forum from people who arrived in Europe and discovered after they got there that their cards would no longer work - their banks had simply stopped allowing cash withdrawals in Europe because of fraud. Generally this seems to happen without notification and people have said that even if you call the bank ahead of time, you usually can't find out about this.

Three weeks ago we arrived in Greece and tried to make a cash withdrawal on one of our accounts (which had the largest amount of money) and were refused. My husband text-messaged our daughter, who got the e-mail address of our branch manager, and he e-mailed her (in a fury). The manager didn't even know about this. Though she didn't communicate this too well in her e-mail to us (so we used the other card), she apparently managed to "fix" the problem and also said VISA said we could get money inside banks as well as use it like a credit card. (But we wonder if getting cash inside would be treated like a more expensive VISA cash advance.) She tells us that if we e-mail her personally rather than making a "generic" bank phone call, she can take care of it in the future when we travel. We explained that going into banks to get money isn't satisfactory to us and have moved a large sum to a another account. We no longer trust that we will be able to get money from ATMs, though. And we will always travel with contact information for specific upper-management bank people now. Despite the fact that the other bank was redoing their system and we couldn't get money a couple of times, that straightened out and we were okay the rest of the trip. We are also now carrying more cash, both dollars and Euros we stash away after trips (since we have been going to Europe 2-3 times a year recently). I hate carrying the cash but am afraid not to do it now.

More and more people seem to be running into the ATM freezes, and as fraud increases, I figure it's just going to get worse. Don't know the answer except to have several options and keep your fingers crossed.

I guess I am in that age catagory (before ATM's and debit cards) My finances are not messed up but never had the need for them. Have traveled all over the world without any problems with Travelers Checks but times have changed. Thanks for all the information. Will relay this to my kids whom I am going with. I know they work with ATM cards.

Why should it be an ATM only card? Won't the ATM debit cards work?

The ATM debit cards work even better
There are very few ATM only card here in Spain, most of them are debit cards.

pengwen, then this is the right time to get your first ATM card. Become accustomed to using it before going to Italy. I am sure your kids will be impressed with your travel savvy. You won't have to slow them down while you go to a bank or be at the mercy of currency exchange price gougers Have a great trip. Deborah

You're all great. Thanks for all the responses. Gives me a lot to think about. I will say this is my 15th trip to Italy. We will be in Rome for 4 days and then we will be with family in the vicinity of Naples. I just wanted to know what I needed for money for our stay in Rome. I have a couple of cousins that are bankers and I HOPE I don't have problems getting Euros.. I will let you know how I made out. Anyway about impressing my kids, this trip is their Christmas Present for the 3 of them.
Many thanks to all that have taken the time to read this.

For the trip you describe, I would be comfortable without an ATM card. A combination of USD (to change and for the trip home), euro, credit cards, and heck maybe even some travelers checks as back-up to cash with your banking cousins(!) you'll be fine.

Hi Pengwen,

I thought I'd share with you that on our last trip to Italy, a couple of years ago, we cashed 500 USD at the airport and they charged us a 26 euro commission. When we later exchanged another 500 USD at the Bank of Sardinia, they only charged 1.5 euro fee to change 500 USD into euros.

ATM's are much more convenient but if you insist on bringing USD, try to exchange them anywhere but the airport.