My pocket got picked (front pocket no less!) at a bus stop in Nice. This huge crowd was all trying to get into the bus at the same time creating lots of body contact.

Great info above on getting cash out of an ATM. My US bank does, in fact, charge $5.00 for the foreign ATM use and another 3% for the currency conversion. But I wasn't aware of the settlement question and must have missed that one. I thought the added cost was a fee of some kind by the Greek bank's ATM. Good catch.

The 3% is not for conversion ... it's just a service-fee insult. There IS a "hidden" 1% that everybody pays -- for Mastercard/Visa conversion -- but it's built into the exchange rate. Your bank's 3% is on top of that.

My Credit union charges Zero for transaction (vs. $5) and 1% service fee. If you open an online bank account, NOT credit card, with Capitol ONe or I think its called Allied? The charges are Zero- Zero.

That "Dynamic Conversion" is a double-conversion, just Say No to that.

MichGuy, do you remember which ATM you were using? The Greek bank ATMs (Alpha Bank, National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank, and Eurobank) don't charge for cash withdrawals.

There is another ATM seen all over Europe called <i>Euronet</i> which is notorious for charging high transaction fees. This is an independent ATM similar to the ones operated by exchange bureaus in airports. If you weren't careful you could end up paying both the transaction fee <b>and</b> for DCC.

Do a Google Images search to see what the Euronet ATMs look like so you can avoid them next time you are in Europe. While you are at it, read some of the complaints about Euronet.

Then to add insult to injury, you will end up paying fees to your own bank as well! Like travelerjan, my bank adds only the 1% Visa foreign transaction charge for ATM withdrawals with my debit card. My credit card, issued by the same bank, waives the 1% charge for credit card charges, and gives me 1.5% cash back. Of course I never use the credit card in ATMs.

Great info, all - thanks!