Leaving for Italy a week from Sunday. Three woman traveling to Italy together. We, are very nervous about the ATM. What happens if it eats our card? Sould we take some travelers checques for back up? Anyone have problems? Thanks

In my humble opinion, travelers cheques are about as outdated as dinosaurs. You say, "our" so I assume there are two of you, and each should have a card. End of possible -- but highly unlikely -- problem of an ATM eating your card.

Patrick is right. Traveler's checks aren't as easily accepted as they once were. My husband and I each brought an ATM card from the same account. We also brought along credit cards as a back up, as well.

And for a little back up if you are still nervous, just carry a little US currency with you. In a pinch you can exchange it at any bank in the highly unlikely event all 3 of you get your ATM cards eaten and don't have any credit cards that work.

No problems with any ATM's. It's just like being at home. They are very simple to use and so far haven't eaten our cards yet.

I will also add that I've heard other people mention that they bring some back up traveler's checks in case of emergency, but I've never done it myself.

There's no more likelyhood of a European ATM eating your card than one in America. If it were to happen just go inside the bank to retreive it immediately or if after hours the next morning. T.C.s are accepted in very few places today and when they are accepted you will pay heavy fees to cash them. Remember,as a back up you can always go into a bank office with a credit card and get a cash advance if the need presented itself. Been to 21 European countries and not used a T.C. yet.

Larry J

Actually, that did happen in Paris to a girl on my daughter's school trip to Europe. They just went inside the bank, and my daughter explained--in fact I think she said "La caisse automatique a mange sa carte" and someone from the bank rescued it. My daughter was quite proud that she had been able to handle the situation.

The only problem we've encountered was arriving in Brugge on the Monday of a long weekend and finding that all of the ATMs were empty. We got by with our credit card until the next day, but now we're careful not to let our cash run down too low.

Travellers should have a backup to their ATM cards. ATM machines don't always work; cards do get eaten; cards are sometimes rejected for a variety of reasons; many small towns do not have ATM machines.

With 3 of you, at least one of your cards should work when a working ATM is available. But it doesn't hurt to have some backup cash or TCs just in case you can't find a machine or the machine doesn't work.

TCs aren't very convenient or practical as your main money source, but they are OK as emergency backup.

If you are heading out into the countryside, do be sure you have enough euros on hand in case there are no ATMs available.