pb_and-j, get your daily limit on your ATM raised.

There was a great article this past April in USAToday about the "fees." I recommend it alot for my travel groups so there are no surprises. I'm starting to think that using the credit card is an emergency only use when traveling. Here's the article: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...ard-fees_x.htm

Well my eyes cross the moment more than three numerals hove into view, so maybe someone else can address this:

Assuming that you are a.) spending a fair number of bucks on your trip and b.) charging those dollars on a cc that builds points or miles, but also assesses, say, a 3% fee...

Are you still better off paying for everything in cash (via ATM wd's) than using your card, racking up the points/miles and paying an extra fee?

I charge everything in the states to get more miles on my CC.

In Italy I only used ATMs because otherwise it would have meant that I was "buying" the miles on my CC for 3%...and 3% is too much to pay for the miles.