For the most euros per dollar

I think I have found the best way to get the most for our dollar as it continually declines against the euro.

On a trip my wife and I took to Italy, Austria and Germany in October-November ’06, I carried a credit card, a debit card and just a few hundred euros in my pocket.

The debit card I used to get euros from ATMs. Because I have direct deposit from my work to the debit account, there were NO fees charged for these withdrawals. And when I got my statement from the bank, I calculated that the amount the euros cost me was basically the same as the listed exchange rate! I bank with Guaranty Bank.

The credit card I used was a Capital One Platinum. I used this for hotels, restaurants and large purchases. Again, there were NO fees, just the ACTUAL exchange rate of that day, which at the beginning of our trip was just over 0.797 euros per dollar and by the end, just 0.782 euros per dollar. There were no other fees on my statements.

My wife, unfortunately, used a Chase Visa/MasterCard and a Providian Visa, and all charged some kind of exchange rate adjustment or international service fee.

We had bought the euros in the States just in case the ATMs were not working or something where we landed. As for now, I see no reason to buy lots of euros here before leaving or to take travelers’ checks (it takes too long to cash them at the bank). I hope Capital One doesn’t change their policy.

We had zero problems using our credit cards in the countries we visited. It was a great trip!

Palm Springs, CA