Originally Posted by
ESpen36
My bank charges US$5-10 in "international network fees" for withdrawals outside the USA. That in ADDITION to the fees charged by the owner/operator of the ATM in the foreign country.
How many times a trip are you paying those fees? On the subject of ATM charges in other countries, I tend to be out of the U.S. a couple months a year (just back from separate Ireland and UK trips), and I've only once had a foreign ATM fee, and that was in Montreal. What countries have you been assessed with ATM fees by the foreign bank?
If you're traveling for a short period of time, it might make more sense to bring a few hundred in US cash and exchange what you need at the airport. It works well for me.
And if you lose the cash or have it stolen? I can recall two threads on FT, one involving cash stolen from a backpack in a hotel room, and another involving theft of cash left inadvertently in a seatback pocket. What protection do you have if you bring cash along and it's stolen or lost? I'd never carry around more that I can afford to lose, and to me that's the $200 I bring for emergencies. I'll still rely on credit cards or ATM cards before I start bringing large sums of cash along to trade for foreign currencies.