I bring mabye $200 US dollars, get local currency cash from an ATM when I arrive at the airport, enough for a week, and charge everything I can.

I generally use the PNC Visa debit card attached to my brokerage account for international charges and cash - 5 ATM withdrawals a month without charge. I'm not sure about their international exchange charges now - they used to not charge the extra 2-3%. No points or miles.

I also have an MBNA Amtrak Mastercard. I'm wondering whether to use the debit card for the cash advances only and the MBNA credit card for the rest of the charges. Points.

Your thoughts?

Sylvia