Originally Posted by
tom911
My experience is quite the opposite, and I travel quite a bit internationally. I can only recall one instance that I was charged a fee by a non-U.S. bank for getting cash at an ATM, and that was in Montreal. My home bank does not charge any fees for using foreign ATM's. I stopped carrying travelers checks 10 or more years ago and can't see the advantage in switching back.
I'm not sure why you would want to get a "cash advance". Isn't your ATM card linked to your checking account?
When I used my US ATM card, linked to my bank account, at Greek banks' ATMs, I was charged by the foreign bank through my US bank 5 bucks a pop.
My references to ATMs and cash advances were to two different things. My ATM card is indeed linked to my US bank checking account and indeed incurs a hefty charge when I use it at a foreign ATM. If you use a credit card at an ATM, it will usually be a cash advance. In the past in was possible to create a credit balance on most credit cards so that your cash withdrawal on it at an ATM wouldn't incur finance charges but would just reduce your credit balance, but in recent years I've found that the rip-off artists at most credit cards have found ways to make it difficult or impossible for you to create a credit balance, no doubt exactly in order to prevent people from doing this.
I thought my OP described very specific and concrete advantages to switching back to travelers checks.