Thanks thats what I thought

the good thing is I called TDB and they said you will be given the ATM card when you open the acct if you do it in person. The 2nd good thing is Citi charges 3% but no fees from their ATMs and they have a few ATMs of their own in SYD where Im heading. 3 days in AKL I can probably get by with just my Cap1 CC as transport to/from AKL can be booked online and paid for with a CC

I haven't followed your whole plans, but generally getting foreign currency in advance is a bad deal. Plan to use the ATM on arrival, and have some dollar cash to exchange in the small chance that the ATM doesn't work.

And if not, what is the best rate we can get in order:

-exchange here
-use the Citicard there
-ATMs with citi there
-exchange at bank there

Thanks

If those are your only choices, I would rank them:

Best = use Citicard for purchases or Citi ATM card at a Citi-owned ATM
Next = use Citi ATM card at non-Citi-owned ATM (not as good as "best" because in addition to 3% there is probably a $1.50 per transaction fee)
Next = cash exchange there (at least in busier cities that have a variety of places to exchange cash)
Worst = exchange here (unless you have some special relationship with a bank that will hook you up with great rates)

Thanks a million. I wish I'd done this research a month or so ago (actually, wish I'd run into this thread).

I have not used my Citibank debit card abroad after they upp'ed the forex fee. But I still keep the account active. Reason is that some Citi ATMs in Japan are located indoors and you need to swipe your card to access at night. So even with a no forex fee Cap1 ATM card, I still need to use the Citi card to gain entry.

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Most card readers that grant access to ATM lobbies are agnostic as to the kind of card. They just check to make sure you have a card with a working magnetic strip--they don't have the ability to tell whether it's a Citi ATM card or some other ATM card.

Are the Japanese Citi ATM lobbies really set up to only allow access to holders of Citi accounts? The Citi ATM lobby nearest my apartment in NYC allows me in with any card.

I tried one access reader in a Japanese Citi-ATM room with a local CU debit card, didn't work. Not sure about other cards though.

I also didn't have any luck with my Cap1 ATM card in a Japanese 7-11 ATM, even though 7-11 has advertised its compatibility with foreign ATM cards. So far the Japanese Citi ATMs seem to be my best bet.

really? You worry about ATM safety in Japan? I can't think of a country in the world where ATM safety is less of an issue than Japan.

But on topic. I had a Citibank ATM and felt good that they have so much presence internationally, especially in Japan and HK. But when they started charging me 3% forex fee to access my Citibank checking at a Citibank foreign ATM, I decided to drop that nonsense. I had a TD fka Commerce checking, before Schwab checking came into existence, but I went below the $2500 min balance once and got hit with a stiff fee. Now I have Schwab, used it on a two week trip to Tokyo and Thailand, and have no regrets. I received a $8.40 ATM rebate from the trip already and just got back two days ago. Schwab isn't perfect, their web banking needs alot of upgrade, but they say they are working on it. And no cash deposits is a downside too. But still better than getting charged to access my own Citibank money from overseas Citibanks.

It's not that I worry about ATM safety in Japan. It's just that for some Citibank branches in Japan, they lock the doors to ATM lobbies at night and I couldn't gain access using my Cap1 ATM card. Had to use my active Citibank debit card to swipe and open the door.

Glad to hear that the Schwab card worked well for you in Japan!

Have you tried the Cap 1 card on several 7-11 ATMs? Sometimes there may be due to network outage. On our last trip none of the American banks' ATMs at NRT work, but the Japanese big banks ATMs all worked. I took 60,000 Yen out from a Japanese Bank's machine when both the AMEX and Citi were down.

Fidelity's mySmartCash works the same way as Schwab debit card. I opened a Money Market Account inside mySmartCash account which is a checking account. When there is not enough fund inside mySmartCash it would automatically access the MMA. Fido reimburses unlimited ATM fee. This is a liberation such that no more searching for BofA's Global ATM Network member banks when travelling in countries where there are member banks. Now I just bring the Fido card. It worked even in Medeira and Azores, 2 islands in the middle of Atlantic Ocean. The rates were all very competitive when I checked them against the historical rates upon returning home.

Fidelity ATM
 

I got scare in using the Fidelity ATM in HKG and China. It shows as if it is a cash advance for the Visa Card. When I come back, I call Fidelity, they confirm that it is OK and no service charge and it will not be a cash advance transaction.

I used it in Egypt and Jordan. I got cash and there is no fee. It is a true ATM.

Citi Gold member used to get free ATM oversea at CITI owned machines. Can anyone confirm this is still the case???

Fidelity's card is not a credit card, it is a debit card to your checking account through Fidelity (the account is at Fifth Third Bank).

All European ATMs I used the Fidelity card, there were no ATM fee. My guess is, the practice of ATM fee is only in North America.

I believe Citi Gold get charged 1%, all other Citi account holders got charged 3%.

How would you be charged a cash advance fee for a transaction on an ATM card? Cash advance fees only apply to credit cards.

Citigold is supposedly fee free according to the wiki. My friend's shootout showed that Citigold was not quite as good as Schwab or TD in his tests in Thailand, but was less than 1% different.

I'm not THAT widely traveled, but have never seen an ATM-owner fee in Europe or Asia. There have been reports in this thread of ATM-owner fees in South America, though, and I've personally seen them in Canada.