MONEY MATTERS

For the most part, I used my credit cards to pay for major purchases and our hotel stays during our independent trip through Italy.  For daily use and meals I used my ATM and withdrew 200 Euros at a time. This was more than enough to pay for some souvenirs and meals.

I opened up a separate Vacation Account and got a Visa ATM card with a 4 Digit Numeric Personal Identification Number (PIN).  I had learned that ATM's in Europe used Numeric only PINs.  There were ATM's located all over Europe and they were pretty safe and convenient to use.  TIP:  In Italy, although the ATM machines offered choices in different languages the key pads were still in Italian.  The key locations for Enter and Cancel were pretty similar to how they are here, but I was still unsure if I was indeed pressing the correct key.  It might be useful to learn the words for Enter and Cancel in the languages of the countries you'll be visiting just in case. 

Make sure that you contact your banks (Credit Cards and ATM Accounts) to advise them that you will be leaving the country for vacation.  They will ask you for the dates and destinations of your travel.   I had no problems using both my ATM and my Credit Cards for the entire trip. 

Most Important thing to Remember is never spend more than you can afford!