I know that there are postings Re: this subject...I'm hoping for a bit more "current" information. We will be travelling from Canada; we'll use cash, traveller's cheques, and credit cards...depending on the situation. I've been able to determine the costs incurred at this end (eg. flat fees for "buying" Euros, ATM charges, cost of trav.chqs., etc.). But I can't seem to find out the ATM fees charged by the banks at the Spain-end. Will the hostals accept trav.chqs.?...at face value?? Are the Amex offices fairly centralized? Second to the Amex offices, what's the next best places to cash the TCs? Finally, is it really necessary to have English pounds for the 2-3 hours we spend at Heathrow? Big thanks, in advance!

Tinker,
I have had family visit from the states and they had nothing but problems with travelers checks. There are places that will accept them, but can be hard to find and most are the high end type stores. I doubt you will find a hostel that takes travelers checks. ATM's are EVERYWHERE in Spain and my main bank account is a U.S. account that I withdraw Euros from all the time. I have never seen a fee from the Spanish ATM's I use but my bank in the states charges me everytime.

Definitely skip the travelers checks. They are a hassle and a rip-off. I use my American ATM card all the time and I've never been charged a fee by a Spanish bank for withdrawing money. If your ATM card has a visa emblem on it, then you can use it as a credit card here as well.

As a backup, if you have an American Express card, you can cash an American check at one of their offices. Of course, they charge a hefty fee for the privilege... But you'll definitely want to bring a Mastercard or a Visa along, as well, since American Express is not widely accepted here.

Use your ATM card to get cash, use your Mastercard or Visa to purchase when you can, but do carry some dollars as well. On every trip, there has always been a time when all the ATM's in a town are not functioning for a few hours, the banks are closed, and the place you'd like to eat won't take credit cards. At least, at that point you can go to one of the (too expensive) money change stores to tide you over until the ATM's are working again.

Two things:

Getting pounds for a layover at Heathrow is a pain - you don't want to exchange much, and you don't want to pay big fees for so little. I almost always fly to European destinations via Heathrow, and although I keep pounds, I've been known to forget to bring them! It's easy to say, "Oh, for 2-3 hours, I won't need to buy anything," but the reality is, you may be hungry or thirsty, or see something you just can't pass up in a shop. I use my credit card. Every place in the airport accepts it, and I've been known to charge small amounts on it.

Another way to deal with currency issues is to get a Visa Travel Money card, or an American Express Travel Funds card (In the UK, Thomas Cook has something similar). In the U.S. you can get the Visa Travel Money card at any AAA office. Basically, the cards are prepaid debit cards. They work in ATMS (the American Express one doesn't work in as many as the Visa one)just like an ATM card, with a PIN that you set before you leave. You decide how much money you want in your account and pay it ahead of time. There are fees involved, so you'll want to compare them with other methods. But they're worth mentioning as a back-up system that works quite well.

Here's a link for AAA (maybe there's a place in Canada that sells the Visa Travel Money card?) http://www.aaamidatlantic.com/financial/vtm.asp

American Express: http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/page/0,1641,18622,00.asp

In the UK, there's Thomas Cook: http://www.thomascook.co.in/opencms/opencms/release/html/forex/cash_passport.html

Beyond a doubt - do not get travelers checques. Use your ATM card - just remember you will need a four digit pin. If your current pin is not four digits - go to your bank and change it. ATMs in Spain use only four digits .... unless this has changed in the very recent past.

Thank you very much to everyone. We leave on March 25th...'will likely have another question or two before we leave. Thanks, Again!

Just one little additional note on using a credit card in Spain that I noticed on my last trip. At a few of the shops, hostals, and restaurants where I used my Visa card, the charges were automatically made in US$ rather than Euros. The system determined that I had a card issued in the USA and converted the amount entered from Euros to US$ on the spot. Unfortunately, compared to other charges made the same day in Euros, the exchange rates were not as favorable as the rate I would have gotten from Visa had the charge gone through in Euros (even accounting for Visa's 1% conversion fee).

i only use my STAR/CIRRUS ATM card to withdraw cash. Never a transaction fee on either end. Will not ever use my Citibank credit card because they charge two types of fees just for converting euros to dollars. I believe it comes out to 10% more. ( wrote them a nice letter saying where to put their card)

ATM withdrawal fees vary depending on your bank - some banks charge nothing while others charge upwards of $5 for using a foreign ATM.

All VISA/Mastercard credit or debit card foreign currency transactions are charged a 1% conversion fee. An additional 1% to 3% may be charged depending on your issuing bank. (Some credit card issuers break out the fees on your statement. Others just tack it on to the purchase amount.) Citibank tacks on an additional 2% or 3% depending on your card's Terms & Conditions (those pamphlets with tiny print that people tend not to read).