Getting The Best Exchange Rate

What a mess the card industry has made of one of its former features - being able to use your bank cards when traveling internationally and knowing that they'd work and that you were getting the best possible deal on foreign currency conversion in the process. That simple and consistent value proposition went out the window a couple of years back when credit card issuers began aggressively surcharging international transactions and more recently as some bank debit card issuers have limited international acceptance and access to local cash at ATMs because of fraud concerns. David Kelly writes in today's New York Times Travel section about what the experts currently recommend for international travelers and their financial needs while on the road. Kathleen Pender also shares some tips for international travelers in the San Francisco Chronicle.