Transportation Trenitalia CartaFreccia: Senior and Youth discounts available from abroad

[Andrew]

The Fidelity Cash Management ATM card reimburses ATM owner fees; if I read it correctly, they may charge a 1% foreign currency conversion fee. The Capital One 360 account doesn't add conversion fees. On that card, one may still have the local bank's withdrawal fees: in the town in Italy where I usually do this, UniCredit charges a fee and Monte dei Paschi di Siena does not.

To expand on JMichael's point about dynamic currency conversion, the screen may say something like "Do you agree that this withdrawal of €200 will be charged at $250 U.S.?". People may think that, by saying no, or pushing the discreetly marked "Decline" button, you're backing out of making the withdrawal, but instead it converts the withdrawal at the fairer interbank rate.

 

[Cda]

We have a Chas. Schwab checking account that we pretty much just use for travel. Schwab does not charge ATM fees and will reimburse any fees charged by the bank/ATM from which you withdraw. Before we leave the US we make an EFT to the Schwab account from our regular bank. I don't know if it is still the case for most ATMs in Italy, but you will need a four digit PIN. We always use bank ATMs rather than the ones at airports or various stores (tabacs, etc.) There's less of a chance for skimming your card and if using the ATM on the street doesn't feel right, you can always go into the bank to feel more secure. If given a choice on the ATM screen, DO NOT use "dynamic currency conversion." You'll get an inferior exchange rate. Just enter the euro (not dollar) amount you want to get the better exchange rate.

Thank you

Will check Schwab. Seems banks are less friendly than in past years

 

[Cda]

The Fidelity Cash Management ATM card reimburses ATM owner fees; if I read it correctly, they may charge a 1% foreign currency conversion fee. The Capital One 360 account doesn't add conversion fees. On that card, one may still have the local bank's withdrawal fees: in the town in Italy where I usually do this, UniCredit charges a fee and Monte dei Paschi di Siena does not.

To expand on JMichael's point about dynamic currency conversion, the screen may say something like "Do you agree that this withdrawal of €200 will be charged at $250 U.S.?". People may think that, by saying no, or pushing the discreetly marked "Decline" button, you're backing out of making the withdrawal, but instead it converts the withdrawal at the fairer interbank rate.

Thanks trying to learn

 

[Cda]

If you get euros in the US, where do you normally get them?

 

[Cda]

We have a Chas. Schwab checking account that we pretty much just use for travel. Schwab does not charge ATM fees and will reimburse any fees charged by the bank/ATM from which you withdraw. Before we leave the US we make an EFT to the Schwab account from our regular bank. I don't know if it is still the case for most ATMs in Italy, but you will need a four digit PIN. We always use bank ATMs rather than the ones at airports or various stores (tabacs, etc.) There's less of a chance for skimming your card and if using the ATM on the street doesn't feel right, you can always go into the bank to feel more secure. If given a choice on the ATM screen, DO NOT use "dynamic currency conversion." You'll get an inferior exchange rate. Just enter the euro (not dollar) amount you want to get the better exchange rate.

Does Schwab repay you, if the card is compromised ??

Is the EFT from a Schwab account??? Or another bank??? If another bank what is the cost?
If out of the country how do you do the transfer??

Thank you

 

[Andrew]

I have Capital One and Fidelity. With both of these on their websites there's a Transfer Money link where you would link the primary bank account that you use now (your home bank). Best to do this before the trip, since they may want to verify it with a text to your cell number, and also get money into the travel account before the trip (no charge for the transfer). With Internet access, especially with a smartphone, you should be able to make transfers during the trip; it may be dicey if they want to text you at a number you can't access. There should also be an email option to get verified. I've set up a U.S. Google Voice number, which can be accessed internationally, and made it my contact number for some financial sites, but not all of them allow it.

 

[Cda]

Ok

Will look into different banks today

So at the atm take out euros and not dollars?

 

[GailS]

If you are looking at new banks, see if there are any smaller local banks in your area that offer to reimburse ATM fees. For mine, this also applies to any foreign ATM fees (plus they have no foreign conversion fee).

Withdraw without conversion (in euro) and for any credit card changes also don't accept charging you in dollars, always in euro.

 

[Cda]

If you are looking at new banks, see if there are any smaller local banks in your area that offer to reimburse ATM fees. For mine, this also applies to any foreign ATM fees (plus they have no foreign conversion fee).

Withdraw without conversion (in euro) and for any credit card changes also don't accept charging you in dollars, always in euro.

Will look local

Thanks for the euro info. I did not thank about credit card charging

 

[GailS]

Since you mentioned your wife is a BofA customer, their Travel Rewards credit card does not have a foreign transaction fee. Check what credit cards you have for their foreign transaction fees are if you plan on charging much.

 

[Cda]

Since you mentioned your wife is a BofA customer, their Travel Rewards credit card does not have a foreign transaction fee. Check what credit cards you have for their foreign transaction fees are if you plan on charging much.

Thanks we both have barclay aviator

No international fees!!!!

How about where to get euros, before we leave..

I read b of a sales them.

Can’t figure out fair exchange rate

Any good web sites for exchange rate ?

 

[Andrew]

To see the current exchange rate used between banks, you can Google something like 100 euros to us dollars. Then you can ask a bank (also AAA) what the bottom-line price would be if you wanted X number of euros today, and see how that compares.

 

[JMichael]

Does Schwab repay you, if the card is compromised ??

Is the EFT from a Schwab account??? Or another bank??? If another bank what is the cost?
If out of the country how do you do the transfer??

I haven't had any problems with our Schwab cards being compromised. As I noted, we always use bank ATMs in Europe. One of us usually stands behind the other in order to keep prying eyes from seeing our PINs. Our regular bank is one of the major banks and does not charge a fee for EFT to the Schwab checking account.

We try to anticipate how much cash we'll need during our trip and transfer that amount plus a little more into the Schwab account. Whatever we don't use will be there when we get back. I prefer not to do a bank/Schwab transfer while traveling because I can't always confirm wi-fi security while traveling.

Things have definitely changed over the years with the amount of cash one needs for traveling. I think back to the hassle of travelers cheques, then buying different currencies for different countries in advance of travel. With the advent of the euro and now contactless credit cards, it's so much simpler. Having cash in hand isn't the big deal it used to be.

One final tip: we subscribe to the mantra "we will return," meaning there will be more trips to Europe in our future. Before we fly home, we usually pocket about 100 euro to use on the next adventure.

 

[Cda]

I haven't had any problems with our Schwab cards being compromised. As I noted, we always use bank ATMs in Europe. One of us usually stands behind the other in order to keep prying eyes from seeing our PINs. Our regular bank is one of the major banks and does not charge a fee for EFT to the Schwab checking account.

We try to anticipate how much cash we'll need during our trip and transfer that amount plus a little more into the Schwab account. Whatever we don't use will be there when we get back. I prefer not to do a bank/Schwab transfer while traveling because I can't always confirm wi-fi security while traveling.

Things have definitely changed over the years with the amount of cash one needs for traveling. I think back to the hassle of travelers cheques, then buying different currencies for different countries in advance of travel. With the advent of the euro and now contactless credit cards, it's so much simpler. Having cash in hand isn't the big deal it used to be.

One final tip: we subscribe to the mantra "we will return," meaning there will be more trips to Europe in our future. Before we fly home, we usually pocket about 100 euro to use on the next adventure.

Thank you again great advice

Love tha mantra. I retired two years ago

Trying to hit different places, have returned to a few

 

[Morgan_J]

I applied for this online...not paper...and got an email back with the info in about a week.
I didn't end up using it for my trip last Fall, as the trains we took were just Regionale ones with no discounts.
I can see that it would be useful for long reserved journeys.

May I ask how you applied online? The online form seems to require an Italian address, whereas the physical form seems to not require this.


Thanks in advance!

 

[Lucy BC]

I applied online for my husband and myself last year--I did it on my ipad and it was a bit fiddly but easy. It took a while (can't remember but several weeks) but we both received an email with our numbers. I followed these instructions I found on the Rick Steves forum.

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom/Cartafreccia/Assistenza-ai-soci#6

Don’t be put off that it is in Italian. Scroll down the page a bit to the 5th arrow where it refers to non residents in both Italian and English. If you click on this one, the information on the next page is in first Italian and then in English and gives directions as well as the form you need to complete.

Basically, you complete a form and email it in. You do not need a tax ID or Italian address.

 

[daydreamer]

Thank you, Andrew, for posting the information about how to obtain a CartaFreccia when you do not live in Italy. I emailed the form and in just over 2 weeks, I obtained the card. I have yet to book any trains in Italy but I am grateful that I may be able to get a reduced rate with the card.