[///M1]

Originally Posted by saratoga mdude

M1-- congrats and thanks so much for the great writeup. I am takin ED of a 1m end of October; my first trip to europe in 8 years. last time i went, i got euros in country by exchanging amex travelers checks at the local amex office (Rome). I understand (I think you discussed this somewhere in your writeup)there is s better way for ED, esp. if you have a bank of america atm card. Can you confirm that there is a deutsche bank atm in th airport that will allow you to take 150-200 euro at a time, and if you use a BoA atm/debit card you pay no fee? do i need to see my local branch to get the card "authortized" to work in europe (or else they will think it's stolen? is there anything else I should know about? i'm taking my son, and if i run into currency problems my wife will never forgive me.... thanks, John

John: I cannot answer/confirm about the Deutsche Bank Airport ATM question (and even though I have a BofA acct I never used it while in DE). And you can certainly withdraw more than 200 Euros at a time. With that said, to me the best EUR management solution was to just charge most things on my CC (I have a good arrangement with my CC company and their fees are tiny, while also benefiting from a close to inter-bank FX rate). Ditto for cash, I find it better to just withdraw from my bank (Citi, branches are found often, even when I was in Hungary) than to do any formal cash exchange at a currency bureau. Just be sure to call your CC company in advance of your trip so they don't block your card thinking activity is fraudulent (the 800 numbers don't work outside the US). Best of luck in October for your ED experience, it will be memorable!

Originally Posted by TwinDarkness

is it really crowded in Munich and on the freeway? also, are the drivers there good or do they drive shitty like they do in the states. i dont want some dumbshit to hit me during EU delivery.

Autobahns tend to get congested, yes, like in every other part of the world. Especially near cities (where incidentally you have speed limits). When you are in more rural/outside urban areas then it is generally free and clear (and speed limit-less). On average German drivers are a lot more attentive than US drivers', so if anything, your worries should be higher here State-side!