Most banks nowadays offer travel rewards credit cards, that lower foreign transaction fees. I've been using the Visa Travel rewards card by Bank of America for the past 4 years of full-time travel in Europe. I get rewards for every single purchase. But, choosing a checking or credit card to use abroad is not the most important step! There is something that foreign banks do, through the use of ATMs and even when paying by card. In both cases, the machine (or employee charging your card) offers the choice to be charged in US $ or the local currency, for example, Euro in Europe. It is CRUCIAL, to always choose to be charged in the LOCAL CURRENCY, not US $. The exchange rate these banks apply is extremely high, so, by choosing to be charged in the local currency, you leave the conversion up for YOUR bank to do. From experience with Bank of America as well as our business banking with Mercury Bank and Relay Bank, this is a huge saving hack! The difference we have seen between the US$ amount offered by the ATM (the one we do not accept!), and the amount we actually get charged for the transaction, is huge! When taking out a few hundred from an ATM, to have some cash on hand, we have seen this difference to be up to $80 per transaction. That is wild! Never ever accept to be charged in US $! That's my most important tip for using US Cards in Europe. Of course, I always recommend travel reward cards, but whichever bank you use, your bank will give you a better exchange rate than the foreign ATM.