Subject: ATM fees while traveling |
Hey all,
I have recently read that my bank, Wells Fargo, will be increasing their fee for overseas ATM use to $5.00 (matching that of Bank of America.) I know that some smaller banks have lower fees but since I live in the western US, where Wells Fargo ATMs are commonplace, the convenience of having their ATM card is too great to make me give it up. I don't like carrying a lot of cash when I'm traveling and use ATMs frequently, so I went looking for a lower-cost ATM card alternative. Thanks to the good folks at flyertalk.com and freefrequentflyermiles.com I found a solution that will free me from the $5.00 fee and has the added bonus of some "free" United Airlines miles. What I did was to open a Netbank Money Market Account for $5,000 through the United Airlines website's Mileage Plus Partners link, which will give me 2500 UA miles and a no-fee ATM card (I opened one for my wife too – for 2500 miles, what the heck). To qualify for the free miles I need to keep a minimum of $5,000 (at 2.10% APY) in the account for six months, so I'm going to add cash to the account just before traveling which I'll withdraw on the trip. Sounds like a neat solution – anybody have any comments? Al Sonoma, CA, USA |