while we where in Central America and Europe we had great experience with our small local credit union... while everyone else in the group got hit for using their card twice when swiping at the shops... (got hit with a fee for using it overseas and another fee for currency conversion)... ours didn't hit for either... just charged us whatever the current exchange rate was... not an issue if you use a local bank but worth looking into... one guy was spending almost $4 every time he went to the local shop to buy a coke before he realized what was happening.
also see about getting a card with the "chip" a number of places wouldn't take a card without it.
