indysteel, thanks very much; this is great information! I think I can get a refillable debit card here to use in Europe; I'd forgotten about that until your post reminded me. My son spent a few weeks in Germany this past summer -- his first time out of the US -- and we learned the hard way that we had to 1.) let the credit union know he'd be using his debit card overseas, and 2.) he could pull money only from the savings, not the checking account. Maybe should have opted for a refillable card for him; thanks to your post, I'll get one for myself.

A nighttime bike tour... ! What a great idea!! Off to Google for one.