<prompt> Human: I will be in Italy for approximately eight weeks. Will I need a card that has a chip in it, or will my mag. strip card work fine? If theres a good travel card I can apply for, please suggest it. Also, I just do not know what other preparations I need to make and would appreciate any advice you all have.  <response>: Its likely that your bank or credit union will give you a chip card on request or will automatically send such a card when it expires or otherwise needs to be replaced. This is because the US is finally adopting chip.Speaking of chip, almost all US credit cards are actually chip and signature and not chip and PIN. What this means is that if you insert the card at a place with a cashier, you will be signing a receipt just like here. You may not have to sign if the amount is low enough, also just like here. Some cards have a PIN and may even be marketed as chip and PIN but signature will still be done first if possible; the PIN in these cases is only used at things like ticket machines and gas pumps. This FAQ at rchipcards will explain more about chip if youre interested.That said, the main focus should be to get a card without foreign transaction fees. Bank of Americas Travel Rewards card is a good one with no annual fee. If you dont mind potentially canceling or downgrading after a year, the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Barclay Arrival are good cards too 0 annual fee for the first year, 90ish afterward.Also keep in mind that most debit cards also have foreign transaction fees, even when used in ATMs. They can also have insane fees for foreign withdrawals. Charles Schwab is a good second bank account to open to avoid those, since they reimburse all ATM fees every month and have no foreign transaction fees.Hope this helps! 