Today, I was horrified to hear a story from an infrequent international traveler about how easy it was to get cash from ATM machines in Canada with her credit card. What!? Credit card did you say? Yes, she was acting on advice from a friend that credit cards were a great way to spend money internationally while traveling. Very true, very true. But using your credit card to make purchases internationally and using your credit card at an ATM internationally are two entirely different matters.

While using the right credit card internationally can deliver extremely low conversion fees, using that same credit card at an ATM can be costly. Just as in the States, using credit cards at an ATM racks up cash advance fees, which are usually 3% of the amount being withdrawn. Some credit card issuers such as Chase and Bank of America will also add another 3% for the currency conversion. This adds a hefty fee to the final bill. On the other hand, using a debit card to withdraw cash at an international ATM can be a great way to avoid foreign transaction fees.

In emergency situations, a credit card can be used at an ATM — I’ve been there. But for everyday situations, find a good debit card and use that instead. In this case my poor friend will be paying 6% in fees or nearly 1 USD for 1 CAD on her purchases when the bill comes in, but is all the wiser nonetheless.