Banks vs. Credit Unions for the purposes of Traveling

This post could have been otherwise titled:

1. "Rude and whiny vs. Intelligent and informational"
2. "Fees vs. Practically Free Money"
3. or simply "The Bad vs. The Better"

When we set out to open a joint checking account to better manage our joint finances before and with the goal of helping fund our joint expedition, it never crossed my mind that maybe it really could make a difference which account and with which bank we kept our money, and that decision might actually have a positive affect on our life.
I also never envisioned that a large commercial bank would employ a personal banker that didn't want to answer questions about their banks and account offerings, who would try and coerce consumers to "Just open a checking account with us, really it's just a checking account...", and top off the charade with a charming "I'm really feeling interrogated here; The questions you're asking me are going to be the same at any bank". I almost burst out laughing when the banker reluctantly (and with a heavy sigh to emphasize) answered our last question Why should we bank with you? with a stunning "Well because we've got the best customer service in the banking world."

Needless to say we went with the Credit Union, not because they were helpful on a Saturday morning in a busy location and walked through all our questions with us, provided pamphlets, put no pressure on us to open accounts, asked us about our lifestyles and needs and acted interested in our travel plans... No we left all that out and just looked at the facts:

Credit Union Bank (Not to be Named)
Checking: 1.5% (first $500) Checking .15 - .45% depending on balance amounts
Savings: 7% (first $500) Savings 1.25% or less, depending on balance amounts
Debit Card: Mastercard Visa
OverDraft: $20 $34
Online Banking: Yes Yes
Cash Machines
Fees Overseas: $0 $5
Cash Machine
Fees Domestic: $0 $2
Debit Overseas: %1 %3

There's more too but I won't bore you with the details.
The goal with the joint account is to better monitor where our money is collectively going instead of trying to collate two separate statements and ton's of shrouded debit transactions and receipts at the end of each month. We've got a target for savings each month, one last credit card to pay off (Projected payoff is DECEMBER) and then it should be all efforts towards building onto the travel funds that are currently in a High Yield Savings account (after a year sitting in a very low interest bearing checking account - *ouch*)

Everything is on the up and up and hopefully we'll have the online banking working for us by the end of the night!

*** as a side note we've added one parent apiece to the account for power of attorney in case something should happen to us while we're gone and to augment the credit unions customer service schedule should we need transfers and can't access our online banking.