louloujr

Has anyone had trouble changing money and/or using an ATM card in these cities? When I asked our bank about ATM usage, they called Russia a potentially "high risk" country and said our ATM card "might" not work reliably. If the worst happens, am wondering how to get rubles, as necessary. Carrying cash (USD$) does not sound like a great idea. Any advice?

Bedar

We had no problems whatsoever in using the ATMs. Used one in the Petersburg airport on arrival. That was in 2005. My husband always wears what looks like a regular leather belt, but it has a zip on the inside where we carry $1,000 in hundreds for an emergency. We have never used it yet.

1965

We're taking a riverboat cruise, St. Petersburg to Moscow, in May. On cruisecritic.com,click on "boards", then click on "Russian riverboat cruises." There have been many posts regarding using ATMs there. No problems at all, according to every post discussing the subject. Our bank just issued a debit card for us for that specific use. Some say use the airport ATM since those are tied to a bank, and not to use one you might find in a store, on a corner, etc., since those can charge any fee they choose. Several posts say no fee is charged at the airport ATM, except your bank will charge a fee. Our bank charges $2.50 per transaction, so we'll get as much as we need in one transaction. Hope you have a great trip.

1965

I need to make a correction to my post. When you go to cruisecritic.com, click on "boards." Scroll down to "roll calls," then click on "All river cruise roll calls." Scroll until you find "Russian riverboat cruises-2012-all lines." There you should find some postings about using ATMs. Continue scrolling to "Russian riverboat cruises-2013-all lines." There you will also find ATM discussions.

Southam

Good advice to use an ATM tied to a bank, and preferably at a bank branch. In the rare case of a problem, you have more chance of getting action right at the bank. Actually, good advice anywhere.

michele_d

The only problem we had in St Petersburg using my husband's ATM card was entirely our fault.

The set up of the ATM buttons was different than we had been used to. The ENTER/YES button was in the upper right corner as opposed to the lower right corner (or visa versa).

When my husband entered his PIN he hit the wrong ENTER button. We didn't think anything of it and her tried to use his card again immediately but it didn't work. We just used my card instead for the rest of our stay in ST Petes.

When we arrived in Tallinn and his card still didn't work we called our bank and they said that they detected fraud because of the incorrect PIN number so it locked out his card. We verified what had happened and they unlocked his card immediately.

Just be careful when you use the ATM for the correct location of the buttons.

LowCountryIslander

I returned last month from a 2 week cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

I used my Bank of America ATM card at 3 machines in Moscow, the airport, a free standing bank ATM and a bank ATM in my Moscow hotel lobby. I had no problems at all.

However, I was traveling with my mom who banks at TD Bank. Prior to the trip we both alerted our banks we would be traveling and accessing our accounts in Russia. My mom had somewhat of a challenge getting access to money at any ATM we tried.

The day we arrived she tried accessing a free standing bank's ATM, no luck, so we tried 2 more banks on the same street, no luck with those either. We went back to our hotel and called her bank. They said they could see the travel notice on her card and could also see there was a denial code, the agent on the phone said it was a denial code she had never seen before. She said she would put through another travel notification on the card and we should try to access an ATM in 24 hours. We waited the 24 hours and went to a bank ATM located in the GUM Department store in Moscow, still no luck. We went to a second ATM at the GUM Department store and mom was finally able to get money, but that ATM had a limit of about 5,000 Rubles (about $150).

Fortunately I was able to get more cash and we rolled with that. This may not be a typical experience, but it is what happened to us.

NeoPatrick

If your bank thinks their card might not work, perhaps you need to find a better bank. My BofA ATM card worked perfectly in about 5 or 6 ATMs in St. Petersburg and Moscow last year. Never had a problem.

jan47ete

The only problem we had was that the cashier or ATM wanted to give us very large ruble bills which we felt would be very hard at restaurants, small businesses, torist sites.

michele_d

I agree about the large bills. I wish there was an option to select the denominations. I hated walking around with huge bills. I felt rude buying something tiny and cringed when I handed them the money.