So I found out that it is cheapest to use a Citibank ATM at the airport in Narita to get my yen. The question is, does anyone know if I have a $300 daily limit, like in the US?

My ATM card is with my bank at home. I signed papers with them to allow me a higher daily withdraw limit. If you Citibank card is with a "local" bank, ask them to raise your limit!

I'm not with Citibank but since they are the only 24 hour open ATM that takes US cards---I was advised to use them. Just wondering if anyone noticed a daily limit. WOuld rather take out $1000 at once.

i find that some atm's won't allow large withdrawals--say over $400. u.s. but that does not apply to all..

for instance in bali in june the atm i often used would not allow you to take more than 400,000 rp at a time ($40.) but you were able to do multiple transactions, one after another... i am not sure if that will work in other places...

in thailand i usually withdraw about $300-400 (in baht of course) at a time...never a problem...

Eurosurfer-It seems that when I was in Japan last April, (and I exclusively used Citibank-both the ATM in Narita and Citibank's downtown ATMs) that there was some limit, maybe $300, but I am not 100 per cent sure...

Bonjour Eurosurfergirl,

Last May, I used exclusively post offices ATMs and when I tried to draw 100'000, I was refused, however I could draw yen 50'000 twice on the same day.

My understanding is that there are two limits involved - a daily limit set by the card issuer; and a transaction limit set by the owner of the ATM.

I think US banks routinely set a fairly low daily limit, but that can be increased by contacting your bank.

The transaction limit cannot be increased, but I think it can be circumvented by doing multiple transactions.

One complication is that, while you get a good exchange rate, you don't really know what the rate is at the time of the transaction. Thus, if your daily limit is $600, and your first transaction for what you guess is $300 (limited by the transaction limit), but it is actually $301, a second transaction for what you guess is $300 would be rejected as you would be trying to exceed your daily limit.

Aloha all,
I'm headed out to Tokyo in several days and wanted to join in on this thread to ask if ATMs are generally the way to get the best rates converting dollars to yen. I'm not converting large amounts, perhaps $300 a day.

Mahalo

kwock; it is the most convenient way to get yen. if you go a bank, it will take longer, and you need to produce your passport.

if you want to change a couple of hundred dollars before you go, the best place is a little money changer place across from the duty free shop in waikiki. i believe its on royal hawaiian ave. better than bank rates.

eurosurfergirl,

While if you were in Europe, the ATM concern may be the fee, in Japan, I found much difficulty finding an ATM that takes a US card. You received a good advice in this respect.

Because it was such a pain, I used two cards from two different banks to get the maximum cash out when I happened to be at a right ATM. Also even though the daily withdrawal limit was supposed to be $300, I was able to do 2 $300 withdrawals within the same day (US day.)

Your card may limit the amount of money to be withdrawn but here in Japan the limit is probably more than you would ever need. I bank with Citibank and I do not think there is an ATM withdrawal limit. Most banks allow you to take at least 2 million yen which is about $18-19,000US dollars. Yes that is right, sounds high but its normal. I often take money out of our citibank account via ATM and wire it to our US bank account to pay for our mortgae so I do this quite freqently. I usually wire 2 million yen but have also done 4 million yen at one time and had no problem getting that much out of the ATM. Ofcourse I may have specified that I wanted no withdrawals limts but it is normal here to withdraw thousands of (yen) dollars at a time (to pay for rent, bills, ect as we do not have checking accounts liek the US does) It is very safe here and you should have no problem taking our large amounts of moeny but as a tourist you should not have the need to as the credit card is widely accepted.

one thing you have to be sure to do is call your bank and let them know that you are traveling overseas. my last trip to thailand i did not call and they shut off my ATM card for the last few days of my trip