We need $1500 Euros cash to pay for the apartment we are renting in Venice. Since we must present this amount to our landlord the day we arrive, we must find somewhere in the U.S. that will provide us with Euros without ripping us off too much (Thomas Cook is expensive!). We live near SF and could go into the city if necesssary. Thanks!

It would worry me to carry that much cash.
Could you not take only part of it with you, and withdraw the rest when you arrive, from an ATM?
Check with your bank as to daily withdrawal limit.
Would the landlord not accept an international money order?

I also wouldn't travel with that much cash in hand. Can't you wire the money to their bank?

I live in Southern California and use a local currency exchange place near my home. They are considerably cheaper than Thomas Cook or American Express Travel (both of which I have used for previous currency conversion). I would look up in the yellow pages and call all the exchange places and inquire about their rates. I also used a place and charged the amount on my Visa, which they in turn gave me the euro equivalent in cash. You might look into doing that if you get a better rate than a straight cash to euro exchange. I would not take that much over, perhaps take $800 over with you, then get the remaining $700 out from an ATM once you are there. Is there any way you can split the payment to your Venice landlord? Perhaps they would accept $800 upfront, then the remaining $700 upon your departure? You could certainly ask so that could be an option if you are unable to withdraw large quantities of euro/per day from the Venice ATM.

Will the landlord accept Euro traveller's checks? That way you're not carrying around so much cash. You can get those from American Express.

If you have an account Bank of America will give you a reasonable rate. It just take a phone call and beleive it or not they mail it. To your account address.

An ATM on arrival will also give you a significantly better exhange rate than anything you can do in advance from the States.

See Elaine's post above re checking with your bank re your daily withdrawl limit.

Any bank will do it. They just might need or so. You do say "we". My wife would look at me like I had lost my mind if I said I was uncomfortable carrying that much cash. We would naturally split it up. Sensible advice would be to wear a money belt. I guess you both could wear one.

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi rosaleen,

Ask your bank to raise your limit to 1500 euro for the day you will arrive in Venice.

You will probably have to withdraw it from more than one ATM, since they usually have a limit of 300E/transaction.

You might also send the apartment owner a check for $2000, which would more than cover the 1500E plus bank charges and recover the check from him for 1500E which you could withdraw from ATMs on dfferent days.

When compared with a credit card transaction or local cash withdrawal, there is NO best way to send euros to Europe. (On a credit card purhase, I am assuming you are not using a card that charges the 2% "for nothing" markup.)

I use Bank of America and I know from having paid the fee more than once that BOA will charge you at least 5% above the wholesale bank rate of exchange.
(It once charged me 5% for the euro notes, and then it slapped me with a Fed Ex shipment fee. I was able to get that rescinded when I told them to print up a check for all the money in my account and close it down.)

Getting a money order or a certified bank draft is not cheap because you first pay for the euros you buy at 5% above the wholesale bank rate, and then you pay for the service of having the certified draft or interbank draft prepared.

Euro denominated traveler's checks
will run you about 5% above the interbank wholesale rate of exchange as well, even if you get them from AAA.
(And don't believe that "no fee" malarky -- anything more than the bank wholesale rate is a fee regardless of the euphemisms applied. ) Again, I know what I had to pay to get some traveler's checks, and I compared my cost with the bank wholesale rate. The wholesale rate multiplied by 1.05 was what I paid by the time I walked out with the checks.

You might find it cheaper to do what I do so that I can acquire enough currency for almost all needs in Europe: I have two checking accounts with ATM card access and fairly liberal limits.

The checking accounts are virtually costless, and the convenience is unrivaled. (One account is Cirrus; the other PLUS so I an covered in most all cases.)

If I needed a big wad like $1,500, I am not sure what I would do if my two accounts would not carry me over or if the apartment landlord/lady would not work out a deal. (I have hit the accounts for $600 at one swat in Europe, but I never tried $750.)

Paying the whole bill on arrival seems fierce, considering that NO service has yet been provided to you. That is like paying for a rental car before you drive it, or for a hotel before you sleep in it.

Although I have rented apartments in Austria and Switzerland where I paid the rental fee all in cash, I did not have to pay it ALL on the first day. I paid at the end of my stay.

What I did in Austria was to send a personal check in US dollars made out to the landlady. She held it until I paid the full rent in cash. Then I got my check back.

She did not want to cash my check, and I did not want her to because we both knew that the casher of the check would take a beating at the bank. The check essentially was my pledge that I would pay the whole rental bill in cash. The agreement worked out well.

I have followed the same procedure in Switzerland as well -- my personal check returned upon cash payment of the rent in full.

Usually Europeans don't want checks of any description, not even traveler's checks, because of the expense of cashing them or depositing them. I know my landlady in Switzerland said flatly to me the first time we rented from her: NO Traveler's Checks -- period, exclamation point, capital letters.

The Austrian deal was similar. No credit cards, no checks of any type: Pay in Cash. (With the proviso of course that if I did not show up, my "pledge check" would be taken to the bank for collection.)

May I suggest you make an offer to your Italian landlord similar to the one I experienced with the Austrian apartment owner. I found it to be very satisfactory. If the check idea will not work, perhaps they would go along with half on arrival and half the next day.

The few times I have had to pay an entire apartment rental in cash the landlord was more than willing to allow 2 or 3 days to make the full payment (once they understood the problems of a daily ATM limit) It is worth a shot to ask the landlord/manager if they would be willing. Also - for every European trip I have my bank raise my daily ATM limit. They do it w/o blinking an eye.

You could ask the landlord to hold a US$ check for the entire amount (as security) until you have paid the full rent in euro.

I have always ordered currency from BOA and haven't incurred delivery charge because I can pick it up at a local branch; there is no fee for orders of $500 or more, and I agree the exchange is about 5%. You can 'shop' it online and compare to the rate on Yahoo (finance page).

The currency exchange on Cyrill Magnin Way gave us a better exchange than BofA, and we have an account with the bank. The two are practically next to each other, so it would be easy to check which one is better for you.

Check with your own bank first. As mentioned, Bank of America will order foreign currency to your branch. Assuming 2 people are traveling, I'd split the money between you. Not ideal, but personally I wouldn't be afraid to travel with ~$750 in cash since you'll be spending it immediately upon arrival.

I don't like dealing with apartment owners who want all the money in local currency up front unless I can pay with a credit card. I also would NOT want my local bank to increase the credit limit so I could obtain all this money from ATMs. This is probably the ONLY instance I would ever use TCs, but in USD and exchanged at a bank there for the better rate even though its not as good as the ATM. However, I would first try to negotiate with the owner to pay the large bill in a few installments.

Platzman, I'm trying to remember if I have ever rented an apartment in Europe WITHOUT paying the full amount up front, either in advance or on arrival. I can't imagine most apartment owners agreeing to let me move in for a week and only paying half with the rest due in the middle of the week for example.

I do agree that this is one time when it somewhat makes sense to use Traveler's Cheques, but only if in the local currency. On the other hand, you'll still be saving a few dollars by drawing it out of an ATM on arrival.

You could try AAA. Only did it once, but I got an excellent exchange rate and low fee at the local AAA office for TCs and cash in yen.

<<I'm trying to remember if I have ever rented an apartment in Europe WITHOUT paying the full amount up front>>

I've had a similar experience; it's the norm, but maybe not every single place I have ever rented.

At least four times over the past 5 or 6 years (it could be as many as six times) I have arranged to pay my apartment rental 2 or 3 days after arrival to give me time to get the cash together.

I think the replies that suggest this is too much cash to carry are funny. How on earth is anybody supposed to know how much cash you have in your wallet at any given time, unless you tell them? Is there a universal facial expression that tells strangers, "Ooops, I'm carrying 3000 Euros today instead of the recommended 750?" Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculously paranoid? The subject of money says a lot about people.

Yes, there is always a risk that something could happen and the cash will be gone. Do you leave your house fearing a car will mow you down? Statistics show, that car will strike you before you get robbed in Europe.

If losing this amount of cash will devastate you, then maybe you don't belong in an apartment rental in Europe and should consider only hotels. They provide much more safety. How many apartments in Europe come with a doorman, especially after dark?

I think the risks of losing 3000 Euro are miniscule and I speak from personal experience but I wouldn't want to tell anybody how to handle their own cash. (Feel free to blame American Express for creating mass paranoia as a marketing campaign to purchase their services. How brilliant was that!)

If an apartment owner requires full payment upon surrender of keys, I would do everything in my power to respect that, otherwise, you belong in a hotel. Most owners or agents don't want to be bothered with having to make additional plans to rendezvous with you to collect a balance, just so you can save a few extra bucks on the exchange rate.

PS Everyone knows that AutoEurope offers the best deal if you pre-pay and most customers do, oftentimes months in advance.

PSS I used the 3000 Euro figure because that's how much cash I bring with me to pay for my rental in Dosoduro the day I arrive. I've been doing this for years. I only know one ATM in Venice that dispenses 1000 Euro in any 24 hour period and it's not conveniently located. Also, your bank ay home must permit you to withdraw that amount as your daily limit.