Stu, just keep using all of that cash if you are stuck in the 20th century and things that happened decades ago. It must have been really traumatic.

Where did I indicate that we use "all of that that cash"? We use very little cash for normal purchases. Most of it (maybe all) is for security deposits for Gites we stay in. Of the 72 gites we have rented, none have accepted credit cards - only cash or checks. Normal security deposit is 300 to 800E.


Stu Dudley

Weekly rent of Gites is paid for in advance by credit card or bank transfer. Security deposits and rent of sheets, towels, bedding is paid for with cash or check when we arrive at the gite.



Stu Dudley

>>@janisj... Nope, I never ask for conversion to be done. The Travelex ATM does it to begin with and throws the question back for me to accept or reject their rate. That's the key point. A bank ATM typically doesn't show any converted amount to start with and present their options very clearly.<<

IME even most bank-owned cash machines now ask if you want them to convert for you -- has been happening the last couple of years. So Travelex is no different. It is called Dynamic Currency Conversion.

Same with credit cards - ALWAYS have the charge done in the local currency.

That was close to two decades ago! And your debit card compromise was actually more than two decades ago - I'm kind of surprised you weren't still using traveler's cheques then. Since those good old days, I have traveled on many trips - to France, Germany, UK, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Peru, Mexico, Thailand, China, Canada, and all over the United States. I have not had any problems with using an ATM, other than the situation with the one in Quebec that I mentioned in my earlier post.

We do carry two separate debit cards, and two credit cards. I do not want or plan to carry cash. But you go ahead and rock on, Stu!

I usually get a little foreign cash before leaving home, because I don't like using an ATM while tired and need to keep an eye on my bags at the same time. I especially don't like using credit cards in airports or train stations. I just get enough cash to get me to my hotel, never more than the equivalent of €100.

I've lived in Europe for the past 20 years, and traveled here frequently before then. I've never had a a cash emergency. Especially today, you can pay in many places with your phone as well as a credit card. A strike that depletes ATM machines is as likely to happen as an eagle snatching your wallet from your hands.

I also wouldn't bother opening a new bank account to get a credit card that doesn't charge international exchange fees, unless they get much more onerous than they are now. These fees are usually charged when you withdraw money at an ATM, not when you make purchases. I use my credit card for all major expenses and don't need to take much money from ATMs. A 3% fee on withdrawals amounting to €1000 euros would be €30. You'd save a lot more money by learning the public transportation system instead of taking taxis everywhere, or buying your water in a supermarket instead of at street vendors.

You don't get what I'm saying. I'm saying the information is presented differently and deceptively.

​​​​​​​​​​​​With all previous ATMs, I ask to withdraw 500 Euros, ATM says okay, you want it it Euro or USD? I say Euro, it spits out Euros. I never even see a conversion rate or a converted amount.

With the Travelex, I ask to withdraw 500 Euros, it tells me the rate is 1.31 and the amount will be 655 USD. There are then two longwinded sentences I need to read and choose from: "I accept this rate and would like to withdraw this exact amount." in a prominent position on the screen OR "I don't accept this rate pls let my bank convert for me" in a less obvious position on the screen where you can miss it altogether.

The problem is that they make the conversion the "default" option which you need to reject instead of presenting both as equal options.

>>You don't get what I'm saying. I'm saying the information is presented differently and deceptively . . . The problem is that they make the conversion the "default" option <<

And what I was trying to say is many bank owned machines are doing the very same thing now . . .

OK scdreamer. Tell me how I should have convinced the 70 gite owners in France to accept a US check or a credit/debit card instead of cash. Reply soon, because in 2 1/2 weeks we'll need to pay 600E cash or check to a gite proprietor in Brittany, and 2 weeks after that - another gite proprietor in a different area of Brittany. Next year - 4 more security deposits are required in cash for the 4 gites we have reserved. Maybe if I give you their e-mail addresses, you could tell them how foolish & old-fashoned it is to request a refundable security deposit in cash or check from a person in the US. BTW, I never get Euros in the US - I save Euros from my last trip to use on my next trip for a security deposit & some nominal landing cash. Also, the cash security deposits are often around 800E - which exceeds the daily limit I can get on my ATM. Since we must pay this deposit when we arrive - that's a problem. And like bvlenci - I don't like to search for and use an ATM machine at an airport after an 11+ hr flight, waiting in line at passport control, and waiting for by bags to arrive.



The non-working ATMs in the one village was in the Franche Comte in 2008. I had the Morgan Stanley Debit card I use to get cash in Europe declined 30 mins ago here in the US. I'll have to research that tomorrow. Our BofA ATM card was compromised 2 weeks before we were scheduled to depart for France in 2012 and I had to go to my local BofA and jump through a few hoops to straighten things out.



Stu Dudley

Cash is still king in Bavaria. Oktoberfest, you'd best have cash. I love having cash for small purchases but glad the day of paying cash for apartments is mostly over. Paypal has been the best thing for apartment rentals. I do remember carrying wads to pay the landlord.

In Italy, I avoid lodgings that demand cash, because I suspect they're tax evaders, and I don't knowingly patronize tax evaders.

I generally prefer hotels to apartments and other self-catering options, unless we're traveling as part of a family group. When I have stayed in lodgings of this type, I've had to pay a deposit by bank transfer. I don't understand how you can pay a deposit in cash, unless it's payable on arrival.

I think it's pretty common, bvlenci, for apartment and villa owners in Italy (and other European countries) to demand cash payments for deposits from people who don't have a European bank account, at least if posts here on Fodors are believable. I'm not sure they're all tax evaders, though they may be. A bank transfer from, let's say, a typical American bank costs the sender a boatload of money, and, at least here in France there is a charge on the receiving end at most banks for getting a wire transfer.

It is hard to imagine that all 72 gite owners we've paid in cash are tax evaders. Many of them were "pillars of the community" (major business owners, mayors, doctors, president of the department's Gites-de-France board of directors).



Stu Dudley

All the "caution" (security deposit) payments we've paid in France have been paid in cash on arrival. And all of them have been paid back to us when we departed. I don't see a "tax avoidance" opportunity for a deposit that is returned in 1 to 4 weeks. One of the proprietors complained about a "fee" he had to pay to receive a large bank transfer from us. We were the first people he hhad rented to, that were from the USA. I think we pay around $35 on our end. We eventually became good friends and we exchange Christmas greetings every year.



This week, we have to make a 2,700E bank transfer to a gite owner in Brittany for our upcoming trip there (2 week stay in this gite). She said we could pay this 2,700E in cash upon arrival - but we told her that we don't want to carry that much cash around while traveling (multiple ATM withdraws required). This is our second of 2 gites we're staying in on this trip. The first one wants a 800E "caution" in cash or check on arrival.



Stu Dudley

I have not had to pay cash in a number of years as many accept paypal now. I think many preferred cash rather than a check which could bounce. We usually do a paypal deposit and then balance on paypal 30 days out. The deposit for key/security if any shows up after departure.

If they are demanding cash, they are evading taxes.

Only crooks demand cash these days. "Crook" is perhaps a strong word for these people "optimizing" their fiscal situation, but the time has come to put an end to it. All of the rest of us have to absorb the taxes not being paid.

Absolutely everybody with a bank account has an IBAN so I do not understand any hesitation about making bank transfers.

Well, kerouac, my bank account in the USA is with the World Bank - Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union. It does not have an IBAN. So when in the past I was asked to make transfers it was sometimes a problem.

- Our bank fee to make a bank transfer for the initial deposit when the gite in Brittany was reserved last year - $35
- The Gite owner's fee for receiving the transfer - 20E (according to what a gite owner on the Ile de Re had to pay)
- Our bank fee for the final payment of 2,700E for the gite - $35
- Gite owner's fee - 20E


Total - about $115


Of the 20 or so gites we've rented through Gites-de-France in the past 5 years, only 2 have wanted payments in cash or check for rent. All have wanted check or cash for the caution. We have rented about 11 other apts in France & Italy, that we have rented from firms other than GdF. Only 1 wanted cash (bank transfer) and the others had paypal type payment options.


Stu Dudley

Side note that I would have found useful: what you call an ATM in French.

The locals had no clue of what I meant by "ATM", and were even more confused with my French when I tried to translate "I'm looking for those money-dispensing machines that you insert your bank card into (insert hand gestures), often found outside of banks...you know, the automatic machines that will give you euros with your bank card...??"

So the magic words are "distributeur de billets".

Other terms my search gave me were "guichet", "machine bancaire", but I think the above's more literal translation (dispenser of cash) is easier to remember.

Boots