Castellanese

Good morning everybody,

Are there currency exchange offices in Lisbon, or at Lisbon airport, where you can get cash and have it charged to your credit card?

The answer I usually get to this question is: "you can withdraw cash with your credit card from an ATM", but Venezuelans cannot withdraw more than 200 Euros from an ATM per month. However, we can get up to Euros 2000 in cash only from currency exchange offices that accept credit cards, but these type of currency exchange offices are not common.

In Madrid, Prague and Rome, I have seen and used currency exchange offices with the VISA/MASTERCARD sticker that allows travelers to get any amount of cash and have it charged to their credit card, but I am wondering if there are such currency exchange offices in Lisbon.

Thanks for your help,

Castellanese

Cathinjoetown

Here's information on the currency exchange desk at Lisbon airport. I usually would not suggest this but can you obtain some euros in Venezuela before you leave? At the airport, the exchange rate will be poor and you will incur interest on your card from the day of withdrawal.

http://m.ana.pt/en-US/Aeroportos/Lis...ges/Money.aspx

ira

Hi C,

> "you can withdraw cash with your credit card from an ATM",

You do know that if you use your credit card to withdraw cash that it is treated as a cash advance and you pay interest from the moment you withdraw it.

Can you purchase Euro-denominated traveler's checks in Venezuela?

sparkchaser

Do not use your credit card at a currency exchange office!!!!

I understand your restrictions so with that in mind, I am going to say that this one of those rare situations where you should buy Euro from your bank.

Castellanese

Thanks for your replies and thanks for the link.

There is currency exchange control in Venezuela. We can get "cash" from our banks, but it is restricted to 400 Euros per year and, as I said above, 200 Euros in cash through ATM's abroad. We can use our credit card up to 2000 Euros per year, but, if you visit a country where credit cards are not widely accepted, that leaves me "victim" to black market Dollars and Euros, which are difficult to find, expensive (10 times higher than the official rate) and who can guarantee their "quality"? In total, Venezuelans are not allowed to spend more than around 2500 Euros per year abroad. Why? Well, that what happens when you live in a "socialist" country where "freedom" is limited for "everybody" (unless you are "connected" to the government).

I have posted this question here on the Portugal forum because I am interested in visiting Sao Tome & Principe flying through Lisbon. If I were able to travel through Madrid or Rome, I'd do it, but, from Venezuela, the route through Lisbon is the easiest and less expensive one.

I am aware that currency exchange offices who "sell" you cash charged onto your credit card also charge you a fee (1% if you want US dollars; 10% if you want Euros), but it is much less expensive than to get black market Euros or dollars.

Thanks for any other input you may offer,

Castellanese

StCirq

Maybe you should buy dollars, then, in Lisbon, and then exchange the cash in dollars for euros. Not sure how the math would work out, but there's a big difference between 1% and 10%.

nanabee

ttt

nanabee

I would take St.Cirq's advice.

Ira & Sparkchaser are right on it is very expensive and in my experience it is more that 1-10% it is more like 25%. It is not a credit against your card's account - it is a loan that starts the minute you go thru with the transaction and continues at the high rate until you receive your bill and pay it off.

Why can't you just use the ATM Euro's you can get and put everything else onto your credit card (hotel, restaurants, major purchases, car & transportation). That's what we do, and we travel & keep just a handful of euro for small things.

Southam

If your credit cards function the same as ours in North America, any cash advance on a credit card comes in at about 20 per cent interest charged the instant of the advance. That's by the card issuer, and sometimes applies to the entire credit balance, not just the advance.
Any agency offering what seems to be lower rates must compensate somehow and I suspect would operate only slightly more honestly than a guy down a dark alleyway carrying a big stick.

Castellanese

Hi again everybody!

I checked Cathinjoetown's link and, www.unicambio.pt, offers cash advance charged onto your credit card. Thanks, Cathinjoetown!

Whenever I can, I follow Nanabee's advice: "use the ATM Euro's you can get and put everything else onto your credit card". However, my intention next year is to visit Sao Tome & Principe, and I have noticed that budget lodging does not take credit cards but cash.

This is year, I went to Madrid and, in fact, bought dollars, and only if necessary changed into Euros because, as St. Cirq said, the difference 1-10% is huge.

Ira & Sparkchaser are both right, but this how the official rate competes against the black market in Venezuela: Official US Dollars cost 6,30 Bolívares (our local currency), but black market dollars cost 35,0 Bolívares. If I were to travel entirely on 35 Bolívares-Dollars, I could not travel. So, even at a 25%, having Euros/Dollars charged onto our credit cards is a good deal. However, we, Venezuelans, are only allowed to use 2500 Euros per year abroad, and only 400 in cash, and this isn't exactly good if places are not used to working with credit cards.

Thanks again everybody for your time and input... any other opinion/suggestion is welcome!

Castellanese

Castellanese

Hi again,

False alarm. I emailed Unicambio, in Lisbon, and they told me that I can only pay in cash or debit card. They do not accept credit cards.

I am having such a hard time finding this information. My going to Sao Tome pretty much depends on this.

Castellanese

hkto

Western Union claims that money can be send by CC so if that is the case transfer it to yourself & pickup in Lisbon http://www.westernunion.pt/

StCirq

Castellanese, how much, in cash, can you take out from your bank account in Venezuela before traveling (does anyone have to know you are making a withdrawal for travel)?

I take it you can't get a debit card in Venezuela. Is that the case?

Can you buy traveler's checks?

Can you purchase a bank draft in Venezuela that you could mail to someone in Lisbon for safekeeping until you get there?

Can you send a wire transfer in more than the stated limit to Lisbon?

Can you get together with other friends/relatives in Venezuela and somehow pool your resources to get you more access to cash? Like people who don't have any plans to travel?

Do you have a way of getting your hands on a bunch of Venezuelan currency in cash (selling stuff???) you could carry with you to exchange?

Sorry if these are all stupid...just trying to think out of the box.

I'd be really interested in what you're doing in São Tomé e Príncipe, too. Not a popular destination, but I've done a fair bit of work with people involved there. I assume you are going there for some good purpose, as they need it.

Castellanese

Hi StCirq,

1. Venezuelan debit cards don't work abroad because of the currency exchange law. Only credit cards are allowed and activated to be used abroad.

2. We cannot buy traveler's checks. We are only allowed 400 euros in cash per year and 200 euros for withdrawal at ATMs per month.

We are also allowed 400 dollars to be used online per year, and, sometimes, I have been able to pay for hotels with this money. In total, considering credit card, cash advance and online currency, Venezuelans are not allowed to spend more han 4000 dollars per year, 3000 of these only with credit card. It does not matter how many credit cards you have, you are only allowed to use 3000 dollars with them abroad.

3. Because of the currency exchange law, we are not allowed to purchase bank drafts.

4. Venezuelans must buy a plane ticket, submit it with other requirements and receive approval on behalf of the government, which will give the yes to our banks to activate our credit cards, only during the length of our trip, and to give us the 400 euros in cash. Outside the length of our trip, credit cards don't work out.

5. Bolivares, our Venezuelan currency, aren't accepted at currency exchange offices abroad. When foreigners visit Venezuela, they can only get Bolivares here, in Venezuela, where currency exchange offices sell and buy only to them, who must show their passport and return plane ticket.

Your questions are not stupid. In fact, you are one of the few people I have known who have showed interest in learning about our situation.

l am only going to Sao Tome (not Principe for budget limitations. plane tickets between islands cost 250 dollars and the flight to Sao Tome from Venezuela is already expensive, at least for me) for visiting reasons. I have been doing a lot of reading about it and it has caight my attention in a way that very few places have done it. I realize hat it is not a common or standard place to visit, but this exactly why I want o visit it. I visited Tobago last and this year, and you have no idea (probably you do, I apologize for assuming this) about what that little island, which is not supposed to have too much to offer, actually has.

Thanks again for your input and help,

Castellanese.

sparkchaser

Castellanese, thanks for sharing the complexities of the logistics on your end. We tend to take for granted how easy it is for many of use to get money when we want and how we want it.

cathies

Wow castellanese, that's a lot to plan out before a trip. I had no idea! As sparkchaser said its so easy for most of us.

I would be interested to read a trip report if you have time to write one when you are back home.

jamikins

Wow thanks for sharing, that takes travel complications to a whole new level!!! Would also love to read a trip report!!

Castellanese

Well, although I have managed to travel for the past years with all these restrictions, somehow, this trip to Sao Tome is becoming very challenging. Lisbon was, or still is, supposed to be my salvation in order to buy cash with my credit card. However, I have not found anything, so I am starting to lose faith in it.

TAP offers the most comfortable connection from Venezuela to Sao Tome, but it stops at Lisbon. I could fly with IBERIA, and stop at Madrid, where currency exchange offices accepting credit cards exist, but I would also have to stop at Angola. Not only I would have to pay for my ticket to Angola, but I would also have to pay for a ticket from Angola to Sao Tome, and this is making the trip too expensive for me.

I am still researching, though, so let's hope it all turns out as expected. Thanks everybody for their time and input. I will be posting any good news to come.

Castellanese

StCirq

Hi, Castellanese,

Boy, you have a lot of restrictions to deal with! I am actually fascinated by your plans, as I have some limited experience as a writer/editor/publisher, with São Tomé. So I'm trying to tax my brain to find solutions for you.

Is there any way you can get some sort of sponsorship for your trip? From an NGO or international development agency that would front the costs? A grant? USAID gives them out fairly liberally. It depends on why you're going, of course.

Is there any way you can connect with someone in another country whose bank account and ATM card you could use? A "loan," which you could repay as you are able?

What a puzzle!

Robert2533

Not wanting to get political, but you could also consider moving to another country without all of the restrictions Venezuela imposes on its citizens. Worst than Spain under Franco. The State Department report is overwhelming.