Budro

First time to Greece and have the tentative itinerary of: arriving in Athens 4 days, ferry to Mykonos 2, Naxos 2, Santorini 2, Crete 5, Rhodes 3, Kos 2, fly back to Athens from Kos, rent a car & travel along east coast to Thesseloniki and back to Athens thru'the interior and end with a few days on the Peloponnese. Not too sure how many days we should leave for these last two segments of our trip.We really need advice on whether this trip is too ambitious for the 30 days and also some answers to these questions:
1) What is the best method of $ payment-Visa, Traveller's chk., EU $ notes.....??
2) Are hotel reservations necessary on the islands at this time of year?
We'd appreciate any comments/suggestions.
Thanks.

P_M

Let me answer your question about the best method of payment, since that's an easy one. If you want to take traveler's checks as a back-up to your ATM card, that's OK, but do NOT plan to use them. All savvy travelers these days know that the ATM is the way to go. The ATM will give you the best exchange rate, it will have the lowest fees, and it's the most convenient form of exchange. You can use your credit cards for large purchases.

Another note about traveler's checks--do NOT buy them in euros. (Unless you are European) As I said above, you should not plan to use these unless something weird happens where you cannot use your ATM card. If you buy TC's in your own currency, then you can simply re-deposit them into your bank when you get home. If you buy them in euros, then you will lose on the exchange when you buy them, then you will lose again when you cash them in at home. Another bad thing about euro TC's is that they are not always easy to cash, at least without a fee.

Be sure to notify your bank and credit card company that you will be using these in Greece, otherwise they might flag your account for irregular activity.

brotherleelove2004

Have you factored in the time it'll take you from island to island? It doesn't sound like there's a lot of extra time, so leave the mainland segment of your trip to sort itself out. By the time you've finished with your ambitious island hopping you might just want to stop somewhere along the way and stay for longer than anticipated. Actually, that goes for the islands as well unless you're travelling on a hotel-reservation-driven timetable. And NO, hotel reservations aren't at all necessary then.

There are ATMs everywhere in Greece now, and you'll get the best exchange rate if you use them with a VISA or Mastercard ATM/debit card tied to your checking account. There's a $5 transaction fee (but no credit card cash advance fee) per withdrawl, so if you take out several hundred Euro at a time the expense diminishes nicely as opposed to the 'per note' commission attached to TCs and currency.

P_M

Brotherleelove, you said there's a $5 fee for ATM transactions?? My credit union only charges $1 for a foreign ATM w/d. Is the $5 fee from the Greek bank?

If the fee is indeed $5, then I agree that you should w/d as much money as you are comfortable carrying around. This way you won't make as many trips to the ATM.

brotherleelove2004

Yes, it's $5. Greece is not part of the Global Banking Alliance that affects many Western European countries in this way, so the charges aren't the same as they would be in London, Paris or Rome. And I do believe that the bank whose ATM is used is the one charging this $5, although I don't know for sure. What many people don't realize is that the exchange rate, although good, includes a 1% fee that VISA charges. Since it's built into the exchange rate you don't see it on your monthly transaction statement as an additional charge.

brotherleelove2004

P_M-have you been able to make ATM withdrawls in Greece using your Credit Union debit card with only a $1 transaction fee?

P_M

I have done this in many parts of Europe but not Greece. That's why I am interested to know if things are different in Greece. Thanks.

P_M

Please allow me to clarify. The last time I was in Greece was in the pre-euro days. At that time I did not have a credit union account, so I used my B of A debit card and I believe the fee at that time was $3. But that was 6 years ago, I realize a lot can change. If the standard ATM fee in Greece is $5, please advise so I can pass that along to anyone else who has questions.

Jacksons

We were just there in August and we used our Credit Union card and the fees were much less than our BoA card. In fact, I think our CU didn't charge a fee at all. We only incurred a fee from the bank we withdrew money from in Greece. Also, we did not use a single travelers check. Credit Card and Credit Union card for cash withdrawal worked great! The only thing I would suggest is spending 1 less day in Crete and 1 more day in Santorini. Have fun!

brotherleelove2004

Before my trip to Santorini last May i contacted both VISA and B of A about my debit card and the charges. My information is from those conversations and from the experience if that last trip. As far as I know the standard fee in Greece is $5.

Jacksons, what were your transaction fees for your debit card withdrawls in Greece?

Nikki

There was no per transaction fee when I used my ATM card in Greece last March. Just the 1% conversion fee. Brotherleelove, are you saying that $5 fee showed up on your bank statement? Or was it charged at the ATM when you withdrew the money? If the former, then it was imposed by your US bank.

brotherleelove2004

It showed up on my monthly statement. The fee was withdrawn from my bank account but I never bothered to look to see who was making the charge.

P_M

brotherleelove, as I mentioned before I am a customer of both B of A and a credit union. B of A's standard charge these days for a foreign transaction is $5 unless you use one of their partner banks, such as Barclays or Deustche Bank. Unfortunately they have no partners in Greece. Whenever I'm in a country that has no BofA partners, I use my credit union account. I'm betting that $5 charge is from BofA and not the Greek bank.

brotherleelove2004

I got curious and went over my BofA statements for the months involved, and they indicate that the $5 fees were charged by the banks in Greece who operate the ATMs I used (mostly Alpha Bank). There were a couple of other smaller transaction fees during that time that I can not identify. Perhaps those are BofA fees. Get this: one of those fees was a "denial fee" of $1.50 for one attempt to use an ATM that failed for some reason. What a ripoff....

Nikki

If those charges were from the Greek banks, they are only for customers of your bank. I am thinking your statement just indicates that those Greek banks weren't partners with BofA. I have never had any fee to use any ATM in Greece or anywhere else in Europe. My bank is a small Massachusetts bank.

brotherleelove2004

It was explained to me that BofA has no partners in Greece, thus these charges.

P_M

That being the case, then the charge is from BofA, not the Greek banks. When I called BofA they told me that anytime you don't use a partner bank the $5 charge will apply. But other banks will have different charges, if there is a charge at all. That would explain why the people on this thread who do not use BofA are not being charged $5.

angeliki

Back to the travel question. Sounds like an exhausting 30 day trip. I would certainly drop something off.

Budro

Angeliki,
Thanks, we may have to cut back on some places and spend a longer time at others. We're totally open to adjusting the itinerary and would appreciate any feedback we can get.
We'll be in Greece for 31 days. Any suggestions?

Heimdall

Brotherleelove, you provide good info, but I think you are wrong this time. I believe it is your bank that is charging the $5, and giving you the run-around when you question it. My bank gives me 10 free ATM withdrawals per month, and this remains the case in Greece. I do pay a 1% foreign currency conversion fee, and I believe this is charged by Mastercard.

I did a Google search using "ATM fees Greek banks" (without the quotation marks) and none of the hits I looked up mentioned a Greek ATM charge, but they did mention foreign transaction fees from the cardholder's own bank. See http://gogreece.about.com/cs/quickgr...greeceatms.htm for one reference.