opaldog

We are renting an apartment in Rome in a month and have to pay the majority of the $ due on arrival. I am considering my options to acquire the euros. I could get euros here at a bank and bring them with me. I could use an exchange place at the airport. I could try an ATM at the airport, but I don't know the daily limit and I'm sure I will need more. Can anyone give me any advice?

kayd

The daily limit is set by your bank, but ATMs may have a 250-300 per transaction limit. You could do multiple transactions up to your daily limit.
Also, though the ATM may offer amounts of 50, 100, 200, etc., if there is an option for "other", try entering another amonount manually. You may be able to get more than the highest "one touch" amount.

NeoPatrick

I've learned it's impossible to guess the answer to your question. Many Italian banks limit you to 250 euro per ATM transaction. But sometimes you can put your card right back in and get another 250 -- sometimes not. If there are two of you and you each have a card -- you can double up that way. If all else fails, simply go to another bank's ATM and do it all again. Just make sure your personal limit with your own bank is as high as it needs to be.

opaldog

Thanks. I'll go to my bank and make sure the limit is set higher and that our debit cards, although from the same checking account, have different debit card account numbers.

Michel_Paris

You could also get a bank draft at your local branch at home, in Euros, drawn on a bank in Italy, made out to appartment owner...good as cash, and safe if stolen

nancy

I had the same situation and wound up getting the amount of Euros I needed at my bank. It seemed the easiest way to go. Another option was to wire transfer the money to the rental owner's account which I tried to do but didn't get enough proper info plus it was more expensive to do that than to buy Euros. I couldn't worry about an ATM at the airport being down or some other hassle.

opaldog

Thanks everyone. Nancy, what did you pay in fees at your bank?

bella33

We got back from Spain a couple of weeks ago. We rented apartments in 2 locations and needed cash. We contacted our bank before leaving and got a temporary daily increase for ATM, advised them of us traveling, and didn't have any problems. There was one occasion where we were limited by the ATM machine and had to go to another.

cupid1

Last month in Italy we consistently found the limits to be 200 euro, regardless of which bank's ATMS we used and maximum amount the screen offered (always up to 350). The fact that our card limit had been specifically raised didn't affect how much the ATMS over there were willing to actually kick out. We thought at first it was something to do with our banks until we found our friends also were limited to 200 no matter what other option they chose (250, 300, 350). Fees were anywhere from 3 to 5 euro, with our banks tacking on another 5 dollars per transaction.

If you have very large cash-only expenses due immediately after arrival it would be helpful to bring sufficient euro with you.

ira

>If you have very large cash-only expenses due immediately after arrival it would be helpful to bring sufficient euro with you.

Let's say you need 2000E, and you can only get 200 at a time and your bank charges $5/transaction and adds 3% "conversion fee".

A. Open an account at a better bank.

B. At an ATM

10 transactions = $50
CF = $60

C. At your bank
Exchange premium of 7% = $140
Plus Fees for foreign currency.

D. I called Amex this morning. They told me that the rate for a card member to purchase Euro was $1.338/E, which is the same as this morning's bank rate.

I was so surprised, that I called back. You might want to check this out.

NeoPatrick

Ira, what American Express did you call? You can buy foreign currency (or TCs) directly from them. I just checked. The current rate for euro cash is 1.4252. Their current rate for euro TCs is actually less -- $139.449. Then they add a $12.95 shipping charge. Do you have a local office that sells euros at cost? Something's fishy here.

nancy

opaldog: the amount I paid was whatever the exchange rate was at the time from the bank. There was no additonal fee for the exchange. It was totally worth it. I sure didn't want a problem once I arrived in Rome.

I do care about the money I spend while traveling and always withdraw from ATMs while on the road (no problems so far). So, even spending more to buy Euros before arriving for a special case, as in renting an apt, is worth peace of mind, in my opinion.

opaldog

nancy: After doing much research and checking out options such as AAA, I have decided to go to my own bank. They will give me the rate at the time of purchase and charge me $5.00. AAA was going to charge $50.00. That amounted to a conversion rate of 1.43 per euro. I decided for peace of mind I would go with the bank and just pay whatever it turns out to be. It certainly will be one of the smaller amounts of money being spent on this trip. We do have to pay a decent amount on arrival and I don't want to worry about ATM's. After that we will use ATM's and have already contacted the bank and made sure our daily withdrawal amount is more than enough. I appreciate all of the replies to my post. Thanks.

Linda431

Just out of curiosity, why do all (or most) of the rental agencies require cash? It seems this way in Italy and France. I know the tax thing is an issue but you would think they would have to show some income?

NeoPatrick

"opaldog: the amount I paid was whatever the exchange rate was at the time from the bank."

Not to beat a dead horse, but that could be good or it could be bad. It depends on what your bank called "the exchange rate".
If their rate at the time was just a couple percent above the XE rate, fine, but if their rate at the time was 7 or 8% above, not so good.

It's hard to imagine any bank doing it for the current XE rate -- like the usual ATM or credit card rate before any conversation percantages have been added.

ira

Hi NP,

I used the phone number at the amex website.

I told them that I was a member.

I got a rate for $2000 in Euro.

I called again for the cost in $ for 2000E.

Both times it was the bank rate listed at yahoo.