dawnnoelm

Greetings again!

I have a question regarding obtaining Euros - I know I can get them from the ATM; but it is not enough to pay for my entire apartment for the week and they want cash upon arrival. We are traveling from Ca. to Paris, Paris to South Africa and then onto Rome. I do not want to have a ton of cash on me in S.A. - we arrive into Rome in the am (around 9:00 am).
Any suggestions welcomed!
Best,
Dawn

yorkshire

Do you mean because of the limits of how much you can withdraw in one day?
Why not just withdraw some at the airport right before you leave SA, then withdraw the rest upon arrival in Rome?
We solve this problem by using more than one account.
Or you could just bite the bullet and pay the surcharge on exchanging travellers checques.

J62

a. wire transfer the funds to the apartment owner's account. You can do this either from your own bank or by setting up an account at xetrade.com (takes some id verification paperwork but cost is lower)

b. negotiate with apartment owner to pay over several days.

c. see if they will accept Euro TC's

z. exchange USD TCs upon arrival in Rome for the required amount.

Michel_Paris

You coould also consider a bank draft in euros, drawn on a local bank in that country.
Eassentially it is a "certified" cheque that only that person can cash. If it is lost, you can get your money back. I regularly purchase items (small and large values) from Europe and use bank drafts. I have only ever had one sent back, from a person living in a small village. For example in France, my bank has an arrangement with Societe Generale in Paris, branch in 8th arr. They are the intermediaries.

Cheaper than a wire transfer, and you take it with you.

tcreath

We've been in a similar situation. DH and I each have our own ATM card for our bank account, so we solve the problem by using both cards to withdraw euros.

You could also go to an actual bureau de change and exchange cash that way, although with the various fees you will probably be getting a pretty bad exchange rate.

Tracy

dawnnoelm

Thanks for the replies - yes, I do mean because of the daily limit. Even if I withdrawl and my dh withdrawls it will not be enough. We do have seperate accounts.
I do not think that the ATM in S.A. disperses Euros - I will double check their currency.
I will ask Sleep in Italy if they will do a certified check or a wire transfer - those are good ideas. I just love this forum!
Thank you!!!
Dawn

Michel_Paris

Just a minor correction...I would use the words "bank draft" and not "certified cheque". I have no idea if a foreign bank would accept a certified cheque (in euros I assume).

shellio

Ask your bank if they will extend your withdrawal limits, even for a limited time. If they will, be sure to tell the the security department you will be using the card in Europe, how much you will withdraw and the dates. And get a phone number that can be called from Europe (no 800s) to deal with any problems.

kayd

If you get your bank to increase your daily withdrawal limit, you can use each card multiple times in one day get around the Italian ATM's transaction limit (E200-300). You may be able to do two withdrawals in succession from the same ATM, but if not, go to another ATM.

ira

HI D,

A. Ask for another card for each account - this will give you 4 times the limit of one card.

B. Have your bank raise your daily limit for the day you arrive in Rome.

C. Open another account.

The ATM will limit you to about 250E/transaction, so be prepared to have to repeat a number of times.

jgwagner4

ttt

aprillilacs

We encountered the same issue when we rented an apartment in Barcelona. We withdrew the maximum amount from the airport ATM but still had to come up with another $700 or so in cash because our plan to access another account via the ATM fell through.

Since we have an American Express card, we went to the American Express office in Barcelona, where we were able to cash a check for the remaining amount we needed, for no charge.

(In a piece of good fortune, the Barcelona American Express representative was located in the same block as our apartment!)

We've used this option at several American Express offices around the world -- it's very convenient.

NeoPatrick

I'm curious about the check you wrote and cashed at American Express. Was it on a US bank and written in dollars, but they gave you euros? If so, you say "no charge" but what was the exchange rate? The last time I was going to exchange dollars for Swiss francs in Geneva there was "no charge" either, but they were giving me an exchange rate more than 10% higher than the current bank rates.

BarbaraJ

Another option if you have an AmEx card is express cash. You can link your card to your checking account and use it like an ATM card. It is a 3% fee for withdrawal with a $5.00 minimum. However, unlike an ATM card you can take up to $2500/wk with no daily limit. You would still have to visit several ATM's because of their limit. Since it didn't cost anything to sign up, we did this as a backup in case we had problems with our ATM card or it was lost or stolen.

sandi_travelnut

I negtiate with a bank manager a week before our trip to Rome to increase my ATM withdrawal limit for the first 2 days we were there. This allowed me to get enough euro fromt he ATM after we landed, while still at the airport. I was about to meet the person from "Sleep in Italy" and had to pay lots of euro. It worked out perfectly for us.

Heimdall

How refreshingly honest many of you seem to be. Wire transfer to the landlord's account? Bank draft that he would have to deposit in his account? Yeah, right.

This question came up on another thread recently. Landlords want payment in cash so they can hide the income from the taxman. ;-)

dawnnoelm

Thanks again everyone. I was am going to contact my banks (Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo) and raise the limits - I am also going to call Amex - we are "platinum" holders - and thus far it has been meaningless... so maybe they can assist in some fashion.
Ira - as always you give the best advice <grin>.

bella33

Dawnnoelm: We went to Spain last month and needed cash up front for the apartment also. Before leaving the US, we contacted our Visa card through our bank and had them give us a temporary daily increase for ATM withdrawal so that we could take out the money when we arrived at the airport in Madrid which we were able to do with no problem.

franco

Just an addition to the wire/draft suggestions: this is unlikely to work in Italy. Many, many, many Italians refuse to accept any payment to their bank accounts, not just apartment owners - even larger businesses. They simply don't feel like paying taxes, that's why cash is the most important, and very often the one and only accepted payment method in Italy.

ira

Hi dawn,

>I am also going to call Amex - we are "platinum" holders...

Getting TC in Euro from Amex will be the easiest and safest way - though more expensive than an ATM.

Check with the landlord/agent to make sure that TCs will be acceptable.