I fly in and out of Malpensa all the time. There is an ATM with English instructions just to your left after you clear custom control It sits between a coffee bar on the left side of the concourse. Unless you need a coffee at a lay-over location (assuming you have one and it is in Euro territory) I just hit the ATM on my way out the door and have actually flewn over with as few as $40 in my pockets.
Using the ATM is better than Thomas Register and no change fees. Sometimes you end up with a bit left over on the return flight home but to me they always were excuses to come back another time.
We fly La to Chicago to Milan.So we won't need money at all until Milan.Are the Atm's in the airport owned by banks?,if so I would trust them more than privately held local machines(like the ones you see in the USA in liquor stores). RR
Posts: 6522 | Location: Culver City, CA, USA | Registered: 08 November 2002
Yes, It is part of a bank. Banca Nazionale del Lavoro is next to International arrivals. It has an ATM. I used it before.
You can find out the services at the Milan airports at this link. You'll have to search around in the 'shop and fly' section under Utilities. There is even a pop-up picture of the bank. There are three banks at the airport in different areas. I had found a nice map of Malpensa once but I couldn't find it today.
The last four trips to Europe, I haven't gotten any European currency before the trip. I've just picked up cash from the airport ATM when I arrive. I do usually take a some US cash just in case there is a problem with the ATMs. You can exchange the cash at the bank. I think the only time I would consider getting some ahead of time might be if I was going to arrive early, late or on Sunday when the bank is closed. It would only be for backup in case there was an issue with the ATM and my peace of mind.
Posts: 7489 | Location: Edmonds, WA | Registered: 25 October 2001
One more consideration if I withdraw the max of 500-700 dollars what bills would I get? In the Us sometimes 100's are hard to pass especially for a coffee etc.If I do get large bills will the bank be open? I didn't see hours there,I think we arrive before 9am saturday.RR
Posts: 6522 | Location: Culver City, CA, USA | Registered: 08 November 2002
One of the bad things about Italian ATMs is they give you too many 50 Euro notes. If you take out 300 Euro, you might get six 50's or five 50's and five 10's if you are lucky.
I am sure the Thomas Cook Currency exchange, which also sells bus tickets to the train station, is used to people with large notes. Later, never pass up the chance to break a large bill.
Maybe I am being unduly cautious, but ATM's have been known to be out of servce. I would never go to Europe without enough Euro to get me from the airport into the city that is my first destination and/or to my hotel just in case.
Posts: 838 | Location: NJ | Registered: 07 July 2002
Robert one thing to remember is that most ATMS in Europe limit your withdrawal to 250 or 300 euros per day so unless you have an unusual bank, that is the max you can pull from your account in the course of one day. This and your sat arrival might make it wise to do the Thomas Cook thing if you need a substantial amount for some particular reason. (but it makes me nuts to pay their fees)
I used to travel in and out of Malpensa so often that the customs guys new me by name. In all those times, the only time I had problems was when the euro/lire cut off date was approaching and the machine was out of money. To me though it wasn't any different than going to an ATM in the states and finding the same thing. I just hunted out another one.
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