Hi, I know this question has been discussed before, but I have read through the old messages and not come up with a really good answer. Maybe one of the experienced travelers will spell it out for me. And maybe I'm hoping for a simple answer when there isn't one, just a variety of opinions on the best way to go.

The Saturday I arrive in Rome, I will need:

- about 1500 Euros to pay the balance of my rental
- $300 US for my security deposit
- about 250 Euros for transportation and incidental expenses for 3 people

My bank card's maximum limit is $500. cash withdrawal per day. I assume there is some sort of daily limit on ATM withdrawals in Italy, anyway.

I can get Euros here from My Travel Wallet (linked from Thomas Cook and AAA), but at a fee of nearly 7% over the actual exchange rate. Everybody says not to do that - not only is the exchange rate bad, but one should not travel with that much cash. Pauline, I see that you have simply travelled with the cash. Where did you change your money, and how much of a fee is reasonable to pay? Do you feel comfortable with the cash?

I can take traveler's checks and go to a bank in Rome to change them. Everybody says this is a bad idea, too, as I'll waste time and get a bad exchange rate.

I can go to a bank in Rome and get a cash advance on a credit card.

I can buy a Visa Cash Passport through My Travel Wallet and put up to $1500. on that, which can be used at Visa ATMs. Has anybody used this? Did it work? How much money could you get at one time? How bad were the fees?

I could open more bank accounts here, so I have more cards. However, I'd rather not have to travel with a bunch of cards that I would need to keep track of.

Am I missing any other possibilities?

Thanks,
Bill Turner
53 days from Rome, but who's counting?

[This message was edited by Bill Turner on 25 March 2003 at 11:37 AM.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,

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Am I missing any other possibilities?

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Bill, the easiest way is to go to your bank and order the minimum amount of Euro you will need. You will not pay an exchange fee and most banks don't even charge a handling fee.
The down side is that you are carrying a large amount of cash on you but, as you point out, you will be getting rid of it soon.
Everyone has their own level of risk aversion, so only you can decide what amount of cash you are comfortable carrying.
Then I would compromise and carry a second bank card. Not only to give you double the amount of daily withdrawal, but to protect you from a card being denied or demagnatized. My second bank card is actually from the local credit union where we have our home mortgage. They charge no ATM fees which is a nice plus.

Deborah Horn

In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I'd like to do a past life regression and stay there.
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Marketing Solutions for Health Care

Deborah said exactly what I would say. Just travel with the cash - but keep it on you in a safe place, like a purse with a thick strap that goes across your body or a body wallet. We get our EURO thru our bank Wells Fargo.

I really dislike that some agencies make you pay like this. They must lose a lot of business because of it. Why don't they just add a small fee and let you use a credit card? Welcome to the "drug deal" part of the Vacation Rental experience.

We frequently travel with large amounts of cash. When we traveled before ATMs we would go to AMEX and write a check for $2000 cash - you can do that every 21 days (and we both had accounts). Then we would use that as we traveled. Our secret for not being robbed? We dress really badly.

This is an option you could consider - if you have the standard AMEX card (not these new ones like the Delta Skymiles card), you can go to an AMEX office and write a personal check for $2000. We have not done this in 10 years though - we just arrive with about $1000 in cash and then use ATMs. And we travel with 3 different ATM cards (for 3 different accounts).

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Best way is to get a pouch worn around the neck goes under your shirt also fits passport.any travel store sell these.Rr

Hey Thanks! I too have been wondering about how to get and carry around 2,500 euro for our trip - they like to get cash for the month rental and what the heck there was a discount.

I have used the neck pouch and found it the easiest to live with. Nothing is as good however as using your own common sense.

Now I watch the exchnage rate every day.

Dan,
Athens, Georgia

Just make sure to count the money very well before you leave your bank. Last year I wrote a check for $2,000 (had to pay the balance for the apartment in cash) and because we were talking and distracted, I just took the envelope and put it in my bag. When I arrived at the apartment in Venice and gave the envelope to the owner, voila, only $1,000. I thought I was robbed at the airport. For that trip I was "checked" at the Newark Airport 4 times! and everytime they took everything from my bags, and I had to take my shoes and let them search me while others were checking my belognings. A real mess. Guess what? When I returned to NY I went to my bank, requested an investigation and they found the mistake (after 2 weeks - plus the 2 weeks+ I was away in Venice). The teller was over $1,000 the day I cashed my check!.

"Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza..."

"I sing to life, to its beauty, to each of its wounds and each of its caresses..."

I am glad you got your money back!!

Pauline from Slow Travelers

After reading this, I will check my vacation rentals and see if they require cash payments. Thanks for the tip. Debbie

Pauline, forgot to mention that when I came back I went to Delta desk and the Customs Office reporting my missing money and told them that if the bank didn't make a mistake, they will hear from me again

"Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza..."

"I sing to life, to its beauty, to each of its wounds and each of its caresses..."

If each of the people traveling has an ATM card, then you can get 3 times as much money. Or each can also carry 1/3 carefully stowed away, and risk much less in case of problems.
Some banks won't allow so much from non-clients through the machines. Outside the Post Office there's an ATM from a competing bank, not mine, and I cannot get more than Euro 220 from it on an Italian ATM card, whereas from my bank I can get up to Euro 500.
These cash payments are very silly to me. I wouldn't like to do that at all. Even an AmEx Euro draft would be just as much like cash but safer to carry. I suppose there's some tax avoidance built in there.
If I am carrying more than Euro 200, it is pinned into my underwear. If I get searched, I will tell them it is there before searching.

Cash: I always carry a minimum of EUR1,500 in cash, well hidden with a belt or neck pouch. Why buy cash at an agency of some sort in your hometown? Order it in advance from your bank, specify what denominations you need, and you will get it in time and at a reasonable rate. By the way, no point in watching the rates; what can be the difference on EUR1,000? For example, in USD terms, if the latest rate is 1.0657 and yesterday’s rate was 1.0632 and the rate a month ago was 1.0768, this means that EUR1,000 would cost between USD1065.70 today, USD1063.20 yesterday and USD1078.60 a month ago. Hardly the type of differences for which it would be worth watching the market. I say, buy it from the bank when you’re ready to go, but give them a few days to prepare it.

Credit card: Ask the bank for a temporary increase of the limit to, say, $5,000-10,000, for the specific duration of the trip, then reduce it back if you so wish when you return. We carry three different card with us, with a total limits of $21,000 (well, Canadian dollars…). These limits don’t cost any money, but what a relief if one is in dire need! By the way, some suggest advising the bank that you will be travelling so that a sudden increase in the use of the credit card won’t raise suspicions that it was stolen, in which case the bank will suspend it. Personally, I can’t see any value in this step, since most “conversations” you have nowadays with a bank, particularly when it comes to credit cards, take place with a machine or, if you’re lucky, with a totally anonymous individual (N.B.: I know, I work for a bank).

Travellers cheques: a pain in the neck. You depend on bank hours to cash, the commission can be outrageous, smaller businesses won’t take them, hotels may take them but will hate you for this. Largely a thing of the past, particularly if you travel in an advanced, sophisticated country, such as Italy. Which brings me to the last point, my favourites:

ATMs. Use them. They are convenient, they are everywhere, and the charges (although some complain about them) are not that high for the underlying convenience they offer. Even the exchange rates are better. Here as well, a few notes: first, make sure you left money in the account or that you have an overdraft arrangement with the bank. Of course, you can also use a credit card to withdraw money from an ATM, and you will need a higher limit here as well. The first daily withdrawal limit applicable will not be that of your bank, but that of the bank whose machine you use. In Italy EUR300-500/day seems to be the norm. Using ATMs of two different banks may than bring you up to the limit of your hometown bank, which means you do it all over again tomorrow or whenever you need the money. For major purchases, hotels, car rentals, even train tickets, you best pay with a credit card, thus controlling better the cash you need.

This is probably the agency Roman Homes that you are dealing with. He requires payment in cash. You can give him travelers checks, but he charges extra for doing that. Many of agencies based in Italy and run by Italians require cash payments.

The only good thing about this is that you don't have to prepay as with most other agencies when you pay the full amount 60 days before. So if you have to cancel at the last minute you only lose your deposit. But it is a very strange way to do business.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Upon checking with my bank today about ordering euros i was informed that the best exchange rate is at the airports. One note is that you might verify with your charge card is what their charge is for using it overseas. As I understand it, Visa, for example will charge the bank 1% and the bank will either waive the charge or in some cases add on 2 or 3% additional. My gm mastercard will charge me 3% not counting any atm fees. Since I don't care to pay anymore bank fees than I have to I will carry some cash and convert to euro's at the airport and use an atm card that charges the 1%. Just ordered my neck money pouch today so the excitement continues..............

Pauline, you say that such agencies want only cash or charge more for traveler checks. What about a euro draft from a place like Thomas Cook--would the agencies accept something like that? There is a fee for this and I don't know what it would be for $2000 but it might be worth investigating. Personally, we travel with much less cash than many of you are indicating. We usually bring $400-$500 and then rely on ATM's in any country we visit. We do carry a couple hundred dollars in TC in case of an emergency but have never had to use them so just redeposit when we get home. Under no circumstances would I carry large sums here in US and so am uncomfortable doing it anywhere.I guess we all have our own ways!

Jane
http://www.janeandken.com

Have you ever been robbed? I haven't. Maybe lucky. I tend to carry more cash when traveling in Italy because we are spending more - eating out in restaurants, buying things. Call me suspicious, but I don't like to use my charge card with restaurants in Italy unless I have to.

The agencies that I have dealt with want cash only. They never mentioned that they would take a bank draft. We should all tell them that we do not want to carry large amounts of cash - and force them into taking credit cards for payment. As more and more places come up for rent and more and more vacation rental agencies appear - maybe we as the consumers can make some changes!! Wouldn't it be pretty to think so?

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Well, I just received my arrival instructions from Dr. Abate of Roman Homes, and their stated policy is more relaxed than they had originally indicated. Although they would prefer that I bring Euros, they will accept either US $ or traveler's checks in US $, with a modest (2%) expected commission over the exchange rate. That's better than I can do around here. The banks here are mainly local, and the one I personally use is a credit union, so most of the currency exchange I have available ends up at about a 7% commission.

Pauline, I looked at the Wells Fargo Web site just out of curiosity, and they seem to consider foreign exchange as part of their business, as my local banks do not.

Last time I travelled, I found that the airport money changing booths had the WORST exchange rates, and charged a flat transaction fee in addition. I know I'm just being cheap, but somehow starting off my vacation with being taken advantage of to the tune of an extra $100. just rubs me the wrong way.

Thanks, all!
Bill Turner

If the dollar continues its recent trend over the past year of losing value against the Euro, it could work to your benefit to be "long" in Euros and "short" in USD. :-)

Peter

ATMs - We have a normal debit card with our American bank with a $1000 per day limit. ATM machines here vary in the amount they will allow per transaction. The ATM machine here in our village will only allow 200 euro per transaction, but will allow us to make multiple transactions per day, thus using the $1000 limit. Other ATM machines will allow 800 euro per transaction.

Bill & Patty Sutherland
Tuscan Women Cook
Montefollonico, Italy