I am leaving for Florence and Venice on Wednesday. I just read on florenceby.com that cash machines are rare and they charge a high commission. Does anyone have any info on this?
When I have been other places it has been cheaper or about the same to pay the ATM fee instead of paying the fee to change money. The other benefit is not having to carry all the cash and traveler's checks from the start. That is what I planned to do in Italy, but now I am not so sure.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,
I do not remember any difficulty in finding an ATM in Florence or Venice. I also do not remember any extra fees for using an ATM in either city. I know there have been some good threads on this board in the past about ATM's if you wanted to do a search.
Perhaps the terminology is causing confusion? I know there are street front machines that will convert foreign currency into euro; these might be the 'cash machines' you read about. I have no experience with them, so don't know what kind of exchange rate they give.
ATM's are plentiful in both Florence and Venice. They provide a good exchange rate, and you're wise to prefer to use them over traveling with large amounts of currency or dealing with travelers checks.
Colleen in California
Posts: 13916 | Location: On 'staycation' in The Beautiful San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 06 August 2001
Atms are widely available in Major cities.A good idea is to check with your bank in advance many banks have preferred relationships with given banks(example If I remember right BofA was with Banco national de livorno)If you use these banks it is easier and cheaper for you(lower fees).Also recommend american express card,can cash a check or various other tourist things.If you don't want to bother most atms within a given network(plus,interlink etc) will work.RR
Posts: 6465 | Location: Culver City, CA, USA | Registered: 08 November 2002
Most Bancomats will charge you a modest transaction fee for this withdrawal, just as most ATMs will similarly charge you a fee, if not using a machine from your bank.
It is probably helpful, however, for you to call your bank before you leave, verify that your card/PIN will work in Italy. Most will without any problem, but a few won't. You don't want to be standing there-- cursing your PIN!
You might also want to call your credit card company and alert them to your foreign travel. I once had my card turned down, because a clerk had mis-entered my number twice, triggering the Theft Squad to assume that my card had somehow been stolen. Took half an hour of calls back to the states to rectify that situation. Good thing I found out about before I attempted to check out of my hotel!
quote:Originally posted by Robert Rainey: I thought that bancomat was a network or specific company.
Bancomat is what the actual machines are called, regardless of what network and/or bank they are attached to. It's the generic name, like "Cash Point" for ATMs in England ...and I'm drawing a blank for what they're called other places! But it's not usually by the American acronyn for automatic teller machine.
Maureen
Posts: 4722 | Location: Boston or Florence | Registered: 07 July 2001
You also may want to up your daily withdrawal limit with your bank before you leave. Remember to plan ahead when checking out of hotels if you are paying cash - it may take a couple of days of withdrawals to get enough.
And if the machine you are using gives you a message like "your card isn't authorized for use", or some other scary thing - it usually means the machine is out of cash! Don't panic. Find another machine. The machines sometimes empty out on the weekends. Also, be aware that smaller villages won't have ATMs.
Ricky Steves says to bring tweezers in case your card gets stuck, but I don't know....
ATM's in Italy are plentiful but often one will not work and will give you some strange message like you need to contact your bank. Never fear, just go to another machine and it will be OK. Just don't keep trying at the bad one or it will eat your card. IE.In Naples and the southern area,usally the Bank of Naples would work but sometimes-no. We panicked the first time this happened to us years ago and made a lot of phone calls to our bank, had faxes sent,etc. Then discovered that if we had just gone to another ATM we would have been fine. Weird! Our bank (credit union) charges no fee for withdrawals and the ATM's in Europe don't--at least we have never had one.
quote: You might also want to call your credit card company and alert them to your foreign travel.
Everyone should do this, as it seems to be the norm nowdays for many credit card companies to deny purchases - after the first 2 or 3.
I was with one of our guests at an expensive shop in Florence and her card was turned down for a $2000 purchase. Two other ladies - wo I did not know - were also there - both had their cards turned down a few minutes earlier for even larger purchases. The young sales clerk only understood that the cards had been denied. I asked the sales clerk if she didn't think it would be a good idea to make a few international telephone calls to see if her "potential" customers could clear up the problems with the 3 different credit cards. The calls were made and a few minutes later, the store rang up over $10,000 in sales. To say the least, I'm the sales girl's new best friend.
Be sure and let your credit card company know in advance to save embarassment.
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