Max Euros available from ATMs

[Wayfairers]

I searched the boards and couldn't find these specific questions - I could have missed it though because there is a lot of information on getting Euros. If you've answered this before, please either point me to the right spot or kindly answer the question again.

 

What is the maximum Euros available from ATMs on one withdrawal? I realize it is probably different on each ATM like in the US, but looking for an average or range.

 

Are there some types or locations of ATMs that allow larger withdrawals? We've found that ATMs in banks (in Mexico and US) allow larger withdrawals than ATMs in grocery stores or stand alone.

[Talisker92]

In my experience in overseas bank ATM's the limit was either 300 or 500 Euros, depending on the bank.

[Wayfairers]

In my experience in overseas bank ATM's the limit was either 300 or 500 Euros, depending on the bank.

 

Any chance you recall which banks allow 500 Euros?

[riffatsea]

First of all you need to ask your own bank to raise your withdrawal limit.

The banks in Italy have an automatic option of 250euro but some allow you to put in an "other number" maybe up to 500ish. The Post Office ATMs seem to allow this.Not sure which of the bank ATMs do.

In addition the ATMs allow you to do multiple withdrawals so you can take 250 from one machine and then do either another 250 from the same machine or go to another nearby ATM and take it out. You can also use more than one ATM card at the same ATM.

IF you really need to get a LARGE amount of euros I have recently learned that the main branches of the Italian Post Office in each city will do currency exchange at the interbank rate with only a 1% charge.

 

[Padraic]

Some ATMs I have used in Europe had a limit of 300, others had a limit of 500. I suspect that it depends the bank.

[chipmaster]

If the difference between 200 and 500 is something you are sweating than you probably should consider bringing them. I don't know what your port plans look like but if there were anything like the ones we squeezed in the last thing you want to be doing is wasting time going from ATM to ATM.

 

You are spending thousands on the cruise, likely equal on airfare and more on excursion whats a few dollars lost in exchange?

 

Totally agree that wasting money on stupid and highway robbery exchange on the ship and money exchanges is stupid, but so is wasting time running from ATM to ATM.

 

That being said, we found ATMs almost everywhere when we least needed it. And Murphy will for surely visit, when you need it most is when every ATM will be empty.

 

Any chance you recall which banks allow 500 Euros?

[SadieN]

Any chance you recall which banks allow 500 Euros?

 

We used one in a bank on a small piazza near Campo di Fiori.

Unfortuantely the directions from the apartment we stayed at are something like right, left, left, right, left, right, look for the funny small car and look left under the scaffolding, enter the building, left.

No idea how DH discovered this bank.

[Talisker92]

Before I go on a cruise, I order foreign currency from my bank. They have a flat rate of $6 to deliver it to my local branch. It is well worth having some currency as you hit the pavement

[Colorado Kat]

Some banks limit you to a maximum withdrawal per day. Other banks give you a maximum per ATM. Check with your bank.

[Wayfairers]

Thanks for the input everyone! I was hoping for a bank name (like Santander Banks allow larger ATM withdrawals than other banks in Mexico). Guessing that no one has paid attention to bank names.

 

Glad to get the info that Italian Post Offices have ATMs - thanks!

 

We are not overly concerned about how much can be withdrawn, just thought it would be good info to have in mind before leaving. No desire to carry Euros over... that is just something else to have to get before hand and keep up with.

 

Our plan is to get the max allowed Euros from an ATM, spend most of those and get more at the next port. Happy to hear that ATMs are readily available.

[riffatsea]

I don't know your itinerary.

Be aware that ATMs in Italy do not charge you to use them.The charges all come from your ATM bank and its ATM network(Visa/Plus or Mastercard/Cirrus)

In Spain the ATMs DO have a charge to use them.

There is a post office ATM in the Venice airport so not just AT an actual post office.

[PennyAgain]

Some things to keep in mind. The ATM's nearest your ship may be empty.

 

Also grab your cash quick! Really quick! I had cash get sucked back into an ATM when I didn't grab it fast enough.

 

It was a big deal getting the transaction reversed.

 

Make sure that you and/or someone you travel with has a 2nd card. If an ATM takes your card, you will not be able to get it back.

 

Obviously keep security in mind.

[Bastet]

It's not just the ATM that has limits, many banks limit the amount of money you can withdraw in a day. Even if the machine allows 500 euros, that may convert into more dollars than your bank allows. We were just on a Med cruise and had no problems finding ATMs in any of the cities. There were ATMs in the Barcelona airport that I used to get euros for the cab ride. I did not notice a fee for using any of the ATMs and my bank didn't charge me either. They did however charge a 3% foreign currency fee.

[Wayfairers]

Many banks limit the amount of cash you can withdraw from an ATM in a day? I thought all banks limited the amount of cash you can withdraw..... any idea which ones don't?

[aquilegia]

Also grab your cash quick! Really quick! I had cash get sucked back into an ATM when I didn't grab it fast enough.

 

Well, the machines will certainly take back the money if it's left out long enough, because there's always someone who will be so busy putting their card away, getting their receipt, chatting etc that they'll wander away from the machine and forget their cash and leave it for anyone passing to take. But you don't have to snatch the money out that quickly. I've been using ATMs around Europe for many years and I've never seen it happening, in fact this is the first time I've ever heard of it happening. There was probably a fault with the ATM's timer.

[Bastet]

Many banks limit the amount of cash you can withdraw from an ATM in a day? I thought all banks limited the amount of cash you can withdraw..... any idea which ones don't?

 

 

I personally don't know of any that don't, but since I don't know about ALL banks I didn't want to make a blanket statement. For all I know, there may be some that don't restrict VIP customers.

[marco]

We've just returned from Europe and we found the ATM's we used had a 200 Euro per day limit. Don't know if that depends on the bank you're withdrawing from or the bank the card is issued by. Again, that's per day and that's about $275. Large items and restaurants, I'd charge on a credit card. I can't imagine you'd need more than $275 a day in cash. We ended up going 5-6 days before we needed more cash and any that you have left at the end of the trip, use for tipping.

[swedie]

I learned the hard way that my ATM card has to be linked to your account as a debit card linking it with visa or mc in order to use it in Europe. Mine was strictly an ATM card. I tried calling everyone to no avail. Good thing we were traveling with really good friends!

I had one for two different banks - checked with both prior to leaving, besides giving them my itinerary and getting a 4-digit pin (ATMs in europe do not accept longer atm pin #'s - you should also get a pin for your credit card - just in case - some places required it).

In most cases due to the exchange and transaction fees with an ATM, you would be better off using your credit card (capital one had the least fees) in restaurants, shops, etc.

This info was true as of last year, don't think it would have changed much.

[wantocruisemore]

I can only address the ATM's in Rome and Sicily. We used the ATMs there and there was a maximum of 1000 euros allowed per day per card. We had to do it by hitting the 250 euro button in 4 times. It would not let us put in an alternative amount. We had upped our limit to much more than this but that was all the European machines would give. It didn't matter if we went to a different machine or not.

 

Also please try your cards to make sure everything works great as soon as you can. We used the ATM at the airport and actually got the best exchange rate. We had contacted our banks ahead of time to try to avoid problems.

 

Our BIL/SIL however had a hard time. They had said they notified their banks but when they tried to use them they were denied and accounts frozen. They did not try at the airport and waited til they ran out of money. Unfortunately we had several tour scheduled and we had to withdraw our limit each day to cover for 9 people. They spent several hours on the phone getting it straight and then took several tries going to banks or money changers. They finally did almost at the end of the trip.

 

Moral of the story, do your legwork and set up everything. Try your card as soon as possible to make sure it works. Take some euros with you and have a Plan B.

[Wayfairers]

I think we are ready....

We've talked to the credit card companies and banks and given them our itinerary - learned that one the hard way when Capital One turned our card off after we forgot to tell them about a trip to the Dominican Republic. Luckily we always carry a backup card.

 

Our ATM is set up correctly to work in European ATMs 4 digit PIN and MC or V, not just debit.

 

We plan to use our Capital One whenever possible, but some things require cash.

 

 

Good idea to try the ATM card early - we will do that at our first European port.