Currency needed for river cruise ports?

[jacksonnh]

ATM's are available throughout Europe. You may want to check out Capital One cards as many have a zero foreign transaction fees. I always take two different cards in case one gets destroyed by the machine.

[RachelG]

We get our foreign currency from Bank of America. If you have a "preferred" account, they do not charge a service fee, and they deli ever to your local branch within 24 hrs. Exchange rate is the standard one like you would see in the newspaper.

[Poconolady]

There are no shortage of ATM's (called bankomats in Europe), they are on every other corner in major cities and always available in smaller towns that have frequent tourists ( like river cruisers). The trick is finding one that is in partnership with your bank at home. We always leave home with enough Euros to get us from the airport to the hotel via taxi (highest cost scenario) in case we can't access a bank machine at the airport. We save our left over euros (generally about $100 worth) from trip to trip, so that we have that starter cash readily available and we don't have to order from the bank ahead of the trip. This also gives you an incentive to return!

 

 

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[Hydrokitty]

There are no shortage of ATM's (called bankomats in Europe), they are on every other corner in major cities and always available in smaller towns that have frequent tourists ( like river cruisers). The trick is finding one that is in partnership with your bank at home. We always leave home with enough Euros to get us from the airport to the hotel via taxi (highest cost scenario) in case we can't access a bank machine at the airport. We save our left over euros (generally about $100 worth) from trip to trip, so that we have that starter cash readily available and we don't have to order from the bank ahead of the trip. This also gives you an incentive to return!

 

 

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Check the back of your credit card or bank card. There should be symbols for all the networks they are accepted at. Cirrus seems to be the most popular. So if your atm or credit card says Cirrus, you should be able to use it at any atm that has the cirrus logo on it. You will pay a transaction fee and you will get your money in local currency so be careful if you're in a non-euro country!

You will also get the best exchange rate. If you plan to go to Europe again, save your euros and you will have some walkin' around money when you arrive. If you do not, you can exchange the euros or other currency at the airport exchange. You will usually not get the best exchange rate, but at least you'll get something for what will be worthless if you bring it home. Keep in mind what your bank or card withdrawal limit is and calculate what that translates to in the currency you're getting. For eg: when I was in Cairo I attempted to withdraw $500 (USD)from the hotel ATM and my card was refused because $500 USD exceeded the amount of withdrawal allowed in Egyptian pounds!! Having traveled from Amsterdam to Moscow and most countries in betwene, I can tell you without reservation that you should not have any difficulty finding an ATM machine and most of them will accept cards in the Cirrus network. On line banks may be convenient but they do not give you a good exchange rate.

[Hydrokitty]

ATM's are available throughout Europe. You may want to check out Capital One cards as many have a zero foreign transaction fees. I always take two different cards in case one gets destroyed by the machine.

 

I do the same Jacksonnh....and you are so right, always bring a back up card in case one gets destroyed, or blocked if you forgot to tell issuer you were going to Europe, or God forbid, stolen. I actually carry one of each, AMEX (because they will offer the most help from a live and local office if I'm in real trouble), MC and Visa. But the one I use to shop with is Capital One because of their no transaction fee policy.

[smeyer418]

We will be going on a river cruise along the Danube River and wonder what different currency we will need? Our ports are: Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Durnstein & Melk, Linz & Salzburg and Passau. We know Austria Germany and Slovakia on Euro countries, but will they take the US Dollar?

 

Hungry has their own currency but will they take the Euro or US Dollar?

 

In the past we have found that some airports have good exchange rates booths. We arrive in Munich airport and thought we could exchange there?

 

Here in Milwaukee we can get Euro but the exchange rates are not good. We are told that ATM machines in other countries usually charge a fee and that a cash withdrawal is considered a cash advance and also has additional fees. We have a Capital One Visa that has no transaction fees and wonder if it that will be accepted at most places. Thanks for any help and comments. Steve

 

 

FYI some people refuse to use local currency. We are just back(November 2013) from a Nuremberg to Budapest cruise and one person never changed her US to anything else.

Edited November 19, 2013 by smeyer418

[Hydrokitty]

FYI some people refuse to use local currency. We are just back(November 2013) from a Nuremberg to Budapest cruise and one person never changed her US to anything else.

 

setting aside the arrogance that implies (IMHO), was she able to buy anything? In some places, especially the old USSR countries, it is very hard for locals to convert dollars into local currency. I may be wrong, and again it's only my opinion, but I think when people travel they show respect for their host country by a) learning a few polite phrases like please, thank you and good morning/afternoon/evening and b) not insisting that all shopkeepers /taxi drivers/waiters/porters/hotel maids, etc. accept US dollars, which implies that ours is better than theirs.

[Stratheden]

setting aside the arrogance that implies (IMHO), was she able to buy anything? In some places, especially the old USSR countries, it is very hard for locals to convert dollars into local currency. I may be wrong, and again it's only my opinion, but I think when people travel they show respect for their host country by a) learning a few polite phrases like please, thank you and good morning/afternoon/evening and b) not insisting that all shopkeepers /taxi drivers/waiters/porters/hotel maids, etc. accept US dollars, which implies that ours is better than theirs.

 

I could not have said it any better. Thank you

[riffatsea]

Don't forget to tell your ATM bank and your credit card bank that you will be traveling!!! If you don't tell them they may very well freeze your cards and they won't work!!!

[Hydrokitty]

Don't forget to tell your ATM bank and your credit card bank that you will be traveling!!! If you don't tell them they may very well freeze your cards and they won't work!!!

 

Thank you for picking that up!!! I confess I'm embarrassed that I didn't because it happened to me in Egypt! Which brings me to adding to your advice: make sure you know the limits your bank will let you withdraw and what that limit translates to in currency where you're going. Here's what happened to me in Egypt: I went to withdraw $500 from the ATM machine in the hotel and my transaction was refused....3x....I went to the hotel bank and asked them for help and boy did their attitude towards me change when they found out my ATM card was denied! I finally went to our TM and he took me to the AMEX office in Cairo where they explained the problem. I was asking for $500 US Dollars from my bank but that exceeded the total amount of Egyptian pounds their ATM machines could dispense. After that I was very careful when using my ATM card not to ask for more than $100 USD at a time!

[riffatsea]

You are right that it is good to know the limit of what YOUR bank will allow and also the top amount that local ATMs will give! I have found that my bank will raise my ATM withdrawal limit if I tell them I am traveling!

[SadieN]

When converting money know that only bills can be exchanged. The smallest Euro bill is €5. Bring a coin purse ;)

 

Also check the expiration dated of your cards. Twice now DH's card had expired the first two days of vacation.

[Mparis184]

setting aside the arrogance that implies (IMHO), was she able to buy anything? In some places, especially the old USSR countries, it is very hard for locals to convert dollars into local currency. I may be wrong, and again it's only my opinion, but I think when people travel they show respect for their host country by a) learning a few polite phrases like please, thank you and good morning/afternoon/evening and b) not insisting that all shopkeepers /taxi drivers/waiters/porters/hotel maids, etc. accept US dollars, which implies that ours is better than theirs.

 

Oh I totally agree. Part of the travel experience is using their currency and trying to fit in as best we can into their culture.

 

Marion