ATM's vs. American Express Travelers Checks

[cigloo]

Hello all,

 

I need some assitance with getting money for our trip. We are traveling on Celebrity Solstice and will be doing a pre stay in Rome and the hotel does not take credit cards. Prefers cash/Euros. Also the tour company Rome in Limo does not take credit cards.

 

How do I get all that money over there? What is the best exchange rate? And will I be able to get that much out of the banks ATM's? :confused:

 

Thanks in advance,

Jennifer

[cruisemom42]

I would not advise traveler's checks. Very few places will cash them.

 

This topic is frequently discussed here; I've added a couple of links to recent discussions that should help you:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=939182&highlight=money+exchange

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=923993&highlight=money+exchange

[nlt46]

We had the same problem with needing Euros. We brought some US which we changed to Euros at the airport; then we used ATM's for the rest of the Euros we needed. It was no problem. In fact... we even had a few left as seed money for another cruise. Yea! Nancy

[OregonGal56]

Just inquired at our local AAA, they can get euros, $7.50 charge for up to 1000, takes 3-5 business days.

[nparmelee]

Depending on how many euros you want, check out their web page ordering as well, they ship overnight for free if you buy more tha $1000 worth and the rate was not as bad as the office rate has been reported to be.

[Bowie MeMe]

Have found for the last 7-8 years that less and less places will take travler's checks. Definitely ATM but check with your card companies to see what fees they charge for "foreign exchange" and ATM out of the network. It can vary from 1-3%. I carry at least 2 different cards with two different networks(look on the back for which network they belong to)so if a bank dominates a city's ATM you have more places to withdraw money. Also don't forget to notify the credit card company that you are leaving the country and carry with you the international numbers to call should you loose the card. So for me I carry 2 credit cards and 2 ATM cards and cash in a money belt. I do not exchange money in America unless I do $20 or so at the airport just for bathrooms or a bite to eat. First stop in the country is ATM at airport or bank near hotel. I consider my credit card bill to almost be like the journal of my trip (life). Not much comes free so there it is on the credit statement.

[gorettilam]

I emailed Celebrity, they told me that we can exchange the traveller checks on board. Make sure you buy the Euro traveller check before boarding to avoid the expensive exchange rate on board.

 

Hello all,

 

I need some assitance with getting money for our trip. We are traveling on Celebrity Solstice and will be doing a pre stay in Rome and the hotel does not take credit cards. Prefers cash/Euros. Also the tour company Rome in Limo does not take credit cards.

 

How do I get all that money over there? What is the best exchange rate? And will I be able to get that much out of the banks ATM's? :confused:

 

Thanks in advance,

Jennifer

[cigloo]

Thanks all - I think since it is a large amount and we are arriving on a holiday weekend the way to go is Travelers Checks in EUROS.

 

Will let you all know how it works when we return.

 

10 days to go!!!!:)

[kwk1955]

If you get American Express traveler's checks in dollars, you can cash them at American Express offices, for no fee conversion to Euros. I went to the one in Athens last year, near Syntagma metro stop, and have also been to the one in Rome, near the Spanish Steps. I believe there is also one near St Marks square in Venice. Just another idea.

[texancruzer]

We did a combo of all of the above on our last trip. We had US$, travelers checks (US$) used ATM's etc etc..... we spent alot ! :o

 

But I do have a question - for our upcoming trip.....

 

When you purchase A/E travelers checks in euros - do you not still have to convert to whatever the going rate is that day you buy them ?? If so is that rate higher than the trading rate ? (see xe.com) Also is the "fee" the same as for US$ travellers checks ?

 

I ask this because when we arrived in Paris airport for a 5 hr layover - we went to the American Express kiosk there to exchange some US $ for euros. Mind you we have a gold and a platinum card.....but in retrospect we realize that we were RIPPED OFF !!! They had the worst conversion rate of any of the methods we used.

 

So - is it a good deal to buy AE travellers checks in euros ????

 

PS we found that to cash our US$ travelers checks on the ship and then buy euros from the ship.....really didnt work out too bad as far as fees and conversions..... just don't buy more than you need as to convert them back to US$ was bad ! But it was convenient !

[Hambagahle]

There is a daily limit on how much you can withdraw from ATM's so if you expect your hotel bill to be high you could get TC's (in Euros if you like) and cash them at a bank...OR you could send the right amount of money to cover your stay - x number of nights times cost per night - to the hotel's bank account. You can use e-banking to do this and from the US I believe the "normal" cost per transfer is $30. You will need to ask the hotel for the following information:

• Name and street address of account holder
  
• IBAN and SWIFT or BIC of the bank
  
• Name and street address of the bank
  

I transfer money from a US account to Europe every month and the money arrives, very often, later the same day. In any case no later than the following business day.

[gorettilam]

We did a combo of all of the above on our last trip. We had US$, travelers checks (US$) used ATM's etc etc..... we spent alot ! :o

 

But I do have a question - for our upcoming trip.....

 

When you purchase A/E travelers checks in euros - do you not still have to convert to whatever the going rate is that day you buy them ?? If so is that rate higher than the trading rate ? (see xe.com) Also is the "fee" the same as for US$ travellers checks ?

 

I ask this because when we arrived in Paris airport for a 5 hr layover - we went to the American Express kiosk there to exchange some US $ for euros. Mind you we have a gold and a platinum card.....but in retrospect we realize that we were RIPPED OFF !!! They had the worst conversion rate of any of the methods we used.

 

So - is it a good deal to buy AE travellers checks in euros ????

 

PS we found that to cash our US$ travelers checks on the ship and then buy euros from the ship.....really didnt work out too bad as far as fees and conversions..... just don't buy more than you need as to convert them back to US$ was bad ! But it was convenient !

 

If you buy Travellers check in Euros, you just have to cash it and not involving any exchange rate. Maybe some of the shops and hotels charge you a bit handling fee for cashing it, however, Celebrity replied me they don't charge any handling fee.

[texancruzer]

There is a daily limit on how much you can withdraw from ATM's so if you expect your hotel bill to be high you could get TC's (in Euros if you like) and cash them at a bank.....

 

We used credit cards for all our hotels. We used credit cards first ANY time we could to save our euros for when we couldn't.

 

If you buy Travellers check in Euros, you just have to cash it and not involving any exchange rate. Maybe some of the shops and hotels charge you a bit handling fee for cashing it, however, Celebrity replied me they don't charge any handling fee.

 

I'm sorry - let me be more specific. When you BUY the travelers checks in euros - you must convert the US $ you are using to buy the checks..... what was the conversion rate to buy them. I just checked xe.com and the rate is 1.29615 so 1000 euros = 1296.00 US$ Just wondering if the rate is higher to purchase checks than euro cash.

[AF-1]

I am also using romeinlimo for both Rome and Florence. We have 15 in our group. I have purchased travelers checks in Euros from American Express travel office. Jany at romeinlimo said I can pay the driver with the euro travelers checks.

[Grandpaul]

When we were there last October we just got Euros at the local banks and at one airport in the ATM. Wasn't bad. We also used Romeinlimo and paid them in Euros. If you have a few Euros left over and don't know what to do with them you can exchange them at the service desk on the ship to dollars and put it toward you bill. The exchange rate isn't the best but what was I going to do with a few Euros. So I got rid of them that way.

[iancal]

Like others have mentioned, be VERY careful to check to the coversion rate from USD to Euro travellers cheques. I checked on this last August...the rate at my bank was awful. I was also told that some establishments charge a fee to cash travellers cheques-USD or otherwise. Not certain about this as the exchange rate turned us off (it was about 7 points higher than our ATM rate) so we never did buy/use them. We use ATM's mostly. We pay in cash, and often get a discount for cash simply by asking for it-especially at small hotels. We also found that the conversion rate on our credit card transaction was VERY high when compared to the ATM route. When we travel for a month, the monies lost in conversion really added up (Amex for us was by far worst card). This may not matter if you are only in port for a few days, but if you are spending any time pre or post, the exchange can add up.

[MR/MS STUFF]

Thanks all - I think since it is a large amount and we are arriving on a holiday weekend the way to go is Travelers Checks in EUROS.

 

Will let you all know how it works when we return.

 

10 days to go!!!!:)

 

AAA discontinued their travelers checks at the end of 2007(at least in the area services by AAA Missouri). I just found out myself. They still offer a Money Card.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Forget the Traveler's Checks. Many places do not take them or if they do, don't like taking them.

 

Use ATMs. Call your bank and find out what your daily limit is. Sometimes, you can have your bank increase your daily limit too. Once in Rome, take out the max every day so you have enough to pay for the things you need to pay for while there.

[DoniaG]

In his book for Venice, Rick Steves recommends talking to your bank about raising your daily limit for getting cash from an ATM. He says that ATM's have the best exchange rate. He also recommends not using travelers' checks at all. Just go to an ATM when you need money, and take out what you need.

 

As his books have become my "Bible" for traveling, I'll probably follow his advice.