Question about money in Morrocco

I'm headed to Morocco in a little more than 10 days and am just going to hit the first ATM and withdraw money. Not sure why you would need to go into a bank. Maybe I'm missing something but in all my travels I could always find an ATM and I'm expecting there to be an ATM at the airport in CMN though in honestly, I probably don't need cash right away as I will be picking up a rental car so can get it when I get to town.

I am sure they have ATMs everywhere just like any other country. Use a debit card and an ATM for your best exchange rate. Should be easy -- but maybe not???

ATMs are indeed a good idea. What I've been reading is the importance of checking the exchange fees between the different ATMs, but nevertheless they are apparently everywhere. The main issue is which credit card and/or debit card to use at any given ATM. For example, although my credit card doesn't have foreign transaction fees (hence why we got it), my credit card charges a 29.9% in interest rate for any cash withdrawals. And, sadly it doesn't matter if I pay off the balance on the card even before the due date, they still start calculating the interest rate from the date of withdrawal until it actually is paid off. PLUS there's a minimum charge of $10 USD per withdrawal, no matter the amount, PLUS there's a 5% "cash advance fee". So it somewhat takes my breath away. Never mind the warnings we're reading to not take out too much cash at a time, and only take out smaller currencies for tips etc as there's no place to get change for a larger denominations in the rural areas--which are not large by what we're used to. So it's planning we've never had to do before.

I am thankful for your post since I am also going to Morocco next month.
It's illegal to bring more than 2,000 Dirhams into or out of the country.
Can you please share where you found this information? I looked online before posting this and found very little, except one site with a much higher allowance (like $10,000 USD!).
The tour company I'm using suggests at least several hundred in both USD and MAD for emergencies (my trip also does the big loop with the Atlas Mountains) beyond any discretionary expenses- maybe you will be exclusively in cities?
My usual travel method is exchanging $250 US at the airport currency desk when departing- which I know is outrageous compared to using an ATM upon arrival. But kind of pales in comparison to your card- yikes! If it turns out I have any left I use it all up for the last night's hotel.
The hotel for arrival says they have an exchange, but not sure I want to count on that. I will ask the tour company and report back!

You don't stick a credit card into an ATM at home, do you? You shouldn't do it in other countries, either. Any credit card will charge a fortune if you do that. It's considered a "cash advance". Instead, you must use an ATM card--the type of card you use at home to get money out of an ATM.

I haven't been to Morocco since the 1990s, so I have no idea what sort of fees you may encounter at Moroccan ATMs, but they shouldn't be horrendous as long as you don't try to use a credit card to get cash.

These are the ways you may pay extra money for using an ATM; not all are within your control:

• The ATM itself may charge a fee. Solution: If the fee seems unreasonable, cancel the transaction and try another ATM. You might find a no-fee ATM. (You can try Googling to see if there are any suggestions on the internet.) If you have enough time before you depart on your trip, you can open another account at an institution that promises to rebate ATM fees you incur. Some credit unions have that policy. Capital One's 360 account has that policy. I believe Charles Schwab has that policy. There may be other possibilities.

• The ATM may very likely offer to conduct the withdrawal transaction in your home currency (dollars in your case) rather than in dirhams. Do not agree to that. That's called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), and it will always cost you extra money. The owner of the ATM will use an exchange rate that is very bad for you. Just complete the transaction in dirhams and the bank card network will take care of the conversion--probably at a rate of around 1%.

• Your bank (issuer of your ATM card) may also charge a fee when you withdraw money overseas. As with my first point, if you have enough time to open a new account, you will be able to avoid that cost.

The second and third points above also apply to using a credit card: Always conduct the transaction in the local currency to avoid a horrendous exchange rate, and know what your credit card will charge you (if anything) for using the card in another country. There are a lot of no-fee credit cards available, and I don't think all of them charge significant annual fees.

Some travelers check the fees on both their ATM card(s) and their credit card(s) and find one of them is a much better deal than the other(s). In that situation, it's smart to pay for things via the cheap-to-use card to the degree possible. If you have a low-fee or no-fee credit card and your ATM card incurs significant fees, charge whatever you can. If your credit cards are costly to use overseas and your ATM card has no fees or low fees, pay for things with cash if you want to save money. Note, however, that carrying around wads of cash incurs some risk. (That's not a problem unique to Morocco.)

Hi,
Yes, please post any information you learn, and if you have wifi, even after you arrive if you wanted to share what you're learning on the ground there, that would be most helpful. We don't leave until mid-January so that current information would be wonderful and most appreciated. I'll look over the weekend to find the links where I read about the 2,000 Dirhams. (just too late right now to try to retrace my steps). I had also read in a few places about a 'free credit card' called Maestro that is accepted throughout Morocco. I looked it up and it's a pre-paid debit card from MasterCard. Apparently it's being phased out in Europe/being replaced with another card. Wikipedia has a chart as to which countries accept it. We'll be researching it further.

Just fyi... counting travel days to get there and back home again, we have 18 possibly 19 days total. We're flying into Madrid, then flying to Tangier then renting a car to drive through the country. We're stopping at various UNESCO sites, a couple National Parks (for hiking--and hoping to catch some wildlife perhaps migrating birds), various cities and rural areas, of course the Medinas, the Atlas mountains, coastal places etc. etc. We'll do the occasional 'tour' like for a camel ride into the desert to spend the night under the starts, but apart from that we plan our own itineraries.

It seems Morocco is known for its Medinas (markets), I'm sure we'll find things we'd love to purchase to bring home. But I'm quite stumped as to how people ship their things home. For example on an American carrier one can have carry on bags that are a decent size and weight and one can also have checked bags at a decent cost. But my oh my the European carriers (we're flying Iberia Madrid to Tangier) has positively minuscule allowances for both carry on and checked bags. So how on earth do people leave Morocco with anything at all, never mind something larger like a rug? I'm really curious ... shipping alone would cost a small fortune. LOL

Looking forward to your updates. Thank you!

Thank you! To the person who posted all this wonderful info about the ATMs and no fee cards for the ATMs. MUCH appreciated! I really appreciate the specifics. Thank you again. :)

My wife and I both have multiple debit cards from Fidelity that we use around the world to access cash. The great thing is that Fidelity refunds the fees that the ATMs charge. Hence, the only fee I’m generally paying is the 1% that visa or MC automatically tack on for any foreign transactions. I just used this two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. Saudi ATMs didn’t seen to have a fee while in Tunisia it was 10TND (just over $3 per txn). I’m hoping that the fee in Morocco is also reasonable. The key as stated above is to use an ATM or debit card tied to a cash account.

I too am driving around and will hit some of the world heritage sites and also intend to do some bird watching. I’m hoping that Morocco is hassle free for binoculars. I’ve had issues in the N African countries- mainly Egypt (where they wouldn’t let me have it in my carry on) and Algeria, where they don’t allow you to bring it into the country.

Flat-weave rugs (kilims) can be folded into fairly compact packages, but I assume they are still somewhat heavy. I imagine a lot of people ship the rugs home. You'd want to be cautious about selecting a reputable seller if you didn't watch the rug being wrapped up and carry it away with you. Perhaps a rug could be put in a duffle bag you checked on the plane as an extra piece of luggage?

kcglobalworks9,
Please, just remember a credit card is just that.....it offers credit, a loan. You are borrowing money. If you use it at am ATM you are borrowing money, obtaining a loan. Therefore you must pay interest.
A debit card (also called an ATM card), debits (takes money from) your bank account, just like a check does.
Debit cards (ATM cards) may have no-fee or refundable fee characteristics. A credit card used at an ATM will not. It may be free of foreign transaction fees for purchases, but will not be fee-free for ATM use. That is a loan.

Thank you again to everyone who is adding to our knowledge of how to prepare and what to expect money-wise for our upcoming trip to Morocco. Much appreciated. We extend our sincere thanks as well to Rick Steves' for putting this forum together where travelers can learn from each other. Thank you!

Warmest regards and wonderful travels to all!

Hello, again- the tour operator wasn't very helpful, referring me to the State Department website. I did find this, pasted from the UK (it says it's current as of today) website:
Taking money into or out of Morocco
You can take up to 2,000 Moroccan dirham into or out of Morocco. The dirham is ‘non-convertible’ – it cannot be easily exchanged for other currencies .
You must declare foreign currency worth 100,000 Moroccan dirham or more (about 10,000 US dollars) when you enter or leave the country. There is no limit on the amount of foreign cash you can carry.
My plan/hope was to procur $200 MAD before leaving the US, otherwise upon arrival.
I travel with two no-fee credit cards (not debit cards) but there are cash advance fees associated if I use an ATM ( which I try to avoid!). One is AMEX and the other Capital One Visa. But with a VPN and secure Internet I pay it in full online same day, without the charges you described?
As far as larger purchases in Turkey years ago I bought two rugs. One was a kilim.runner and it was a shop with shipping for a fee- all kinds of forms and it did arrive to the US before I did. You likely couldn't do this with a souk stall? But my other purchase was a square 24" by 24" gorgeous antique rug. That I folded flat in the bottom of my carry on suitcase.
Traveling by car it's likely easier to use the packable duffel I also rely on.
Safe travels!

To Bon voyage!
You will not avoid a cash advance fee with any credit card use at an ATM. Get a debit card from the bank or brokerage where you have a checking account. Most institutions have some sort of fee free option for ATM use at places other than their own branches.

Update ..... I followed up on the information shared by Arnold from Denver above and contacted Fidelity. It's easy to open a 'cash management' account on their website which offers a "fee-free" card. Their customer service people are helpful at navigating the website and answering questions as well. There are no foreign transaction fees and Fidelity automatically reimburses any ATM fees and they don't charge any interest rate for pulling out your own cash! yay! One needs to open the account with $250--although obviously we'll transfer in more money than that to have available for our trip. Once the account is funded with the $250 (or more) you go back into the website and ask for the debit card to be sent. Apparently you get it within about 7-10 days so that's plenty of time for our trip in January. Thank you Arnold! :)

Thanks to kcglobal for starting this thread and all the other helpful advice since shared here! I am always grateful for the generosity of those who take the time to respond.
I bank with a very small local bank and their credit and debit card is pretty useless outside the US. Any such transaction online with the Visa triggers a fraud alert and it devolves from there!
So I have an AMEX from Delta (most frequently used airline) and, years ago, got a Capital One Visa solely for travel, since AMEX is less widely accepted. (I don't take my US credit or debit card when traveling outside the US since there's no point.)
But although I ignored the 360Checking promo from Capital One (whenever that was launched), these posts have changed my mind about the need for a debit card at ATMs. It was fast and easy to enroll, and the card should arrive in about 10 days.
Thank you for the push needed to get this done!

ATMs are available in every city. In our 3 weeks there last year, we stopped at about 4 ATMs, mostly to make sure we had enough tp money for our guides and driver. It was not time consuming to find an ATM. FYI, Visa and MC were accepted at nearly all venues, except maybe some of the small stalls in the markets.