Christopher Elliott Article on ATM Fees

I'd ask how much longer we are going to use cash?

I am SO not a tech person. I just returned from Rick's Best of Italy with a few days on the front end on my own and an extra day on the back end. One of the gals in my local RS Meetup talked me in to setting up ApplePay last spring and I used it some that trip and some at home but this time I set out on this trip to use Apple Pay as much as I could although I had cash left from my last trip in May 2022. I literally used it everywhere. Gelato? yes, not even a blink of the eye. Small grocery store? yes, again no problem. Hotels and restaurants yes, of course. Museums? All set.

The only flub was at the Rome airport where I ordered OJ and a croissant at one of the coffee kiosks. I held up my phone and said "Apple Pay?" and the lady handed me an apple croissant while she reached for the apple pay scanner. The croissant was delish, lolol!

I also just used the Eurostar app to buy a ticket for next April. I was surprised that one of the payment options was Apple Pay. Yes, I said and clicked thru.

I did get a little cash just before I left Rome in case I need to pay for a taxi from the Airport next spring to my hotel. I will try ApplePay first but will have cash back up.

As we are planning for our Spring, 2023, trip to Sorrento and the surrounding area, we are contacting local tour guides and car services. Most all of them are asking for cash payment, saying PayPal, etc., also have fees. Interesting .....

@Pat I am very surprised to hear that. We just returned from several weeks in Spain. I paid for guides online. We took 200 Euros we had left over and returned with nearly the same. Apple Pay, contactless cards were accepted everywhere. If I had a vendor who wanted cash I’d use a Venmo account or similar., or book with someone else. The days of hunting down a low fee ATM (always a time waster) are over. BTW, we saw far fewer ATM’s since our last visit in 2018.

Pam, I just got back from Croatia, largely in the city of Split. A lot of restaurants there still accept cash-only. So, you will have trouble getting around with just a credit card there. (Possible if you can search for places that take credit cards - they do exist but you may have to hunt around, and always ask first!)

What's worse, every ATM I checked in Croatia (and Slovenia) charged AT LEAST a $4 USD service charge!!! This was new to me - haven't been back to Europe since 2019, having used ATMs with no fee for many years.

Fortunately, I have a debit card that charges no fees - and refunds all fees charged by other ATMs. So while it didn't cost me anything to use the ATMs, it still bothered me.

And I have avoided the Euronet ATMs for years.

We just got back from 4 weeks in the Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy areas. We only used ATM machines in banks. Only one added a service charge and it was fully disclosed before we ok'd the transaction. My credit union refunds us any ATM "fees" which amounted to $4.15 for about eight transactions. Credit cards are more accepted than back when we first started traveling to Europe, but there are still places that will only accept cash. (Small purchases, mountain huts are two examples. Also, we do not stay in large hotels, and paid cash was required for some of our accommodations)

When will people learn that the Euronet is not a bank ATM. ATM fees, tipping, problems with airlines, etc. are discussed here so often heads spin just seeing the topics. I say if you use Euronet ATM pay the fee because you are not reading or listening.

Well, the topic of ATM fees is evolving. As said, I never paid any ATM fees for years through 2019. So something has clearly changed in Europe regarding ATM fees, at least in a few countries. I was careful to use only bank ATMs (where there was a physical bank; sometimes the ATM was in side the lobby) and was still charged fees at every ATM I checked in Croatia or Slovenia. The fee was the same at every bank's ATM I tried. (Yes, I know I didn't have to pay it because it was rebated to me by my bank - but still, it bugs me.)

Andrew, you are right about Croatia. I didn’t worry because my fees were covered as well, but it seemed to be the norm there. Also in Dubai.