ATM Maximum Withdrawal

Your maximum withdrawal amount is determined by YOUR bank. The machines have preset amounts to withdraw but you are still limited to the equivalent of what your bank allows.

Following up on the first comment, if your US bank allows a maximum of $300 to be withdrawn at one time, then at today's exchange rate you will get €219 minus the fee that is charged for the transaction.

You may not be able to withdraw your daily limit from foreign ATM's even if you are under your limit from home. The lowest I've been subjected to was 300 Euro, and that was in Spain.

The posters above are correct; different machines will have different withdrawal limits. But two more pieces of advice:

Call your bank to let them know when and where you'll be traveling in Europe. That way they won't shut down your account for suspicious activity.

While you're talking to them, ask what their daily withdrawal limit for you is. If it's too low, ask them to raise it.

I belong to a credit union and I asked that my daily limit be raised to $700 or $800. My daily limit to date is $500 and even though my husband and I have two separate cards for our checking account ATM withdrawals, we are only allowed $500 daily withdrawals, no matter which card we use. IF I want to increase my daily limit, I was told that I have to call in EVERY DAY (from Italy) and ask that my limit be raised for that day!! Yeah right!! I'm going to get on the phone, go through many choices in order to get a "live" person and also have to wait for the next call to go through - "will be answered in the order of the call into the call center". I'll continue looking here to see what others are saying.

I guess this is a little off the subject, but I prefer a somewhat low daily minimum. I may visit the ATM every day to stock up on cash--200-300 Euros at a time. I plan ahead for cash needs and sometimes have as much as 1000 Euros in my money belt. I have a second bank account with a debit card as a backup in case of ATM difficulties. Occasionally I am unable to withdraw cash, but have always been able to find another ATM that will give cash.

Miss B, why would you need to withdraw more than $500 a day anyway? You should use a credit card for your lodging and any larger purchases to get the best exchange rate. I agree that the "call every day" thing is ridiculous, but I wouldn't think you'd need that much cash on a daily basis.

Nancy, We usually pay cash at the B&B's to get a discount and the smaller towns ask for cash. It costs another fee for using the credit card. With what the Euro is, it takes more cash and if we are at the smaller cafes, it is easier to pay by cash and we do get the max out at the ATM. Our trip right now to Italy will cost $133-134.00 for a 100 Euro room.

Nancy - The problem isn't needing $500 every day. The problem is needing more than $500 on some days. For example, the day you check out of the little chambre d'hotes you've been staying at for five days and they only take cash.

We just took money out of an ATM almost every day and stockpiled the money in the room safe to enable us to pay for our hotel rooms. Occasionally my husband and I both took money out on the same day. I only used my credit card at the two more expensive hotels where there was no offer of a discount for cash, and when we hired ski gear. We were a family of 4 and survived quite nicely - mind you we didn't buy much in the way of souveniers.

We were in Italy last month and I was unable to withdraw more than 250 Euros at any ATM I went to. I have not had this problem before and thought at first that I just had entered an amount that they could not dispense. I tried several times, in many different parts of Italy but rather than continue to enter different amounts I finally just withdrew 250 from one card and 250 from another. I know it was not due to the maximum that my own bank allows - has anyone else had this happen?

Also, I use my credit card for as much as possible but at several of the very nice agritourismos we stayed they asked that the payment be in cash - especially in Sicily.

I'm only able to take out ~250 Euros also. But that is b/c my bank only lets me take out $400/day. With the fees tacked on, the most we'd be able to get is ~275 or so.

What is your bank's daily limit? Most places it's either $400 or $500/day. (In Euros = 293 & 366, respectively, as of today & without any fees included.)

Just returned from Italy. My credit union said I would have a $500 limit but I could only get about $350 (or 250 euro). When I got back I called the CU and they said that if the ATM limit was less, then that was my limit. Why they didn't tell me that before...

Your bank does not know the limits of the ATMs machines around the world.

The only way to know is when you use the machine. There are signs posted sometimes.

My limit at home is 300.00 per day.When I travel I have them raise it to 1000.00 per day.Several years ago I had a problem getting more then 400.00.My traveling partner was able to get 1000.00 out of the same machine.When I returned home I went to the bank and they stated it must be the bank in Europe but when I pointed out that my friend got 1000.00 they had to admit that they were at fault.The next year I talked to my bank and told them they had one more chanace to get it right.Guess what the past few years no problem. You have to talk to someone that actually knows what they are doing at your bank not someone who thinks they know.

Miss B. If your credit union declined to raise your limit from $500 to $800, it sounds like you need to change financial institutions. I work for a bank and this is not a problem, provided that the customer has acceptable credit.

Joohee, it's wise to call your bank and find out what "partner" banks they have in the countries you want to visit. You can usually withdraw the maximum you would be able to draw back home if you used a partner bank ATM. For example, I have a Bank of America account and could only withdraw 250 euros at a time from most ATMs. It allows you to make two withdrawals in a row though, go figure. BofA told me "Antoniana" was a partner bank, but it turns out the real name is "Antonveneta". I could withdraw my maximum there. You'll pay another $5 in Italy per withdrawal to the bank you withdraw from along with what your bank charges you. In my experience, withdrawals in France don't tack on the additional charge.

thanks everyone for your help!
-joohee

250 euros was our limit and we have impeccable credit (always pay CC balanace in full each month).

Joohee, I agree it depends on your local bank's limit. Our limit had been $300 since the early '80s, and it was a real pain. I went in to the bank and got it raised to $500, and the manager informed me my wife and I EACH could withdraw up to the limit of $500 per day! I never knew that. Now we can get as much as $1,000 (700+ Euro) if we need it.