Converting a large amount of money to Euros upon arrival

First, you really should ask your bank so you know the extent of any potential problem. This is normally handled with large withdraw from an ATM. You should be carrying two debit cards tie to different accounts just as back up. Most banks will allow larger withdraw limits if requested. I have one with a $1500 and another with $800. Most landlords understand the situation with large payments so sometimes you can arrange to buy half first day and second half second day. Since traveling with family have a couple of family members hit the ATM to accumulate the cash needed.

There are two limits - a daily limit set by your bank (which you can ask them to change before you leave) and a per-transaction limit set by the local banks (but you can make more than one transaction in a day). Deutsche Bank branches in Italy typically give our staff the most cash in a single withdrawal, sometimes more than 1000 euros, and they have several locations in Rome. If (among family members) you have more than one ATM account to draw from, that can be another way to get more cash on one day.

See https://secure.deutsche-bank.de/cc/locationsfinder/en/welcome2.do or also Google maps; looks like there is no D Bank listed at the airport.

Also, talk to your bank to see what time their "day" runs. One of mine goes from Midnight to Midnight Pacific time, another goes 3PM to 3PM Mountain time. It is better to try and figure that out at home rather than standing in front of an ATM and trying to calculate a different time zone.

It also sounds like you are traveling with a spouse so see if you can both draw the same amounts out of a joint account on the same banking day.

Second the double draw. At our banks, my wife and I each have our own card for the same joint account, each card has a different number. And we are each allowed to withdraw the daily limit, which for our CapOne account is $600/day, which equals $1200. That would cover 990 euro at current rates. I am sure if you are not quite there your landlord would allow you top pay that last 100 euro if need be the next day -after all, it's only the deposit.

You could also see if he can take a Paypal payment in advance. Which you can link to a credit card.

In my experience, cash machines in Italy have lower limits than in other countries. It is often €250 or €200 per withdrawal. If you ask for more than this it just says "transaction refused", with no explanation. This is a limit imposed by the owner of the machine, nothing to do with any limit from your bank.
If this happens to you, just try again for a lower amount, then move on to another machine. Unfortunately if your bank makes a "per transaction" charge, this can cost you more.

With a Schwab Bank debit/ATM card the daily withdrawal limit is $1,000 but can be increased as needed. Free to open an account, no foreign transaction fee card, and any fees by bank ATMs are rebated. It has worked like a charm for me.

Chris,

you can see what your bank or whatever institution will charge you to buy Euros.

then there is the using one or many credit cards to do it as mentioned.

choose your poison.

happy trails.

Or you could order the euro from your bank before you go. Small fees involved but no stress headaches at the last minute. You could order enough to get you through the first day or so. If your bank doesn't stock euro, you will have a couple of days' wait, euro will be sent to your bank via FedEx or some overnight carrier. You can specify denominations (get some 5s and 10s for small purchases.

On Via Leone IV, about 125 feet from the walls of the Vatican you will see parked on the side a baby blue 1976 Trabant 2 door coupe. Walk to the car and tap on the hood three times, then walk one block further, take the first right and then the next left. This will take you back to the car. If your attempt has been successful you will see written in the dust on the hood a five digit number. Ignore the first digit and the remaining for digits are a time on a 24 hour clock. Remember the time then wipe off the numbers. Leave quickly.

At the appointed time make your way to the corner of Piazza Unita and Via dei Gracchi. There you will find the same baby blue 1976 Trabant. This time it will be accompanied by a brunette in her mid 30’s. Introduce yourself. If she responds, “My name is Natasha; and I love Moscow in the winter,” then get in the car with her. If she responds. “My name is Ivanova and Rome is lovely isn’t it?” then run like h-ll. Don’t come back to this forum as this post will be gone. I would suggest going straight to the US consulate. But lets say Natasha is there. She will take you to an abandoned rose pressing factory where a gentleman known only as Boris will be more than happy to exchange as much cash as you would like.

James, You're the best!
I have a large amount of East German Marks advanced to me as 'expenses' (plus some Yugoslav Dinar). Would he give me a good rate for those?
But I feel I must point out if you know somebody who has a baby blue 1976 Trabant in running order, it is probably worth more than he or Natasha could make trying to undercut Italian banks :-)

Chris, I passed a baby blue trabby a few days ago. it had a coin box attached to the window along with a note that contributions would be used to keep it running. the coin box had a few thousand forints in it. I took a photo it was hilarious. Still a lot in running order in Hungary and further to the east. Two stroke Formica bodied car. Its a hoot.

You could always carry the cash from home and convert it to Euros at a bank. If you wear a moneybelt as always suggested, you should be safe carrying that much cash.

i have gone to Europe 12 years of the last 13 for a month each. Numerous times we find ourselves in the same situation as you have with an owner wanting cash upon arrival. I do two things. One is to see the property before handing over any money to make sure it is as advertised as not using a credit card really limits your charge back options. Second, I take two Debit Cards tied to two different Checking Accounts at two different financial institutions. I use one from a local credit union that has lots more available than the other but rely on the other as a back up incase anything goes wrong with the first card. I also notify the owner of the place I am staying that I will have to make his payment in two days as that is as much cash as I can get out of their ATMs. I have never had that offer refused but if I had I would have looked elsewhere. Be sure to notify the issuers of your plastic cards of when and where you are going so that they do not deactivate your cards thinking they have been hacked. Good luck and enjoy Rome as I have several times.

We just this week opened a Schwab checking linked to their investment account (which needs no deposits), so as to have a second set of ATM cards along with our CapOne we can use without fees (and thus not deal with Wells, who we are stuck with as a local B and M). They told me their daily limit is $1,000, which covers a LOT. And since we get two cards, that's $2,000 that can be pulled to pay for lodging that first day.

You could ask for some travellers cheques under your name before travelling and exchange them in a bank upon arrival.
I do not know how credit cards work in the US but in my country I sometimes ask that they extend my limit for two or three months when I go on holiday so to be on the safe side.
Enjoy your trip.

You could ask for some travellers cheques under your name before travelling and exchange them in a bank upon arrival.
I do not know how credit cards work in the US but in my country I sometimes ask that they extend my limit for two or three months when I go on holiday so to be on the safe side.
Enjoy your trip.

Are you sure your landlord does not accept a bank transfer? He might not a accept a credit card too costly for him but might be able to accept a bank transfer. Ask him his Iban no and do the transfer from your bank in the US.

Great advice to get the Schwab account and CapOne credit card. We have never had trouble using our Schwab cards and generally we would each use the ATM at the same time and we were often able to get 500 Euro each! We did this to get cash for our apartment and then every few days take a large sum out to pay for everything. No problems and no fees!

Note to above post -that's a CapOne bank account ATM card, not a CapOne credit card. Although, a CapOne credit card (it's a Mastercard) is a great card to have -no international transaction fee, and cashback -we are on the 1.25% version which we can take as a statement credit whenever we wish, i.e. no minimum required to transfer. Since the Plus/Cirrus etc network of ATM machines seems to have an internal friction of .6%-.8% that the system takes (inflates the exchange rate by that much) it's actually cheaper for us to use the credit card as long as we fell comfortable with using it - it saves us 2% net.

I always buy Euro from AAA before my trip. That way I have cash on hand when I hit the ground. A lot of people do not recommend it because of the exchange rate but to me that is negligible and works in my favor. I landed in Paris this past September with 500 Euro and it lasted 4 days before I made another ATM withdrawal.