Hubby and I will be in Rome in September for 6 nights. Our hotel offers a 15% discout if we pay in cash. The room averages $250 per night, so we won't be able to get that much out of ATM in one day. Not crazy about carrying around a lot of cash until we get enough to pay entire bill.
I guess we could withdraw our max for the day, give it to hotel and repeat next day. Don't really want to give up discount.
Just curious what you would do.
Thanks.
I would do just about anything legal to save $37.50 per night on a hotel bill. I wouldn't carry the cash around with me if I wanted to pay the bill all at one time; I'd get cash from an ATM and lock it inside my suitcase as soon as I could return to the hotel.
I agree with acraven - just pay in stages. Since there are two of you, you can each withdraw money from the ATM, so two or three payments should do it. And you don't "carry around" the cash - you go right from the ATM to the hotel (I did this in Istanbul).
Yes we do !!! Ten to fifteen percent is significant. One way to handle it is to hit an ATM for max withdraw on the way back to the hotel, and then put the cash on your account when you get to the hotel. Get a receipt. Our experience is that the total bill doesn't have to be paid at the end but the hotel will accept partial cash payment through out the stay. Also ask your bank to increase your daily withdraw. $250 is a pretty low limit. Our credit union is unlimited and bank is $750.
I had this issue when I stayed in Paris - I needed €1500. I had 2 cards with me, each with a $500/day limit, so $1000/day. Some ATMs will have lower limits so I did have to take money from 2 or 3 ATMs each day to get to my bank's daily limit but I did get the total within 2 days. I just carried the cash in my money belt until the end of the 2nd day and then paid the owner of the apt.
I only recently learned about the cash discount offered by the smaller B&B type hotels. I did use that option on my recent stay and saved over $100. I have a relatively high withdrawal limit and two separate accounts for two separate banks and between the two was able to draw out enough in one day to pay all at once (ATM was just out the front door of where I was staying, so not far to walk but was still nervous!). I see no issue with paying installments, but the hotel would have to agree to that.
Or you could just skip this nonsense of having that much cash daily and just get a hotel room that's priced at $212.50 that can be paid for via credit card. That's the equivalent of a 15% discount on $250 (discounts are just gimmicks after all since list prices are pretty much arbitrary). I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a $212.50 vs $250 hotel room, so I go with options that make my life easier (which means not having to carry or pay with large amounts of cash). There are many lodging choices in Rome at the $200+ price level. I have paid in cash for hotels before but only under some extenuating circumstances.
Thanks all for your input. We'll pay in "installments".
I didn't chose this hotel because they offered the discount. I consider that an added bonus! After reading reviews and researching until my head was ready to explode, this is the one that fit what we were looking for. Yes, I could probably find one for the same price without having to mess around with the cash withdrawals, but that isn't worth it to me.
Thanks again! Love this forum!!!
On every trip to France we've taken, we always have a hotel or two that only accepts cash
On every trip to France we've taken, we always have a hotel or two that only accepts cash
That's interesting. I don't think I've ever run into that in France. Small chambres d'hotes are a different story.
When I was in Italy in 2014 I did take advantage of the cash option in Rome & Venice. All I did was ask my bank to raise my daily limit to $500 during my time in Italy and they did. Maybe your bank can do the same.
Enjoy your trip.
We book far in advance when discounts are often offered; we travel off peak. The discount is typically far greater than 15% off the rack rate.
If offered a cash discount like with car service, we take it.
The hotel probably won't require payment until you check out.
ATMs operated by DeutscheBank (several locations in Rome) will normally give out as much cash in a single transaction as whatever daily withdrawal limit your home bank has set (e.g. over 1,000 euros for our corporate account). If your daily limit is less than $500, then ask to have it raised for the trip.
This also assumes that your home bank fees do not add up to 15% for foreign transactions (which would be outrageous). If the percentage of hotel savings were smaller, then you might again be weighing the options.
If we have the cash, we’ll use it and take the discount. 15% saved is money that can be spent elsewhere. We seldom stay anyplace more than a couple days, so wouldn’t need a suitcase full of cash like you will. I agree you should ask for a higher daily withdrawal limit if you know you’ll pay in cash. You can always have it lowered upon return from the trip. Enjoy your trip.
This is probably not the case with major banks, but our little local credit union figures the daily limit on a calendar day (midnight to midnight) at the home office location in Seattle. Midnight in Seattle is 9 am in Italy. So I could withdraw 2X the daily limit in two transactions the same day in Italy, one at 8 am and one at 10 am ( or later).
Interesting to read everyone's comments.
We travel with a Capital One 360 debit card and a Capital One credit card. No foreign transaction fees for either one. The 360 checking account was opened when we first started traveling to Europe and it's used only for travel. We feel better keeping our main accounts separate from our travel account. Of course we take one additional credit and debit card for backups.
I just checked and our daily ATM limit is $1,000, so we'll get the hotel money out over two days.
Thanks again for your help.
I do not have anybody to travel with. I travel alone. I used a credit card twice in Europe; I vaguely felt like a snob for doing so, then I decided to pay for everything in cash, from then onward. I stay in hostels or lower end hotels. I reserve my hotels online using a credit card, but I click the option to pay in person and the option to be able to cancel before a certain date; I pay cash for my entire stay, when I check into a hotel or hostel. I didn't know that there was such a thing as a hotel discount for paying cash and this does not apply to the places I would stay at. I am a novice traveler; I have not been robbed, mugged, or attacked.
Lola -- That is typically true of nearly all banks. But a second issue that any occur is when software or hardware updates or maintenance is require systems will go off line around the 3am mark when they hope no one is wanting to use the system. Not every day but it can occur unexpectedly.
If a 15% discount is offered, I’ll take advantage of it. Easy choice for me.
This is a great tip. I feel mildly stupid for never having known this. LOL. I knew about discounts that hotels would sometimes offer if you booked directly with them instead of booking.com or a similar site.
So do you just find where you would like to stay, email them, and ask if they have availability as well as a cash discount?
"So do you just find where you would like to stay, email them, and ask if they have availability as well as a cash discount?"
Yes, that's exactly what I do for smaller places.
Yes, ask when you inquire about availability. This particular hotel in Rome offered the discount when I inquired on their website.
We have had many smaller hotels and B&B's that have given us cash discounts.
EVERY time I check into a hotel, I ask -- Discount for cash? If they say no, I hand them a credit card.
Great to know. A very few of the places we will stay next month are pay-upon-arrival. They take cards, but now Ill ask...
