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Cash, credit or ATM advise for 12 days in germany

On most of our previous trips our hotels and many of our tours have been paid in advance. The cash we carry would only be for meals and extras. We are putting this trip to Germany together ourselves and many of the places we are staying require cash as well as renting a car so will be purchasing fuel. I'm not excited about traveling with lots of cash but don't want to run short or be beaten up with CC and ATM fees either. Suggestions on how to balance this? Are German ATMs expensive to use and do gas stations use mostly cash or will they take American credit or debit cards?

Posted by
9110 posts

Gas stations take credit cards.

ATMs have no fees, your bank may have some.

You'll probably use mostly cash in restaurants out of the main tourist areas.

I have no experience anywhere with debit cards.

Posted by
19052 posts

I use cash as much as possible in Germany, because the places (lodging, restaurants) that take credit cards are usually the more expensive places. I get it from ATMs. Even with ATM fees, I find I pay less with cash.

It is possible to find credit cards (eg, United Explorer) with no fees in Europe. My account at Wells Fargo gives me two fee-less ATM withdrawals per calendar month (four if my trip spans two months).

Posted by
11294 posts

Here's Rick's page of money tips. Read all the links, and you'll be an expert: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money

To start, just use your ATM card at the first ATM you see, and get out €480. This way, you have at least one €10 and one €20 bill (even if the rest are €50's). If you need more, replenish at ATM's (they're everywhere). If you have extra at the end of your trip, either save it for a future trip, or use it to pay down your last hotel bill (you can put the balance on your credit card).

Call your banks and your credit cards to check on their fees for foreign withdrawals. If they are too high for you, consider getting another account just for travel. Credit unions, Charles Schwab, and TD Bank are three sources of no-fee ATM cards. Many Capital One credit cards have no fees for foreign use.

Posted by
19052 posts

480€ is over $600. Most people have a $500 limit (I did up mine for the last trip). For under $500, you can get 370€. If that's not enough small bills, get 345€ for about $460.

In my experience, most ATMs in Germany give the first 100€ in small bills (3 @ 20€, 3 @ 10€, 2 @ 5€, or something like that), then the rest in 50s.

Posted by
16893 posts

Using ATMS to get cash and using your credit card where it is accepted will generally give you the best possible exchange rate, versus changing currency any other way. Do withdraw near the maximum that any machine will give you. Your debit card also has a daily withdrawal limit; check it with your bank and ask about raising it. When lots of vendors prefer cash, you may need to hit the cash machine every day. Plan ahead if you'll need a lot of cash to check out of a hotel.

Posted by
5835 posts

Harold's 500 EUR is possible from ATMs. I had had BofA temporarily up my daily limit to $700 USD. That said, some cash machines have lower limits than what your home bank will allow. Be advised that some European ATMs are pretty smart and will provide large denomination bills (100 Euro notes) for larger withdraws. The 100 Euro notes are convenient in terms of bulk but can be difficult using to pay for small purchases.

Posted by
11294 posts

RE: Lee and Edgar's posts: I find every ATM is different as to what sort of bills it dispenses, even in the same country. And of course, Murphy's Law comes in to play. When I want big bills to pay a hotel, the machine gives me a fistful of €20's; when I want small bills, I get €100's.

My bank has a daily limit of $730, so I can indeed get €480 as my first withdrawal without difficulty. But Lee is right, you have to check what your bank's daily limit is. Edgar's right too - you can often have it raised before you leave, if you ask. You should then take this amount and convert it into Euros using www.xe.com or www.oanda.com, so you'll know how much you can take out per day. As said, an individual machine may have a lower limit than your daily limit, so you may need to make more than one withdrawal if you need more money at once.

Posted by
125 posts

We have a prepaid debit card from AAA. We haven't used it in Europe yet, but it was great in Asia and Mexico. You don't have to worry about jeopardizing your bank account. I hope it works well in Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

Posted by
2375 posts

some ATM's allow you to choose what denominations you want.