We're flying in to Rome in 5 days, need to pay for our 4 day apartment with cash upon arrival to the apartment. It appears we would get a much better rate getting cash from an ATM upon arrival than getting $500 in Euros here and carrying them with us. Past posts (2010) report ATM near baggage claim -- any updated tips we should know before looking for it? Sara
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15249 posts
There are banks inside Rome airport, not just ATMs. Just ask for Bancomat (ATM) and they'll point you to one.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Be sure your local bank knows you will make withdrawals abroad. $500 may be above the ATM's limit, so you may need to do two transactions.
Posted by
Centennial, CO, USA
1883 posts
We were in Rome last month and found the ATM in the baggage claim area as you've been told. One thing I've noticed is some ATM are more like a credit union or ?? I didn't withdraw money once I saw that it was more like a credit card withdrawal and not from our checking account. As another poster said, make sure your bank is aware of your travel plans. and you should find out what your maximum withdrawal is for the day. Enjoy.
Posted by
Temora, NSW, Australia
337 posts
hi my recent experience was that 500E withdrawals all over italy were never rejected.
Austria, 500E failed but 400E went through. regards
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Check with your bank/ATM card provider to see what their daily withdrawal limit is. Capital One was $650 when as recently as last month. As mentioned, some ATMs will have their own per-transaction limit, (often 250 euros) so you might have to make two withdrawals to hit your daily limit. When using the ATM ("bancomat", as mentioned), after you've ed your card and after choosing English as the language, you'll be offered a choice that's something like "International transaction". Choose that one. I don't know what the other response is referring to as "credit union" or "credit card withdrawal". As long as you use your ATM card and not a credit card, you'll be fine. Unlike with ATMs in the US, you will NOT have the choice of choosing between a checking and savings account to withdraw the money from. You MUST have all the money you'll need in the primary account (usually checking). Happy travels.
Posted by
Mpls, MN
1003 posts
Was last in Rome in Oct. 2011 and had no problem immediately finding a cash machine at the airport and seems like it was near baggage claim. Was with my sister visiting her daughter on a semester study abroad in Rome and we needed cash to pay for the 11 nights in our apt. Between the 2 of us and several atm cards we were able to get the amount we needed. As previous posters have stated, the atm machine may limit the amount you may get per transaction even though you may have raised the limit before you left home. I travel with 3 different atm cards as many places want payment in cash or you get a discount with cash and who doesn't want to save money. It isn't a problem after you have been there for few days and you can start stockpiling cash for payment to the next places you are going to be staying.My biggest fear at an atm is my card getting sucked up and not being returned to me. Happened to my husband on a business trip in Europe. Got his money and could see his card in there but it was not coming back out. A guy he was with had a paperclip so they used it as a tweezer to pull his card out. Crisis solved! From then on I have always carried a tweezer in my daybag.
Posted by
Santa Fe
27 posts
We were in Roma in March. Our first cash exchange was at the bancomat near the train track into town. As noted above- bancomats are everywhere in the airport and train station. We used debit cards from our credit union with no fees. Bancomats are easy, quick and good rates. One note: sometimes the bancomat rejects a transaction and we found if we tried again, with a different amount, it then worked.