Greetings. I've asked my share of silly questions and you've all been so gracious and helpful. Thx! Here's one more: I've booked two apartments (Rome and Florence). I need to pay the balance in "cash" upon arrival. In your experience, what do most VRBO landlords expect when they say cash? Do I arrive with a wad of Euros in hand or is there a better way? And, if there are options, is there a way that is better from an exchange rate perspective (from US to Euro)? I'll confirm with landlords their preference of course, but I didn't want to let on too soon how inexperienced I am by asking without knowing what I'm talking about.
Posted by
Chicago
2876 posts
The easiest way, if your future landlords will cooperate, is to do an electronic funds transfer directly to their bank account. Just go to xe.com and click on "transfer money" and you'll see an explanation of how it's done. It is simple, cheap, and safe. All you need is the landlord's bank information, which (in my experience) they'll usually give you.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
The other (and more common) option is to pay them in cash money euros on arrival. After all, what do you do if the place is a dump and you've already transferred the money electronically? The cheapest way to get euros is one of the most common discussion points on this site, so I won't rehash. Happy travels.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10351 posts
I pay them cash, which I obtain from an ATM. If you have to pay a very large amount you might need to start getting the money out a few days early. You can ask your bank to increase your daily withdrawal amount. Some machines won't let you take your entire limit, in which case you can hit a couple of machines in the same day.
Posted by
Caruthers, CA, USA
244 posts
We did what Andrea said. Capital One does not charge a fee for euro transactions. I loaded our Capital One visa up so it had a credit balance when we left, then pulled the money off that card at the ATMs. Doing that allowed me to avoid the cash advance fee, usually 3%
Posted by
OP
Lake Forest, Illinois, USA
59 posts
Thanks, everyone, for the information. I guess simple is indeed better ... arrive with a wad of cash! :) Grazie!
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2788 posts
I do as Andrea said when I stay at B&Bs in Europe. Several times I have had to explain to the owners that it will take me an extra day or two to get all their money from an ATM machine when I am staying for more than a couple of days and I have never had one object to that.
Posted by
California
62 posts
I'm a believer of getting cash at ATM's, but since we didn't want to worry about being able to get enough (with daily limits, ATM limits, etc) for our cash payment on our first day there, we purchased just enough euros from our bank before we left. Check the fees with your bank, but ours weren't bad at all.