How to get enough cash to pay for hotel

I am assuming that you don't have to pay till you leave. If that is the case, then you should be able to take out enough money by taking out the maximum several times during your stay. You might look into getting your daily maximum raised by your bank before you go--that should help. I would be really surprised if your daily hotel rate plus incidental spending exceeded your daily ATM withdrawal limit, in any event. So, worst case scenario, you will have to make a daily withdrawal. But likely, you will be fine with fewer.

If each of you have an ATM card from the same bank, you both can withdraw money, at the same time, from that bank, even if it's from the same account. I didn't realize this until we needed the funds one day. We have BofA and Charles Schwabb each with our own limits. Also, as the previous poster noted, you could withdraw money for several days to get to 1000 euros. We use my husband's money belt like a bank. Also, make sure you tell your bank, before you leave the States, that you will be in Europe and making withdrawals. You don't want your bank to freeze your account because of possible fraudulant activity. Have fun on your trip!

Hi Carol. You can find a local bank at home, before you leave, and buy Euros so you don't have to worry about getting enought money out of the ATM's. And there are no foreign transaction fees or ATM fees. I usually use Wells Fargo... they charge me $5 because i don't have an account with them but it's a small price to pay for the assurance that I've got the funds I'll need to pay the hotel. Put the cash in your handy-dandy money belt and you're set. Have a wonderful trip!
-Libby

Here's a true story regarding buying your foreign money in advance: My husband and I were headed for a vacation in Australia, to Hamilton Island off the Great Barrier Reef. We had rented a condo there and needed cash to pay for the hotel, but there are (or were then) no ATMs on the island. So we went to our bank and ordered about 1000 Australian dollars in advance. The day we were flying out, on the shuttle halfway to the airport, I asked him, "Where are you carrying the Australian money?" He looked surprised. "I thought you had the money." We found it neatly clipped together on the dining room table when we got back from Australia.

Carol, your message is a tiny bit confusing. The other responders have told you how to withdraw enough from your bank Accounts, and by the way you really should have 2 accounts to draw on, you can open one just for this trip on a different bank. Also, I gather it is not $1000 for 1 day, but perhaps for ?5 days? What would be wrong with paying the equivalent of $200 per day; pay-as-you-go. You do not say that the hotel requires $1000 cash IN ADVANCE. However, I wonder whether you instead were worrying about running short of money, and had planned to put some things on a charge card and pay it off gradually in the future. Is that the issue, rather than ATM withdrawal limits? If its the ATM limits and not your money shortage, I hope that you DO know you can request your bank to raise your daily ATM withdrawal limit. This is often $500 but mine will raise to $750, some will raise to $1000.

The suggestion for W Fargo is slightly misleading. First W Fargo does charge 5% fee plus the $5 which is more than most ATM fees. W Fargo buries their fee in the exchange rate that they charge. We carry two debit cards with $1500 limits. It is easy to take out $500 per day/per card. Sometimes you can hit an ATM that has a $250E (mostly in Italy and heavy tourists areas) transaction limit. So you do two transaction or simply move to another ATM. Generally the ATMs attached to banks during bank hours does not have limits. Second, if worried about having all that cash on you pay the bill in parts. We have had several day stays that will have a big bill due at the end, just give them some cash in the middle -- be sure to get a receipt.

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. I think we will open a second account just to be on the safe side and I will definitely talk to our bank about increasing our daily limit.