New York ATMs and Car Hire

opinions4u

A quick couple of questions, because I'm too lazy to scour the sticky thread.

1) Are there any free ATMs in New York? If so, which banks provide them? Cards that will be available for use are Haifax (Clarity, so preferred), Barclaycard, Tesco and M&S.

2) If I hire a car from near Central Park, how easy is it to drive out of the city and south in to New Jersey, in the general direction of Atlantic City? And back to NYC again. (I'm thinking more about the city driving, not worried about the rest of it).

Or would you suggest public transport out of the city and picking up a rental car elsewhere?

Mxty

The city takes forever to get out of, you can spend like 30 minutes on one street. To New Jersey its not that far though, but even that might take 45 mins ish.

As for ATMs I know Santander have a great deal but you need to be banking with them, if you are I think its free as long as you put a certain amount of funds in a year other than that im not to sure

Goodluck

Neil49

We were in NY last October and found that TD Bank atm's were free to use. They are a Canadian Bank (Toronto Dominion) and have plenty of branches in Manhattan.

Hopefully they are still free as we are going again next May.

Roger1

You should check the sticky! (IMO, of course. )

I think Barclays have an arrangement with a US bank (Bank of America?) but you need to check. I think that would be for debit cards, though. Using a Barclaycard for cash would be expensive.

Otherwise, US ATMs except those of TD normally charge a fee - thanks for the TD info, Neil49. Away from TD, the fees can vary. Lowest I've seen in the past couple of years was $1.50; others wanted $2.50 or $3. ATMs close to casinos, for example in Atlantic City, could charge $5 or more.

As for driving in Manhattan, I wouldn't. For Atlantic City, trains from Grand Central station or elsewhere would probably do the trick. And if you still need a car in NJ, perhaps you could pick one up there.

Nick_C

Was there last month. Bank of America charged $2. Wells Fargo wanted $5

bignred05

Mxty wrote: »

As for ATMs I know Santander have a great deal but you need to be banking with them, if you are I think its free as long as you put a certain amount of funds in a year other than that im not to sure

Goodluck

any idea what this Santander deal is, I'm heading to N.Y. next year and have banked with Santander for many, many years

opinions4u

bignred05 wrote: »

any idea what this Santander deal is, I'm heading to N.Y. next year and have banked with Santander for many, many years

No idea, but there were Santander branches in NYC.

We just identified where TD Bank ATMs were and used those. We also spotted a free ATM in a McDonalds on 56th and 8th but didn't use it.

jackieblack

With regard to the driving, there is no way in a million years I'd drive in Manhattan.
We arranged a hire car from Newark Airport, train from Penn Station to EWR is easy and cheap, much easier and less stressful

opinions4u

jackieblack wrote: »

With regard to the driving, there is no way in a million years I'd drive in Manhattan.
We arranged a hire car from Newark Airport, train from Penn Station to EWR is easy and cheap, much easier and less stressful

To be fair, we were fine with it. If you want to change lane sack the indicators and beep your horn. They get that.

But getting back through the Lincoln Tunnel was an experience. It took 90 minutes, cost $13 and burned enough fuel for Avis to justify a penalty charge that I could have done without.

It's a good place to recover from taking a wrong turning though. The block system is highly recommended for navigation!

Your Penn to Newark to collect a car suggestion was one I considered and would probably do if I repeated the trip.

jackieblack

opinions4u wrote: »

To be fair, we were fine with it. If you want to change lane sack the indicators and beep your horn. They get that.

But getting back through the Lincoln Tunnel was an experience. It took 90 minutes, cost $13 and burned enough fuel for Avis to justify a penalty charge that I could have done without.

It's a good place to recover from taking a wrong turning though. The block system is highly recommended for navigation!

Your Penn to Newark to collect a car suggestion was one I considered and would probably do if I repeated the trip.

We've benefitted from the block system in many cities in the USA , but NYC is the one city we've never wanted to drive in.

Glad it worked out for you (and that you survived the experience )

bignred05

opinions4u wrote: »

No idea, but there were Santander branches in NYC.

We just identified where TD Bank ATMs were and used those. We also spotted a free ATM in a McDonalds on 56th and 8th but didn't use it.

thanks,

what's the deal with TD Bank ATMs then

just done a google search, there's a Santander branch around the corner from where where staying, although the branch on 2 Gold Street, does not show up well on the street ongoogle earth