Best way to take 500+ euros to Spain

eDicky

You can currently withdraw 570€ in one shot from an ATM in Spain with the Clarity card (£500 limit), may be a bit less or more by the time you arrive. Even with a 6€ fee and a few pence interest if you repay quickly it should cost less and be simpler than exchanging cash, especially at a supermarket. The Santander cards have a lower limit I believe (£300?) but with no fee you can withdraw twice.

Payments to a credit card will go first to clear any balance that is already statemented before paying for a cash withdrawal, any purchases made since your statement are prioritised last.

Voyager2002

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Use your Santander cards at a Santander branded ATM - no fees.

Good idea to find out if there is a Santander branch where you are going, it's more convenient to use an indoor ATM in my experience.

Santander has changed: my experience in March was with a Santander debit card.

zagfles

Voyager2002 said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Use your Santander cards at a Santander branded ATM - no fees.

Good idea to find out if there is a Santander branch where you are going, it's more convenient to use an indoor ATM in my experience.

Santander has changed: my experience in March was with a Santander debit card.

Changed how? How much were you charged? Their website says they don't charge for debit card withdrawals at Santander ATMs in Spain and some other countries:

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/credit-cards/travelling

Brie

Check your T&Cs but my Santander 123 doesn't charge me any fees so if you use it to withdraw at a Santander ATM in Spain you might be fine.  I plan on doing this when I travel so am likely to withdraw enough cash for the holiday or the first week or whatever and set up a payment from my bank for the first day I'm likely to get the cash.  It's never been a problem with Santander - they just don't like it if you have a running credit balance but if that happens when you get home you can either take the cash out at an ATM here in ££ or get them to transfer the remaining overpayment to the source account.  There should be a balance transfer fee but it gets waived (at least mine did last month.)

NoodleDoodleMan

Voyager2002 said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Use your Santander cards at a Santander branded ATM - no fees.

Good idea to find out if there is a Santander branch where you are going, it's more convenient to use an indoor ATM in my experience.

Santander has changed: my experience in March was with a Santander debit card.

Something not right then - Santander have now added several countries where no ATM fees apply when a debit card is used at one of their branded machines.