Buying Euros from a UK travel agent - can I use my credit card (Amex)?

whalemoney

Emmia said:

Do you actually need lots of Euros on cash? Most places accept card payments - we're recently back from a holiday in the Eurozone.

In 10 days away we spent less than €20 in cash, and could probably have spent less than that. 

Not necessarily lots - but enough to cover the taxi when we land.  There could well be an ATM at the airport, but if that's charging me to withdraw then it's more economical to just take enough Euros to cover the initial taxi journey and anything else we might need on that first day.

Just to clarify this, I never said I'm only exclusively using cash for the entirety of the holiday.  I intend to use Chase at restaurants etc, but I don't think it's a good idea flying out with no cash at all, when it'll cost me £2 more if I buy some Euros here than it would if I withdrew the same amount from a Greek ATM.

Bonhomie

whalemoney said:

Emmia said:

Do you actually need lots of Euros on cash? Most places accept card payments - we're recently back from a holiday in the Eurozone.

In 10 days away we spent less than €20 in cash, and could probably have spent less than that. 

Not necessarily lots - but enough to cover the taxi when we land.  There could well be an ATM at the airport, but if that's charging me to withdraw then it's more economical to just take enough Euros to cover the initial taxi journey and anything else we might need on that first day.

Just to clarify this, I never said I'm only exclusively using cash for the entirety of the holiday.  I intend to use Chase at restaurants etc, but I don't think it's a good idea flying out with no cash at all, when it'll cost me £2 more if I buy some Euros here than it would if I withdrew the same amount from a Greek ATM.

Let's say your travel agent is TUI and you order online for collection. You have to order a minimum of £100 worth. Currently £102.61 for 120 Euros. If you withdrew 120(+ 2) Euros from an ATM today, the total cost would be £102.77.
Some might say that you are going to a lot of trouble in order to save £0.16. Arguing with everyone on here, the energy taken to find out if AMEX will charge... assuming cashback with CHASE..
Unless you think all the ATMs at the airport will fail when you arrive.
Up to you, but it really sounds as if you need that holiday. Best you contact your card providers, find out for yourself and report back here with the findings. That would be helpful.

Voyager2002

NoodleDoodleMan said:

"The only one I know of is if travelling in Spain, and you have a debit card from Santander, some Santander owned machines don't charge the ATM fee. But I don't know about the FX charge."

Only fully branded Banco Santander ATMs as located at their branches are reliable for fee free Santander UK debit card currency withdrawals.

From what I was eventually able to determine - standalone ATMs which bear the distinctive Santander logo are operated by the Euro Automatic Cash network and are only fee free to domestic clients of Banco Santander.

The result of a negotiated agreement following BS taking over the failing Banco Popular back in 2017 for a nominal €1.

The original plan was for BS to acquire the BP ATM network and integrate them  - however that has not transpired as intended apparently.

If you check the BS website for ATM locations they list branches and these EAC machines, so I would ignore the latter and go visit a branch - unless you have a BS current account - and they are not available to non resident Brits AFAIK.

I cannot work out from their ATM locator: are their machines at Madrid Barajas airport Euronet or Santander? I will be in transit on the way to Cuba where I will need cash Euro, and it would not really be convenient to wait until a branch in town is open.

400ixl

If I ever need to get a small amount of seed currency for a trip abroad (same if you need more for a predominantly cash destination) then I always order it on line for local collection using a debit card. It gives the best rate and saves a bunch of hassle. In the OP's case this would work fine for their Chase debit card. Sainsburys or M&S typically give the best rates with a local pickup and usually much better than any travel agents but always check.

NoodleDoodleMan

Voyager2002 said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

"The only one I know of is if travelling in Spain, and you have a debit card from Santander, some Santander owned machines don't charge the ATM fee. But I don't know about the FX charge."

Only fully branded Banco Santander ATMs as located at their branches are reliable for fee free Santander UK debit card currency withdrawals.

From what I was eventually able to determine - standalone ATMs which bear the distinctive Santander logo are operated by the Euro Automatic Cash network and are only fee free to domestic clients of Banco Santander.

The result of a negotiated agreement following BS taking over the failing Banco Popular back in 2017 for a nominal €1.

The original plan was for BS to acquire the BP ATM network and integrate them  - however that has not transpired as intended apparently.

If you check the BS website for ATM locations they list branches and these EAC machines, so I would ignore the latter and go visit a branch - unless you have a BS current account - and they are not available to non resident Brits AFAIK.

I cannot work out from their ATM locator: are their machines at Madrid Barajas airport Euronet or Santander? I will be in transit on the way to Cuba where I will need cash Euro, and it would not really be convenient to wait until a branch in town is open.

I suspect that they will not be fully branded Banco Santander ATMs - from what I gather these are likely only located at BS branches. Standalone cajeros are likely to be Euro Automatic Cash machines carrying the Santander logo.

I believe they take a modest fee when a Santander UK debit card is used, however that needs confirming.

Personally I would avoid Euronet ATMs - anecdotal reports indicate they are the worst deal around.

Sorry I can't be more helpful - never used EAC or Euronet.

I may try the former next time the opportunity presents itself - with the minimum €40 withdrawal just to get a "hands on" encounter !!! 

I wouldn't think that the Santander ATM locator flags up any Euronet machine.......never seen that there.

NoodleDoodleMan

The machines in this image are typical fully branded Banco Santander ATMs - the name is clearly "in your face" and very obvious.

https://www.ft.com/content/3131fa0c-fc32-49b2-b0b8-e1434822461f