Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

Hi
Last year we withdrew £300 GBP from our account & was charged £11.50 our bank is the Yorkshire Bank, is there different charges depending on which cash machine we use in Icmeler & is it better to withdraw Sterling or Lira? or maybe best to make sure we take more than enough to be sure

Hmm I suppose it varies depending on your bank but I personally would withdraw lira as that is what you are using in the resort and as much as I could as you will be charged for each transaction

You could take cash and then exchange in one of the banks over the counter and for normally one point below the bank exchange rate

Hi,
Due to Bank Charges we try to only use the Cash points in an emergency,,,, we take separate money for Air con and Safe in Sterling, £100 in Lira and majority of spending money in Sterling travelers cheques, to change in the resort. The cheques are insured against theft and are normally replaced replaced within 24/48 hours, though we've never put this to test..We also take what we call barter money,,,, you may see something that works out cheaper in Sterling than Lira, so we use this money for those purchases. But we only take the amount of Sterling cash we can afford to loose should it be Stolen..
Hope this helps, Steve

Yes, they aright in what they say, you are charged per transaction so if you're only withdrawing, say £20 a time, that will end up getting very expensive, Withdraw as large an amount as you can.

We usually take around £100 worth of Lira (for first day or so) and take the rest in sterling (in notes) and split it between my wife and I as we travel out there.

When in the hotel, I put the cash in my wallet, place it in my suitcase then lock it and put the keys in another suitcase. We've never had any problems doing this over the years (goes of to touch wood) but if you want, you could always use the hotel safe.

Make sure you also tell your bank when you are going as they may see it as fraudulent activity and block your card if you don't.

Similarly to SteveW, I also use my bank card in an emergency, we ran short a few years ago in Turkey so I used it once to withdraw 200 Lira and was charged a set fee (I think it was around £5-£6). Just for info, I'm with Santander.

We used to use the Nationwide Flex card but they now charge for withdrawals so have now got a Halifax Clarity card.
Its a credit card but it doesnt charge for withdrawals and you get the bank rate.
There is a small interest charge but I have been told if you pay it off as soon as you come home it should be no more than £1.
This card was mentioned on the Martin Lewis money programme recently as the bast way to spend cash abroad.
I applied on line and the card was sent the next day.

Like Jay Trip I got a Halifax Clarity Card a couple of years ago to use on holiday. Last time I withdrew £800 whilst there and paid it off the day I came back. I only paid £1.20 interest, whereas I previously paid £1.50 per transaction using my Halifax Debit card. I also used it in restaurants and got a good rate of exchange. Like JT I would advise to withdraw the money in lira as the rate seems to be better.
As a word of caution I would suggest that you have another means of accessing money as it has been known for ATMs to refuse a transaction saying the chip could not be read, which could prove problematic.

Hi Jay Trip

Has Nationwide changed it's terms for withdrawing cash abroad? Last year I withdrew sterling as and when I needed it and changed it into lira at the local shops. As the transactions were for sterling I wasn't charged at all.

Patsiej

I have used the Halifax Credit card for many holidays now, there is no fee charged to withdraw cash, just make sure you pay it off as soon as you get back as you will get charged interest. Last year i drew out about £500 and was only charged 90p interest

If you are taking cash over with you, make sure you put it in the safe in your hotel or apartment - because if you don't, and the worst comes to the worst, your travel insurance will probably refuse to pay out.

Patsiej,We never used to withdraw sterling so when we found out they were charging the same as other banks for withdrawals abroad we stopped using it.
I asked in our branch about withdrawing sterling and they said there would be a charge but thats obviously not true if as you say you did that without a charge.

We are with the Halifax/Bank of Scotland & use Garanti bank here & can withdraw our maximum daily limit & only be charged £1.50. We choose sterling then benefit by choosing the best exchange rate in Icmeler & thereby recoup our bank charge. Of course you need to have your bank card activated before coming abroad.

Jay Trip

I am in the process of checking so will keep you posted.

Patsiej

Roy wrote:We are with the Halifax/Bank of Scotland & use Garanti bank here & can withdraw our maximum daily limit & only be charged £1.50. We choose sterling then benefit by choosing the best exchange rate in Icmeler & thereby recoup our bank charge. Of course you need to have your bank card activated before coming abroad.

If you use the Halifax clarity card there are no fees to pay. Draw out in lira and you get a much better
Rate than in the resort

Looked into this in detail last night.

The Nationwide 'using your cards abroad' section refers to withdrawing local currency when abroad.

Under the heading of withdrawing sterling it says 'When using your card abroad, some retailers and ATMs may offer to process your transaction in sterling, rather than local currency. This process is called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) and it may make your transaction more expensive than if you had paid in local currency'.

Last year when I enquired via the Forum about withdrawing cash from ATM's I was told to use the Garanti bank machines so I used the one next to the Prince Apartments.

After putting in my card and selecting 'English' the machine asked which currency I wanted - I believe I had a choice of Euros, Turkish Lira, Sterling and I think Dollars. I selected sterling and that is exactly what I got. No mention of DCC or anything. The receipt was also for sterling.

As soon as I got home I checked my account - holding my breath as I did so - and all was well. No charges whatsoever.

I shall be doing the same this year as it was by far the most cost effective and stress free way to get cash.

I am sure someone on the Calis forum withdraws sterling but she said you dont get the bank rate.
I suppose it all works out similar but on Martin Lewis Money programme last week the Halifax Clarity card was mentioned as being the best way to get money abroad and he also recommended using it in shops,restaurants etc.

Hi Jay Trip

I don't understand what you mean about not getting the bank rate. Last year I asked for £200 sterling, received £200 sterling (always counted it) which I changed in the shops in the usual way and my bank statement showed £200 withdrawn. It was no different than taking sterling with me.

I only used the Garanti machine on the advice I received from this forum last year (the previous topic is under using debit cards if you want to check it).

Patsiej

i always withdrew lira you get better exchange rate than changing sterling in the corner shop or anywhere else ok charge for withdraw but it still works out more lira

I meant by withdrawing sterling you change it in the shops,bars etc but they do not give you the bank rate.
That is given if withdrawing TL from the ATMs .Most banks charge now so that is why I got the Clarity card so I can get the bank rate which is higher than the tourist rate.
It can work out quite a bit more over the course of a 2 week holiday.

Now I understand! Thank You.

sunseeker2011 wrote:We usually take around £100 worth of Lira (for first day or so) and take the rest in sterling (in notes) and split it between my wife and I as we travel out there.

When in the hotel, I put the cash in my wallet, place it in my suitcase then lock it and put the keys in another suitcase. We've never had any problems doing this over the years (goes of to touch wood) but if you want, you could always use the hotel safe.

Hi sunseeker
Hope this isn't the way you'll keep your cash this year as you've given this information on an open forum. It would be easy to find out where you're staying, find your room and take the suitcase containing the money. Any money stolen in this way would not be insured but if put in a safe, some of it would be covered by your insurance, the actual amount covered would depend on which company you use.

Sorry to go off the subject but it's important that you don't keep your money in this way as a potential thief would think of checking the suitcase. Also, the key wouldn't be needed as the locks are easily broken.