Ideas please

[alisonbestford]

First I must apologise as this has nothing to do with WDW at all

Secondly I need to ask your advice please

As you can see by my counter we're off to Italy in a little over a week.
Everything has been booked, by me, independently and the only thing left to settle is the hotel bill, on arrival.
The hotel offers a 1% discount for cash payments but I'm worried about carrying a large amount of cash whilst travelling.
I intended to pay by CC and then pay it off when we returned home but the cc company want to charge 2.75% transaction fee - this will work out at around £70!

I also thought about asking the building society to write a cheque but that will be like a wire, take 3-4 days and cost £10. The hotel will take a bank cheque but not sure about a wire

Also considered taking travellers cheques but what would the commission fee be to change them?

I have a Nationwide cc but the limit is too low to accommodate the balance and my Nationwide current account hasn't been finalised yet.

So many questions that I'm going dizzy
Thought it best to come here and ask fellow travellers if you don't mind
The cash is in the bank but what would YOU do?

If anyone has any suggestions the'y'd be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[kkymmy]

take the cash out from an ATM when you get there? You might get charged but nowhere near the £10 for the wire or £70 for CC

 

[wideeyes]

Do you not have a debit card?

 

[carolfoy]

I'd take the cash, after all you've to pay it on arrival so it won't be in your hands for long

 

[alisonbestford]

Yes I have a debit card but suppose that I will be limited to the £300 a day withdrawal limit at an ATM
Guess I could visit a few times (as we have 3 weeks, full board, accommodation to pay for) but the fees would add up.
If my Nationwide current account is finalised in time I'll load up the account and visit the ATM 'fee free'

I think I will take the cash, as Carol suggests
I've already made arrangements to withdraw it on Tues - I'll just change it into Euros, split it between DH and myself and be extra vigilant about not putting my bag down and leaving it

I can see me arriving a nervous wreck, desperate to hand over the cash on our arrival.........

 

[Minniespal]

I'd take the cash as well ~ As Carol mention you are not going to have it for that long. Just make extra sure that the bag with the cash in it is always with you and I'm sure you will be fine.

 

[alisonbestford]

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions

Just as I'd made the decision to pay cash I received an e-mail from the hotel asking me to pay in Sterling Travellers cheques.....................

For peace of mind I think that this is the way I'll go now so thanks all once again

 

[wayneg]

Can you find out what your credit cards exchange rate is?
Last October (Florida) I compared all options and the best was credit card because they gave the best exchange rate, so even though they took their % it still worked out better than any other option. I know they all work different but I will only ever pay by cc in Florida even for a $2 ice cream.
We just got back from Italy a few week back, want to go again sometime Venice was beautiful.

 

[alisonbestford]

All I could get from the cc company was that it would be the 'bank rate' - not very helpful if you're not a banker
Unfortunately the cc I have has changed from Beneficial Bank to Marbles with, to my mind, less favourable terms.

£70 seems a lot of % for them to grab, especially when they would normally be getting their fair share of interest (obviously they have no idea that I intend to pay the balance on our return )

DD is desperate to go to Rome but I think she might change her mind when she has to sit in a car for 3 hours
Venice is a much more sensible option at around 100 miles away

I've only ever been to Italy once, with school, when I was 15 so can't remember a great deal except that it was June and rained a lot!

 

[Disney owl]

WE went to Italy this Spring bank & loved it . Took DD15 & DS 14 to Venice & I now want to visit without them! they behaved fine but had had enough by 5pm!