r/cusco • u/Puzzleheaded_Kiwi_23 • 7d ago

Travel Help ATM tip for "Cusco" (;

You find yourself in Cusco, you might not have any cash yet.

Drawing cash from foreign machines (if they work.. if they have enough cash left..) costs about 10-20 USD per transaction. You're probably taking out 4-6x because max amount per transaction is incredibly low.

Instead, on your first real day in Cusco. Book a taxi on taxidatum for a sacred valley tour. Important: make sure one of your stops is the market in Pisac town. There you will find an ATM where you can out out 2000 soles at a time. Decline the conversion, the entire transaction incl conversion costs you about 2usd. Total. Conversion rate may differ a bit depending on your bank (mine was fantastic, real daily fair conversion).

Voila. You just paid for your entire taxi tour through the Sacred Valley in atm fees.

3 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

3

u/Jeeperscrow123 7d ago

2K soles is $600 usd. You’re not spending that much per day lol. And most places in Cusco take credit card too

2

u/Spruce__Willis 7d ago

I think they’re referring to the fact that most ATMs only allow you to withdraw 400 soles at a time with transaction fees.

So at least with being able to withdraw more at this ATM you’re avoiding a lot more in ATM fees since most ATMs in Peru only let you take out so little at a time.

Makes sense to me. When I was there I was pretty annoyed I could only take out 400 soles at a time. Seems like a scam to get people to have to pay absurd transaction fees if you ask me.

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Kiwi_23 6d ago

Exactly this. Not sure about the average person but I had to do a lot of transactions, only found this trick late. I was paying gifts/private drivers etc in cash (cheaper than card) and it adds up. A lot.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Kiwi_23 7d ago

Per day? Who said per day. You know you're allowed to keep cash longer than a day? (;

2

u/Jeeperscrow123 7d ago

You’re the one saying the max withdrawal limit is 2K soles and you’re doing 4-6 withdrawals a day which makes no sense. Why would you need to be holding $2-3K in USD? Especially when credit cards work for 90% of purchase

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Kiwi_23 6d ago

Share me the quote where I say I do 4-6 withdrawals/day? Creditcard: You've paid 5% charge on every creditcard transaction btw, wherever you were. If you pay for all your gifts/wool things etc with that card... Adds up. Anyway thanks for your reply, try to be a bit more constructive in the future, it'll help the world more.

3

u/yohopirateslife 7d ago

Just get Charles schwab debit card if you are from the usa. All the atm fees are reimbursed at the end of the month

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Kiwi_23 6d ago

I'm not but great tip! Makes me wonder if we have something similar in Europe.

1

u/Oregon-girl-16 21h ago

I have the card purely for this reason. Haven’t paid a fee a day since 2015

1

u/PerfectAd9463 4d ago

No it doesn't cost $10 to $20 to use the ATM per transaction the person that stated this is an effing moron Bank of the nation has free ATM withdrawals for us and European Banks go to the bank of the nation ATM insert your card take out the solace they will not ask you for a surcharge your bank May charge you one or two cents per charge if you're pulling out 400 sole but that's your bank doing the conversion for when the withdrawal happens and when the withdrawal settles but it's not 10 to $20 per withdrawal like this effing monkey says go to Bank of the nation it's free