Istanbul - Turkish Lira

I went the local bank to get some Lira before heading to Istanbul in a
week's time, the girl recommended me to take Euros instead. She said the
bank's exchange rate for cash was lousy, it was no problem to spend
Euros, and drawing Lira from cash machines was also no problem.
Comments? Anyone disagree?

On Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:57:20 +0200, Tom P wrote:

I went the local bank to get some Lira before heading to Istanbul in a
week's time, the girl recommended me to take Euros instead. She said the
bank's exchange rate for cash was lousy, it was no problem to spend
Euros, and drawing Lira from cash machines was also no problem.
Comments? Anyone disagree?

Just don't take any surplus Lira to Greece.

Martin wrote:

On Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:57:20 +0200, Tom P wrote:

I went the local bank to get some Lira before heading to Istanbul in a
week's time, the girl recommended me to take Euros instead. She said the
bank's exchange rate for cash was lousy, it was no problem to spend
Euros, and drawing Lira from cash machines was also no problem.
Comments? Anyone disagree?

It depends which part you are going to.

What the girl recommended worked for us in Side.

Wherever that's worked for me (and I'm talking euro, not UK pounds) the
exchange rate has been poorer than what I'd get with a card and an ATM.
Do you recall how it was there?

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

Am Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:15:58 +0200 schrieb Martin:

On Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:57:20 +0200, Tom P wrote:

I went the local bank to get some Lira before heading to Istanbul in a
week's time, the girl recommended me to take Euros instead. She said the
bank's exchange rate for cash was lousy, it was no problem to spend
Euros, and drawing Lira from cash machines was also no problem.
Comments? Anyone disagree?

It depends which part you are going to.

What the girl recommended worked for us in Side.

I can second that. You'll have ATMs at every corner in Side, and you can
get Lira with your EC-Card oder Credit-Card. At some ATMs you could even
draw Euros, and at least at the touristier places you could even pay in
Euro.
No need to take Lira form abroad to Turkey.

Regards,

Frank

On Fri, 7 Oct 2011 10:33:24 +0200, Frank Hucklenbroich
wrote:

Am Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:15:58 +0200 schrieb Martin:

On Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:57:20 +0200, Tom P wrote:

I went the local bank to get some Lira before heading to Istanbul in a
week's time, the girl recommended me to take Euros instead. She said the
bank's exchange rate for cash was lousy, it was no problem to spend
Euros, and drawing Lira from cash machines was also no problem.
Comments? Anyone disagree?

It depends which part you are going to.

What the girl recommended worked for us in Side.

I can second that. You'll have ATMs at every corner in Side, and you can
get Lira with your EC-Card oder Credit-Card. At some ATMs you could even
draw Euros, and at least at the touristier places you could even pay in
Euro.
No need to take Lira form abroad to Turkey.


Let me add to that that in general, there is no need to take any
foreign currency to any country. You will get a better exchange rate
if you get the currency at an ATM when you arrive. You can almost
always find ATMs at airports.

--
Ken Blake

Ken Blake wrote:
Let me add to that that in general, there is no need to take any
foreign currency to any country. You will get a better exchange rate
if you get the currency at an ATM when you arrive.

That may be true often, but not always. There is a local currency
exchange here in Vancouver that offers better rates for major
currencies than any bank. I always stock up from there before heading
overseas. No $5 charge for using a foreign ATM either.

--
K.

Lang may your lum reek.

7.10.2011 20:55, Wolfgang Schwanke kirjoitti:

- Getting local currency from ATMs is not a problem anywhere in the
world provided your card has the correct network.

In countries like North Korea and Iran ATMs can be very scarce if not
non existent.

On 07/10/11 20:08, Markku Grönroos wrote:
7.10.2011 20:55, Wolfgang Schwanke kirjoitti:

- Getting local currency from ATMs is not a problem anywhere in the
world provided your card has the correct network.

In countries like North Korea and Iran ATMs can be very scarce if not
non existent.

You have first hand experience of that?


--
William Black

Free men have open minds
If you want loyalty, buy a dog...

On 10/07/2011 10:29 PM, William Black wrote:
On 07/10/11 20:08, Markku Grönroos wrote:
7.10.2011 20:55, Wolfgang Schwanke kirjoitti:

- Getting local currency from ATMs is not a problem anywhere in the
world provided your card has the correct network.

In countries like North Korea and Iran ATMs can be very scarce if not
non existent.

You have first hand experience of that?



15 years ago I was in Siberia with inch thick wads of 10,000 ruble notes
hidden in my clothing. No ATMs for 1000's of miles..
Sorry, what were we talking about?

On 10/07/2011 08:02 PM, Wolfgang Schwanke wrote:
Frank wrote in
:

can get Lira with your EC-Card oder Credit-Card.

"EC card" is a German term that will not be understood elsewhere. The
eurocheque system is dead. In Germany there is a debit card system
called "electronic cash" in place which uses the same logo as
eurocheque used to, even though the two have nothing in common. This is
why the term "EC card" is still used colloquially in Germany, but
people are apparently confused what it actually is. The "electronic
cash" system is unknown in other countries, and the term will not be
understood. Furthermore the "electronic cash" function is not what
you're using when taking the card abroad.

Abroad your card functions as a Maestro debit card, which is part of
the Mastercard empire. Bottom line, when a German user says that his
"EC card" worked, that translates as "Debit cards of the Maestro or
Cirrus netowrk will work". Sorry to be pedantic.

No problem, pedantry beats bull**** every time G.