Strip casino ATMs question

Headed to Vegas with DW and my son. Us- old school with travelers checks, son has a pre-loaded travelers card. I had read about some of the fees with casinos ATMs and was wondering where is the best place for him to go to get money from the ATMs- (lowest rate charge). Thanks all

 

Casino Royale is $1 + whatever your bank charges.

 

Agreed, Casino Royale

 

also at fashion mall , and maybe ceasars mall

 

There used to be an ATM in the Flamingo Diamond Lounge with no fee. The ATM was moved to the high limit area and still has no fee. About 20 yards away are other ATMs with the typical high Caesar's fee.

 

Pre loaded credit cards are not always accepted.
Regular ATMs charge about $5.
I would strongly suggest not doing what some people do. They go to the ATM and get $100 or less. Then go back again later. Go ahead and get what you will need for the trip and just carry it. For some of us, that might be a daily thing - $1000 each day. Others, not so much.

For the life of me, I do not get the hassle of dealing with Travelers Cheques - unless you are taking multiple thousands. It is not like people get mugged because they have more money on them.

 

Most casinos charge about $5. I don't think it's horrible, just take a lot out when you do it... But realisically, it's Vegas, you need cash for everything, I'd just go with a bunch of cash.

 

I've done quite a log of ATM seeking in Vegas so I can give you some good info on this one. The casinos (except for a few) will all charge high fees in the $5 range for a terminal fee plus the regular $1-$3 ATM fees. Outside of casinos the ATM's are pretty much like everywhere else. Fees range but you can find no or low fee ATM's in the normal places. Check with your bank, see if they have an app for finding ATM's that are free for your bank as they are often bank specific. My bank for example is part of Allpoint so those ATM's are fee to me. I've found they can be found on the strip all several of the monorail stations as well as 7/11 stores. This past trip I used it at MGM and Flamingo. FYI, the MGM Monorail station ATM is behind the monorail turnstiles so you have to have a monrail pass but the Flamingo one is not and doesn't require a pass. Also, there are several Wallgreens and CVS stores on the strip and their ATM machines are pretty much the same you'd find at any of the stores. I believe CVS stores have Chase ATM's so if you have Chase bank then those might be free to you. Even if you aren't a member of that ATM the Walgreens and CVS ATM's are going to be cheaper than casino ones. Also don't forget you can get $40 or $60 cash back when you make a purchase at one of those stores so don't forget to take the opportunity to top off your wallet a bit when you pick something up there.

 

Thank you all for the info. Quote-"For the life of me, I do not get the hassle of dealing with Travelers Cheques - unless you are taking multiple thousands. It is not like people get mugged because they have more money on them." First off I'm very old school and secondly having been a victim of theft I would like have the ability to recover any funds that may become "misplaced" :evillaugh. But to each their own.

 

Didn't realize they were so cheap! Will keep this in mind in three weeks when I'll be sure to visit the ATM a few times

 

Smart move taking travelers checks.

 

You can take all the money for your trip and when you arrive at your hotel, deposit it at the cage or vip services and take out against it like a marker. Done this several times.

 

+1. I'd rather take the cash out of the casino ATM and not deal with the hassle of going to Casino Royale just to save $4. IMHO, it's only worth it if you're already at Casino Royale or going to pass by that area.

 

This is how we look at it and do it now.

We used to take traveler's cheques and a little bit of cash but now we just use bank machines and that does include casino ATMs.

Paying $5-6 in fees is more expensive than the machines back home, yes, and if you take out $60-100 at a time it is a pretty steep percentage... but we usually take out $800-1000 at a time and so $5-6 is more like around half a percent (which considering how much we usually lose if we buy traveler's cheques and then have to sell them back at the end of the trip, on those we usually lose 2-5% of their value in the exchange and re-exchange).

 

Here's an interesting footnote (and I hope it's helpful). Most banks and credit card companies will freeze your ATM/bank card/credit card in certain states. Example---In June, in Vegas, I used my bank card at Walgreens to make a purchase ($67.00). No problem, the purchase went right through. Four days later, I tried to make a $23.00 purchase at the same Walgreens, and my card was declined. The cashier told me it looked like my card was frozen. I tried the card at an ATM and it stated "CANNOT CONDUCT TRANSACTION. CONTACT YOUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION". This had never happened to me in Vegas before. I called my bank, and was told my card had been frozen. I asked for it to be unfrozen, and within 20 minutes it was fine. The rep at my bank informed me to always notify them before I set off on vacation. That way, they could unfreeze my card in the state I was visiting for the period I was there.
I was told the states in which they freeze the card(s) constantly changes. It all relates to card fraud, of course.
Anyway, I do not know if the prepaid/preloaded card companies follow the same procedure. Might want to check.

 

The only place that declines charges for us is Vegas. My husband travels every week and never has a problem. But in Vegas, especially a purchase of a couple hundred or more, they will decline it. So I don't think every place one travels to needs a call to their CC company; many people travel with their jobs. Maybe just Vegas.

 

Had my bank card frozen in Vegas before. Tried using at an ATM in a casino and it got declined; the next day I went to my bank in town and was able to use it with no problem. I found out later that they froze it because of unusual activity. I always tell my bank of my vacation plans before I leave on my trip.

 

Yeah its pretty much for any unusual or suspicious activity their system may automatically stop your card from use.

If you rarely ever travel or are going somewhere you've never been then you should notify your bank so your ATM or credit cards don't get frozen... if you end up going to Las Vegas multiple times a year then you won't need to alert them after the first couple of times because it will become a "normal" situation for your card's use.

I have had it happen on trips a few times, sometimes it'll really make you freak out when you expect to be able to buy something and are told your credit card declined or you cant get any money from an ATM.

Actually had it happen once locally when I finished this job for a company and they paid me $46K all at once. I put the money in the bank and when the money was cleared my wife and I went on a shopping spree at the mall. About 2 hours in the bank card stopped working because they said we were spending far outside our normal spending habits so it was flagged as suspicious activity.