What bank ATMs at the airport would you suggest to take out some Forints?

Posted by Decent-Yam-223@reddit | budapest | View on Reddit | 32 comments

Aloha,

I will be coming to Budapest towards the end of June. I'll be flying into BUD from a layover in Zurich. Whenever I travel to a new country I like to grab my first set of cash from the airports ATM's .. Better rates and no fees as my Bank card refunds me .

With that being said. What ATM's would you recommend at the airport coming in from Schengen country ( already would go through immigration for Schengen zone ) . And what is the max I can take out?

If I may .... Do you have any recommendations for bank ATMs in the city ( maybe close to district 5 ) that has great rates and safe as well?

Thank you kindly

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Due-Inspector3084@reddit

You absolutely don't need cash for anything in Budapest.

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

seriously? not like even $200 worth for the entire 5 day stay? I thought some vendors only take cash?

But I also like to carry a little bit of cash home :)

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Xiaodisan@reddit

By law every place (barring a couple marginal exceptions) must provide you with some form of digital payment options. This means you can usually tap-to-pay with your card, or sometimes smaller businesses might use eg. Revolut and you can transfer money that way.

Cash, especially some coins (100 and 200 huf coins) might be useful if you need to go to the bathroom frequently though, idk how many of those have working terminals, and it would suck to be unable to go inside one when you really need to.

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Long-Island-Iced-Tea@reddit

Just after this was implemented and people were looking for smart solutions, there was this one souvenir place in the Bükk ~~mountains~~ hills that met this criterion via GIRO bank transfer.

Which doesn't sound particularly unique but the vendor (a pensioner-age man who was probably looking for some beer money) did not even have access or authorization to peruse the bank account, as he was just an employee.

He did ask for the confirmation SMS/notification but that's not exactly reliable. Comically easy to hoodwink someone into believing you transferred to them even though you didn't.

I still wonder how viable that business model is, and whether they switched to POS terminal.

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Mediocre-Metal-1796@reddit

By law they have to acceppt digital payments, which is mostly done by a card terminal. Or instant money transfer. Taxis have to also accept card by law, and they have the same rates - just avoid freelancers, those cheat and rip off tourists often without a license. I live in Budapest and Basel alternating and harly had cash in my hands since years.

As you mentioned $, keep in mind in Switzerland no tipping, prices include all costs already on then menu by law. In Hungary max 10-15%, but if the menu says service charge included/szervízdíj, don’t tip on the top of that, even if you come from the states ;)

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Background-Skin-8480@reddit

I live in Bp and haven't had cash in my hand for over 5 years.

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Due-Inspector3084@reddit

Seriously, this year I've been here for 4 months and never held cash in my hand. Nor in the last ten years.

Whereas in the US, where I live now, I still have to have cash for the most random stuff. Same with Germany. Hungary is much more modern in this sense.

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xnovanx@reddit

I'm a local and just realised i don't even remember how our cash looks like

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

That's awesome ... I would still like to take a small amount out as I love to collect money...

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Due-Inspector3084@reddit

Erste ATMs can dispense the amount in the specific notes you would like, so those are best for collectors.

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

there's literally an Erste ATM right across my apartment hahaha yay... Do they have outdoor ATM's for evening pulls? Or do I have to worry about skimming ( im obviously from the shady USA where you have to second guess everything ) Thank you

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HalalosHintalow@reddit

Skimming as a fraud basically died out in the EU around 2012, when all bank switched to the use and acceptance of chipped cards.

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TheReal_Peter226@reddit

I have yet to come across a skimmer in Hungary, but it is the safest if you tap your NFC phone to the terminal if you can, those usually use the safest protocol for the transaction.

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much. Happy to do that.

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TheReal_Peter226@reddit

No problem!

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

Thank you so very much such great information.

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vahokif@reddit

99% of places take card. If you really want to get cash I would wait until you get to the city and get like $30 from a real bank.

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

Really? Thank you for that ... I thought the airport ATMs would be the most reliable especially if its attached to a bank... I will take out $50 worth then like 15,00 HUF

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vahokif@reddit

Avoid third-party ATMs like euronet etc and go for something like OTP or Raiffeisen bank. There aren't any bank ATMs at the airport.

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

Ok thank you 🙏

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klebermann@reddit

Absolutely, I concur! Everything at the airport is a huge ripoff, including the money exchange shops and ATMs. It's a shame, really. As has been said before, just take the bus or a cab to the city centre, pay by card (you can get tickets from the vending machine by card), and then just use any OTP ATM or walk into any bank for cash.

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much.

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Playful-Muffin-1994@reddit

You can pay with card for basically anything anywhere in Budapest.

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much

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Kukaac@reddit

Well, on foreign cards OTP charges 2% on top of your ATM fees which is about the same as euronet without using their conversion.

I would suggest MBH, they do it for free.

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Blackmore1030@reddit

None, airport ATMs always rip you off, no matter which bank they belong to. No matter whether you go to the city by bus or taxi, you can pay for both by card, and you can withdraw cash in the city much cheaper.

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Ok-Guitar-6553@reddit

I travel to Hungary 2 times a year from the US. When I go I like to keep about 40,000 forints in my pocket even though everything is tap to pay.

Stay away from Euronet atms like those in the airport and randomly on the streets. I recommend a major bank atms like OTP Bank or CIB Bank. Always decline their conversion and let your bank convert. When I travel in Europe I use Wise. They’re great for converting currency with low fees and tap to pay.

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Decent-Yam-223@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much for that. Yes I agree always decline conversion especially when using your cc for purchases also... sometimes they have it in US dollars or Euros or whatever.... thanks for the reminder

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