I would use the safe as if you do lose it at least its insured.I would personally not take so much money in cash but I am not sure about travellers cheques as I have never used these in Turkey.

wev always used a safety deposit box and never been let down yet,also a safe place for your passports.wev been going for ten year aswell.

I personally wouldnt take all that cash,we kept ours in the bank and used the atm a few times,but as you are taking it with i wouldnt suggest keeping it in your suitcase.We have always used the safes provided with no problems

After someone I was holidaying with hid all his money in a suitcase, I wouldn't recommend that one! True , he didn't lock it, but if someone gets in the room, they could just take the whole suitcase. And 8 hours with the local Jandarma is no joke, being treated like criminals and idiot tourists. They refused to give a stolen property form, and kept trying to get him to sign a lost property report. Which he refused to do, as it wasn't lost! Then we had the big cheese and his armed cohorts examining the scene of crime, it was all too farcical for words. The room cleaner got the sack, with no real evidence to show it was definitely her. And I felt guilty as hell for the rest of the week. And we never got the stolen property report after all that.

Since the money was clearly accessed through a member of staff, that now makes me edgy about using the safe, so I carry what I need and find an ATM when I need more.

I wouldnt recommend taking large amounts of money in a bag as my friend was relieved of £400 in Fuerngirola last week!.She is normally very careful but why she had this amount of money on her is possibly because she was staying in a private villa with no safe.

If your room does not have a safe box then why not ask or email the hotel and ask them if they have a safe at the front desk or in their office. All hotels in Turkey have a safe..or at least they all should.

Put your money in an envelope...seal it and then write your signature across the seal and then put it into the hotel's safe. Only take out enough cash as needed. Leave your other valuables there as well...passports, credit cards, bank or debit cards etc..

I also agree about using the ATM's. A better idea than travelling around with loads of cash.

One thing I would just like to point out is if you use a ATM please use one that is located outside of a national bank and also during regular business hours. Mon-Fri 9-5.

This way if you experience any problems with your card you can directly report it at the bank. Also do make sure that you advise your bank of your planned travel to Turkey. If not the bank after a transaction or two may freeze your card after one or two transactions.

Keep it in your safety deposit box and carry just what you need daily ,and if you see something you really want to buy go back for it the next day.

Bluepeterno1

I always take about £2000 in cash with me when i go to Turkey.
As soon as i arrive at the hotel i immediately put it in to the safety deposit box and just take out what i need each day. I certainly would not leave it or my passports/tickets in my room.

Juan,
Most aparts/hotels in Turkey have the safety deposit box at or beside the reception and not in your room. You need 2 keys to use it, the one you are given for your box and you need the master key, which is kept at reception. You need both to open. I find this a safer option than a safe in my room. Anyone can get into your room if they know you are out and attempt, and maybe succeed, to get into a safe but the ones at reception are in view of the staff, so no-one can really go near them unless you have a key.
Have a great holiday.

if there wanted to there could still get access while we are out.. i mean the safety box at reception

loulou

Most aparts/hotels in Turkey have the safety deposit box at or beside the reception and not in your room. You need 2 keys to use it, the one you are given for your box and you need the master key, which is kept at reception. You need both to open. I find this a safer option than a safe in my room. Anyone can get into your room if they know you are out and attempt, and maybe succeed, to get into a safe but the ones at reception are in view of the staff, so no-one can really go near them unless you have a key.
Have a great holiday.

Keep it in your knickers lol

Sorry couldn't resist.

ATM's are the best way I would say.

Marion

I have a feeling if you read your travel insurance if you take that much money in cash it will not be covered if stolen even from a hotel safe, also that the hotel insurance will not cover you for that much cash
Open a nationwide account, we have used ours all over the world without any problems so far

Purely a matter of choice, but i dont see atms as the best option . Once in turkey my card was swallowed up because it was damaged, and if it was not for the fact my wife always carries cash . I wuld have been right up the proverbial creek.

Bluepeterno1

bluepeterno1 has a point..what if the card is retained...
unless i take some money and risk it with ATM even if my card is retained.i would still have some money on me..

2 more sleeps now hip hip hooray

Load it into a cash withdrawal card - American express and others do them at travel agents.... you are given a pin, but you put cash on it up front, so no access to your banbk account.

Much safer - use an ATM with no risk.

American Express no longer do the Travellers Cheque Card. I think the Post Office still do it though. Be aware that there is a fee charged for every transaction.

luci

you can put youre money on a travellers card at youre local holiday shop, we always take our atm cards ,yes we have had 1 swallowed while in marmaris but we have another 3 to fall back on , safe deposit boxes in reception are the best bet ,,i personally wouldnt leave mine in safe deposit box thats in youre room,youre insurance will only cover a certain amount anyway,we have left substantial amounts in our room before ,but this is apartments we have used 5 times this year and are family run and family staffed otherwise we wouldnt have,its not too late to change them in travellers cheques . we also go monday are you flying from newcastle by any chance with thompsons? xxx jan

I opened up an account with Nationwide specifically for holidays funds. Having been stung the first year going to turkey and paying horrific charges when i used my usual bank card in an ATM I learnt my lesson. Nationwide do not levy any charges on your account no matter how many transactions you make and they also give you the exchange rate on the day. The first year i used it i saved over £60 in charges from the previous year. Almost like having a free meal out. hope you have a good time.

Several hotels we have stayed in though do have deposit boxes in the room, which you can only open with a pin number. We have had no trouble at all with these. We actually prefer this to the reception 2 keys malarky, as you dont know who else has a key!!!!!

We always take travellers cheques and a little cash. We usually keep it in the safety deposit box and have never had any problems.
I don't think your cash is insured in the safety deposit box, we have never been told that and I'm sure the cost of hiring one would go up if it was insured but i may be wrong, please correct me if i am.
At least travellers cheques are definitley insured wherever they go missing