W-EBTM10 Malta: General information

[Mr Euro]

Hey,

The candidacy of Malta to organise the Winter EBTM10 has been approved by the board!

So it's official! After Brussels, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Berlin and Ljubljana, Bologna and Vienna we will meet again in Malta somewhere next winter. They have the honour to organise the second wintermeeting.

Stay tuned. In the coming days/weeks the organisers will tell us more about the timing and specifics of Winter EBTM10!

Thank you Ewri, Sharatan3, ElleFCee and Ewru for organising W-EBTM10. And I wish you a successfull organisation of the event!

[Ewri]

Hi all,

In the meantime, until the poll to vote for the dates is created, please take into consideration the following when choosing your preferred date.

February flights and lodging might be cheaper
Friday 19th March is a public holiday in Malta
There might be more destinations in April, but flights will be more expensive.
Easter falls on the first weekend of April.

This is a list of destinations connected to Malta International Airport : http://www.maltairport.com/page.asp?n=d ... arch&st=dt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Airport transfer shuttle can be taken from here: http://www.maltairport.com/page.asp?p=17269&l=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Else, there is a connection with Catania & Pozzallo in Italy, through Virtu Ferries Ltd (http://www.virtuferries.com/pages/index.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

The meeting will be spread on Saturday and Sunday, (hopefully over by Sunday 5pm)

We recommend to find lodging somewhere in St. Paul's Bay / Bugibba/ Qawra area as we'll be needing private transport.

We'll be happy to answer any queries you might have.

Looking forward to welcoming you in Malta.

[rlaurenssen]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I was wondering how the banks in Malta threat EBT's. I mean is it really easy to change money at banks.
My experience in Vienna was great, hopefully we can change a lot of notes there.

Here in the Netherlands the bank do not have any money anymore (except for the ING) and changing is very difficult, especially when your not a costumer.

[maarsy]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I was wondering how the banks in Malta threat EBT's. I mean is it really easy to change money at banks.
My experience in Vienna was great, hopefully we can change a lot of notes there.

.

the same question was starting to form with me as well

[Ewri]

It's not so easy, but not that difficult, either.

There are cash points in every branch and you can change money, even if you are not a customer. I have done it in 3 different banks, where I am not a customer and I managed. What might be a bit difficult, is asking for an amount of more than EUR 500 in fives. They would be happy to give you other denominations, though.

Maybe MathMurderer, Debemaks, An-148 and others, might be able to confirm this and share their experience.

At the moment, I am targeting Bay Square as the meeting point and there's an HSBC in the corner. Banks open at 8.30am and are open on Saturdays too. From my experience, HSBC Bank and APS Bank give more notes for the same withdrawal from an ATM.

Eg, for a withdrawal of EUR 50 from an ATM, BOV gives you 2x and 1x . HSBC and APS might give them all out in

[Math Murderer]

It's not so easy, but not that difficult, either.

There are cash points in every branch and you can change money, even if you are not a customer. I have done it in 3 different banks, where I am not a customer and I managed. What might be a bit difficult, is asking for an amount of more than EUR 500 in fives. They would be happy to give you other denominations, though.

Maybe MathMurderer, Debemaks, An-148 and others, might be able to confirm this and share their experience.

My experience with banks in Malta is overwhelmingly positive. A quick look at my comments shows that I got bills from over 30 branches of different banks and at least 100 bills from 23 branches (11x Bank of Valletta, 8x HSBC, 4x APS Bank). I can remember only one branch (Bank of Valletta in Birkirkara) where I wasn't able to change money due to not being a customer.
I should note, however, that I visited Malta in February / March 2008, only two months after the introduction of the Euro. As a result of that I would guess that the banks still had somewhat larger amounts of cash for the rollout than what would be needed for regular operations. The amount of uncirculated bundles was also very significant at that time, which would lend itself to banks being willing to change larger sums of money if they're looking to get that money into circulation.
Somebody who has been to Malta more recently might have a different and currently more valid experience than mine.

[Ewri]

I should note, however, that I visited Malta in February / March 2008, only two months after the introduction of the Euro. As a result of that I would guess that the banks still had somewhat larger amounts of cash for the rollout than what would be needed for regular operations. The amount of uncirculated bundles was also very significant at that time, which would lend itself to banks being willing to change larger sums of money if they're looking to get that money into circulation.

My opinion on the matter is this:

I don't think that it makes any difference to banks to make more money into circulation by exchanging EUR to EUR. On a more positive note, when you were here, cashiers were not so used to the currency and maybe today, they are less hesitant to change as they are more confident of the note they are handling.

At the moment, only some of the and are brand new notes. The others are well circulated and there are too many in circulation imo.

btw, Malta is a cash based country. The majority of transactions are still done in cash, rather than credit/debit cards.

[rlaurenssen]

btw, Malta is a cash based country. The majority of transactions are still done in cash, rather than credit/debit cards.

Well, that as very positive thing. Here in Holland the supermarkets are trying to ban cash money. So maybe in a few years you can only
pay with your credit/bank card in a dutch supermarket.

Malta sounds positive on the changing matter, so hopefully I can change a lot of notes there. Thanks MathMurderer and Ewri for your comments.

[Ewri]

btw, I was at the airport and checked about taxi service.

To Bugibba it should amount to approx EUR 27 for 4 people, which means it's EUR 5 cheaper than the airport tansfer, if you are 4 persons sharing the same taxi.

[yli]

The airport tansfer to Qawra (near to Buġibba and also part of local council San Pawl il-Baħar) should be 9 euros, so a taxi will be the same price with 3 persons

But how many people will arrive at the same time as I do ? (wednesday 3rd march, 22:55 - Air Malta from Brussels)

I saw some interresting information about bustickets, esp. for people staying longer on Malta

With a Bus travel ticket you can travel on all routes around the island of Malta from 5:30 till 23:00.

One day ticket € 3.49 each (Lm 1.50).
Three day ticket € 9.32 each (Lm 4.00).
Five day ticket € 11.65 each (Lm 5.00).
Seven day ticket € 13.98 each (Lm 6.00).

These tickets are available from the ticket booths, ticketing machines and from the bus driver.

soure : ATP

This will problably not include Għawdex (Gozo)

I also found some information about banks on the airport, including automated money exchange dispensers (unfortinatly only ar arrivals). I don't know if they can handle euro to euro transactions

Bank of Valletta
Branch and Foreign Exchange (24 hour service) Public Area, Arrivals Foreign Exchange Bureau (24 hour service) Passengers Area, Arrivals

Automated money exchange dispenser and ATM Passengers Area, Arrivals

HSBC (Malta)
Foreign Exchange Office (24 hour service) Public Area, Arrivals

Automated money exchange dispensers Passengers Area, Arrivals

soure : Malta Airport

[Ewri]

Bank of Valletta
Branch and Foreign Exchange (24 hour service) Public Area, Arrivals Foreign Exchange Bureau (24 hour service) Passengers Area, Arrivals

Automated money exchange dispenser and ATM Passengers Area, Arrivals

As far as I know, the 24 hour service at the Arrivals area is not available anymore, but there is an ATM. The one at Passengers area still exists and is found before going down the only escalator.

[Ewri]

Hello all,

we are just a couple of days away from the closing date for registrations, and preparations are also under way.

I am presently working on a possible sponsorship that we might be able to get from a local entity and I appreciate it if I can have a more accurate number of participants by the closing date. (one or 2 more are not a problem)

In this regard, I ask those who are interested in joining and have not yet registered in the appropriate thread to do so, so that everyone would be able to benefit from this.

I appreciate if you can draw the attention of other persons who have expressed their interest to join, in other sections of the forum.

Thanks

[Asiamaniac]

My request for a few days leave is approved. As my credit card had been stolen and have no new one yet, I could not make my online reservation. Will see a travel agent about the trip. If it will not cost a bomb, I plan to arrive sometime on Friday, 5th of March and leave the following tuesday.

[Ewri]

My request for a few days leave is approved. As my credit card had been stolen and have no new one yet, I could not make my online reservation. Will see a travel agent about the trip. If it will not cost a bomb, I plan to arrive sometime on Friday, 5th of March and leave the following tuesday.

Ok noted.

Maybe you can purchase a pre paid card (paying obviously in notes for it), which you can use to purchase tickets online.

[eddydevries]

If I understand it correctly, most buses don't drive after about 18.00 anymore.
I found only one route to Qawra (where I'm staying), where they drive until 22.00: that's the buses to/from Valetta.
If that's the only one, I'm thinking about renting a car: than I can track more places (I don't have to be back at 6).
(and I can also use it to get to the meeting points, together with the others staying in the same hotel).