The € To Take or Wait?

[redzinner]

A question for you that have traveled to EU countries this year ... did you have some € in your pocket before you left the states or did you wait until you arrived at your destination? Is there a need to have some at the airports, etc?

 

[KLondon]

We took Euros with us - only because we were following exchange rates for a few months before our trip. You can certainly use ATMs over there, but you're going to end up paying some sort of fee.

 

[disneytraveler]

I am taking some Eros with me but not alot.

 

[behappy]

In my experience with international travel to both Europe and Asia, it will be less costly to simply wait until you arrive and use an ATM at the airport. The exchange rate you get will be much less favorable than any ATM fees your bank may charge. YMMV

 

[jackienut]

A question for you that have traveled to EU countries this year ... did you have some € in your pocket before you left the states or did you wait until you arrived at your destination? Is there a need to have some at the airports, etc?

We took some euros with us, but used ATM's on Viva Italia in June.

 

[SCFamily4]

We got some euro "starter packs" from our local AAA office. For $100 American dollars, we received an envelope of various denominations (bills and coins). The exchange rate was not great, but this gave us just enough to get started - and it wasn't all $20 euro bills. Once there we used ATMs to get additional local currency without any problem.

FYI -- I have heard that the exchange rates at the airports are awful. To be honest, I never really looked that closely.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[redzinner]

We got some euro "starter packs" from our local AAA office. For $100 American dollars, we received an envelope of various denominations (bills and coins). The exchange rate was not great, but this gave us just enough to get started - and it wasn't all $20 euro bills. Once there we used ATMs to get additional local currency without any problem.

FYI -- I have heard that the exchange rates at the airports are awful. To be honest, I never really looked that closely.

Enjoy your trip!!

Thanks for the good wishes. We are taking your advice and getting some Euros.
DH wants to have some in his pocket and not rely on airport ATMs.

I see you are in Seneca, Clemson territory. We lived a few years in Aiken. Western SC is beautiful country!

 

[bavaria]

I always carry local currency before I arrive in a foreign country. Also a tip for you -check which bank has an agreement with, for foreign withdrawals at no fee. For instance, Deutsche Bank/Bank of America/BNP BNL/ScotiaBank all have an agreement for no fee withdrawals at their machines. It saves a lot of money on fees. Also American credit cards don't work in many machines which accept cards in Europe such as metros, post office, parking machines becasue they don't have an EU chip.

And remember - in much of Europe it is Pay to Pee! you don't want to be standing with crossed legs, holding only American money, begging someone to take pity on you and put 50 or 80 cents into the gate so that you can pee.

And while we are on the subject, always carry a packet of tissues in your purse as 'pay to pee' doesn't always cover TP....

 

[redzinner]

And remember - in much of Europe it is Pay to Pee! you don't want to be standing with crossed legs, holding only American money, begging someone to take pity on you and put 50 or 80 cents into the gate so that you can pee.

And while we are on the subject, always carry a packet of tissues in your purse as 'pay to pee' doesn't always cover TP....

And of course that is always the first stop after deboarding!

 

[bavaria]

Airports are generally free to pee, but not train stations or Autobahn reststops. I saw a lot of peepee dancing today in the train station

 

[eva]

Everyone keeps saying it is better to get Euros in Europe through ATMs. But my question is how much better. What was the difference? Right now I can get 1 Euro for $1.52 at TravelEx. So that would be:

1 Euro = $1.52 or
$1.00 = .657 Euro

From the exchange rates I have seen on line through the Exchange, that really doesn't seem too bad at all. Right now the Exchange is showing .675. But I am told that is the rate for large exchanges. You won't get that exact rate at any bank. So what is the Euro at an ATM in Europe going for right now? I think I can lose a couple cents per dollar to save the hassle of trying to find ATMs or banks over there. Plus, I can use my credit card like it is a purchase on TravelEx. That gives me enough rewards to pay for the shipping with some left over. So I can avoid all the ATM fees. Hmmm, does anyone see a flaw with my plan?

 

[Kiderak]

Through AAA, it is .63 Euros to the dollar, with free shipping over $1000

 

[bavaria]

So what is the Euro at an ATM in Europe going for right now?

I have a DeutscheBank and a Bank of America account. I withdraw from my BoA at DB machines for a few cents above the 'official' rate - ie last week about 1,49. Unless I am withdrawing thousands of Euros at a time, it really doesn't have a huge impact. At least I save the bank fees by doing it this way if I need to access that money.

I deal with currency exchange almost weekly and have found the most inexpensive ways to do it so that I am not losing every week.

 

[eva]

I have a DeutscheBank and a Bank of America account. I withdraw from my BoA at DB machines for a few cents above the 'official' rate - ie last week about 1,49. Unless I am withdrawing thousands of Euros at a time, it really doesn't have a huge impact. At least I save the bank fees by doing it this way if I need to access that money.

I deal with currency exchange almost weekly and have found the most inexpensive ways to do it so that I am not losing every week.

Not bad. Thanks for the information. But since we use a credit union, we are hit with a pretty hefty fee if we go outside of their ATM network. So I think that we will order our Euros on line. Since I can work from home occasionally, I can be here to sign for them. DH just needs to have that cash in his pocket. But to be honest, I am sure I will end up charging most things anyway. When we lived in Germany many years ago the credit card companies gave us much better rates than the banks did. That doesn't seem to be the case from what I have read here. I wonder how close they are to the ATM rates.

This is a pretty interesting article on exchanging money and what the best deals are. It is about 2 years old, but still seems true.

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/travel/25prac.html

 

[PatriciaH]

The Euro is 1.47 to the dollar today the GBP 1.85.

From Trip Advisor forums (these people travel a LOT) on the subject:

"The exchange rate "over there" is better than what you get at home because when you take money out of ATMs you get the international bank rate +whatever your bank may charge for withdrawals. It is ALWAYS better than what you get by changing money at a bank or change bureau in your home country."

"People get all worked up about the 'in your face' fee and ignore the stuff that counts, such as (as someone else posted) the abysmal exchange rates."

"By way of illustration of my point above I offer you two example products which are pretty close to the deals you would be getting on no fee products vs fee paying credit card:

Product A (No Fees)

2.2 CAD to £1 no fees, no commision.

Product B (Like a credit card)

2.05 CAD to £1, 3% foreign exchange fee, $2.50 ATM fee.

Bear in mind these are realistic rates using the spread travelex is charging and today's interbank CAD/GBP rate.

So if you were to buy something that was £100 with product A (no fees) it would cost you $220. The same £100 product purchased with cash withdrawn from product B (so incurring both the foriegn transaction fee and ATM fee) would cost you $213.65.

Therefore even with the fees charged products like credit cards that give you access to interbank rates are better than no fee retail products. So many times people see that they're charged 3% or whatever, go off the idea and blindly flail into worse value solutions."

">>>So to withdraw $100. would cost me $3. plus 2.5% which is a total of $105.50 and then whatever the atm fee is on top of that, so likely upwards of $110. in the end.<<<

Yes but it's far better to get the wholesale interbank exchange rate plus a fee than it is to get a retail exchange rate with a 20% spread and no fees. "

 

[bavaria]

Not bad. Thanks for the information. But since we use a credit union, we are hit with a pretty hefty fee if we go outside of their ATM network. So I think that we will order our Euros on line. Since I can work from home occasionally, I can be here to sign for them. DH just needs to have that cash in his pocket. But to be honest, I am sure I will end up charging most things anyway. When we lived in Germany many years ago the credit card companies gave us much better rates than the banks did. That doesn't seem to be the case from what I have read here. I wonder how close they are to the ATM rates.

Just be aware that credit card acceptance is still relatively low in Europe, especially Germany, compared to America, and not all cards are accepted. I was actually surprised last week to find places in Paris no longer accepting Amex - places where I have dined in past and paid via Amex. And VS and MC charge a foreign exchange fee, so while Amex is the best for fees, it is not always accepted.

In Germany a lot of stores such as grocery stores accept 'credit cards' but they only accept the EC card, not MasterCard, etc.

Also US issued c/cards won't work in many machines around Europe ie ticket machines, parking machines, postal machines as they don't have a chip. (Sorry, I may have already said that!)

 

[eva]

Just be aware that credit card acceptance is still relatively low in Europe, especially Germany, compared to America, and not all cards are accepted. I was actually surprised last week to find places in Paris no longer accepting Amex - places where I have dined in past and paid via Amex. And VS and MC charge a foreign exchange fee, so while Amex is the best for fees, it is not always accepted.

In Germany a lot of stores such as grocery stores accept 'credit cards' but they only accept the EC card, not MasterCard, etc.

Also US issued c/cards won't work in many machines around Europe ie ticket machines, parking machines, postal machines as they don't have a chip. (Sorry, I may have already said that!)

This is all great information. I did call Chase today to alert them of being out of the country and they informed me that they charge a 1% fee on purchases and the rate is determined by the exchange rate end of day on the day of the charge. So you will really not know for sure what the exact charge will be in US dollars on your bill until you check your statement. $1 for every $100 isn't too awful. But cash advances are a different story.

 

[redzinner]

Picked up our Euros today ... it looks like Monopoly money!
2 weeks from today and we are on our way!

 

[eva]

We decided to go with ordering our money through our credit union. I just picked it up today. We paid $1.51 per Euro. I didn't feel that was too bad, since there was no fee. We decided to take 800 Euros and $800 with us. We will decide how to pay tips at the end of the trip. If we have Euros left, then we will pay in Euros. Yikes! I can't believe we leave in just 9 days!

 

[bavaria]

I cannot stress enough the importance of carrying cash with you in Europe. Today I left home with a wallet full of small coins. I had some big problems.

First I couldn't find a bathroom which had a hostess ie they were all Sanifairs which require 0,50 coins to open the barrier. I finally had to drive and park and walk to a department store and hike up to the WC - about a 75 minute wait to find a free place to pee. The hostess was not amused when I didn't tip her. I couldn't even find a 'free' pee WC on the Autobahn - the rustic ones at parking places which have no seat.

Then I walked around in the 30 degree heat and humidity trying to find my bank with a bank machine. After almost passing out I finally gave up and withdrew money from a competitor machine. I was dying for a drink but nowhere around would take a credit card so I didn't bother.

Then I walked several blocks back to the parking garage only to realize that the Kasse only takes maximum 20 Euro notes. So I had to walk 2 blocks to a bad bakery and buy a Brezel.

CARRY CASH. I realize that most of you are travelling in an organized group, but I cannot stress this enough. Many places will say that they take a credit card in Germany, but they mean on the EC card, not Visa/MC/Amex. And many places only take cash.