r_e_e_n_i_e

heading to Paris soon for a week and wonder if it is worth it to buy Euros in advance...I know there are ATM machines, but sometimes they are not so easy to find...any tips? from a bank? online?

Michael

Paris has ATM machines everywhere. No need to buy euros in advance. The airport post office has an ATM – that's the one I used.

Edward2005

Buying euros from a US bank before you go is pretty expensive. There's really no need to because there are plenty of ATMs at CDG, especially near the exits.

It's also not a bad idea to let your bank know you're going to Europe so they won't think a Paris ATM withdrawal is a security issue and lock your account.

zorrosf

Sometimes the lines at the CDG ATM's are quite long and, after a 13 hour flight, and waiting to exit the plane, and waiting to retrieve my luggage, the last thing I want to do is wait in another line. So...I always go with 100 Euros or so in my pocket which I order from my bank (B of A). They FedEx'd them to my home and I had them in 48 hours. Could I save $1 by using a French ATM? Yes. Is the peace of mind (let alone the inconvenience of another line) worth it? Only you can decide.

StuDudley

The French love to go on strike, or so it seems. In about 2002, the drivers who supply money to the ATM machines went on strike and it was very difficult to find a machine that had money. We never found one. Banks were "drained" of cash about 2 days into the strike.

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

You're lucky it is only $1 - recently a person in line ahed of me at Chase ordered $100 of euros and with the exchange rate they gave her and handling fee she paid at least $10 extra for the needless privelege IMO of doing that. Exchange banks at the arrivals terminals will change money if you can't easily access an ATM - Edward makes a good point - tell your ATM-issuing bank that you are going to be using your card in France or other countries and IME make sure your card is in pristine condition - at some French ATMs my rather worn strip on my card did not work - did in others but I attributed it the worn strip and some machines being more sensitive.

Credit cards are accepted virtually anywhere so you really do not even need any euros to get into Paris where yes there are ATMs virtually on every corner.

Been going to Europe near annually for decades and never get foreign cash before going - a waste of time and energy and money IME - though I understand that novice travelers may want peace of mind by having some coin in their pocket and that could be priceless if so.

Sarastro

I have never once seen a line of any length at any ATM terminal at CDG. I suppose it could happen but there are just too many ATM terminals available to warrant waiting in line at any one of them. Like Michael, I often use the Post Office machines.

And there are those of us who obtain absolutely no <i>peace of mind</i> at all when being overcharged to obtain cash in any form from our personal bank accounts.

Kathie

Believe me, between the exchange rate and any other charges, anyone ordering Euros from BofA is paying a lot more than $1.

Use an ATM in the airport - not at baggage claim where the machines are owned by travelex and will add on charges as well as giving you a poor exchange rate. Go downstairs to where the taxis are and use one of the many ATMs there which are bank ATMs. Can't get Euros for some reason? Unlikely, but know that you use a credit card for your taxi. While "all" taxis are supposed to accept credit cards, in practice it isn't true. Just ask the man putting people into taxis to get you a taxi that accepts credit cards. You will likely have to wait a few minutes, but they will get you one. Once you are in the city there are ATMs everywhere.

PalenQ

In a pinch some U.S. greenbacks IME can always be informally exchanged though albeit at a worst rate than any ATM - just no reason for anyone to take any euros to Europe - all airports now have ample ATMs as locals use them so much - it is rare IME not to be able to easily find and use one if one looks around very much.

StuDudley

>> just no reason for anyone to take any euros to Europe<<

A few reasons:

In about 5 1/2 weeks from today, we land in Montpellier at 5pm & will drive to our rented gite near Carcassonne for a 2 week stay & will get there around 7PM. The Gite owner wants a 1,000E breakage deposit in cash when we arrive. We've stayed in 59 gites in France, and this breaking deposit is normal - but this one is higher than most.

Last year, the gite owner on the Ile de Re wanted a 1,500E security deposit in cash plus 2,500E in cash for our 2 week rental.

As stated above, in about 2002 there was an ATM strike. We had to pay the Gite proprietor in the Var the equivalent of around $2,500 for security deposit & rent for our 2 week stay. We had the money in a money belt when we arrived. Next day, people in the village were frantically searching for an ATM machine that had cash - but they were all empty.

I could repeat this for many of the other 56 gites we've stayed in. Most rents were paid ahead of time via paypal or "other" - but security/breakage deposits were always (59 times) in cash.

About 300E is all I can get out of my ATM card in a single business day.

Stu Dudley

zorrosf

There are numerous personal reasons for bringing a small amount of Euros with you (or in Stu's case, a large amount). If OP or other travelers want to rely on the ATM's at DeGaulle, that's fine, do so. For those of us who don't, that's fine too. Notwithstanding the categorical statements above to the contrary, I expect I will continue to do so.

PalenQ

I totally understand the comfort of having money - euros - with you and if it gives you peace of mind it is priceless - yet for folks who ask the best advice is to tell them IME of landing 50 or 60 times in Europe you can always always change money on landing - except at obscure airports like Stu's case - and if I were having to pay $1000 or more to someone I would wire it to their bank which IME will get you a much better exchange rate than changing at an American bank. I have not done this in a while so maybe the rate ain't as good as when I was doing that some years ago. I would never carry $2,000 in cash anywhere - to the airport - at the airport - or from the airport - too bad Travelers Cheques are passe because they used to get a significantly better rate of exchange than did cash, back in the day!

but yes $10 or so is a small price to pay if it gives you peace of mind - on that I agree.

Folks like Stu who go all the time always carry leftover euros home with them to use again and thus have money to start their trips - not withstanding of course a huge gite deposit.

StuDudley

>>and if I were having to pay $1000 or more to someone I would wire it to their bank<<

The gite owner on the Ile de Re wouldn't allow that - it would have cost him around 20E to receive the transfer. I don't think any gite owner would do a bank transfer of 1,000E on a breakage fee that they expect to return to us anyway.

At our end, the few bank transfers we done cost us around $35 plus an extra 1 or 2% above the fee we pay on an ATM withdrawl.

We always return from a trip from France with at least 500-700E in cash for our next visit's deposit. We've also done "Mandat Postal"s while in France to pay for upcoming gite payments (not breakage deposits, however).

Stu Dudley

nytraveler

You can easily buy 100 euros at your departure airport - avoiding the nonsense of advance order from banks if you want funds to get into town.. Once you get into Paris there are a gazillion ATMs to use.

flpab

AAA members can get trip paks buying at the rate they buy. Three of us went together and ordered euros when it was really low. I like the peace of mind plus need cash for apartment when we arrive as did friends. I always bring euro home and this time did security deposit via paypal so that helped. It is imo a personal choice.

Sarastro

<i>The gite owner on the Ile de Re wouldn't allow that - it would have cost him around 20E to receive the transfer.</i>

If a gîte owner will not accept an EFT or bank wire, it´s not because of any 20€ fee he may or may not be required to pay. He´s hiding revenue, either in whole or in part, from the tax man.

There are many ways to send currencies, at low cost, to pay for gîtes, weekly activities, or schools and completely avoid the risks of carrying cash. HiFX, Currency Online, or XE all have money transfer options. EFTs cost nothing to send, currency exchanges are executed at 1% to 2% which is less than what many pay their banks to make an international ATM withdrawal.

Michael

<i>The gite owner on the Ile de Re wouldn't allow that - it would have cost him around 20E to receive the transfer. </i>

This may depend on the type of transfer. I sent money to my account and to a construction firm, and in neither case was there any charge on the receiving accounts. For these transfers I used xe.com.

StuDudley

I sent the gite owner on the Ile de Re a bank transfer for the initial small deposit. It cost him 20E to receive it. He didn't know whether this 20E was a function if the amount - and feared that a transfer of 3 times that amount would cost him 60E. He has owned the Gite for many years, but just took over responsibilities for collecting money the year we rented. Before that, Gites-de-France collected all monies from renters. We were the first Americans who ever stayed at his gite - so perhaps he was apprehensive about non-cash and non-French check payments. And I'm sure he was trying to hide some money from the tax man also.

We subsequently became quite friendly with the gite owner & his wife. They invited us over for dinner one night - which is quite rare for a French person to do for strangers. He took us out to his oyster farm & we tasted oysters "in the raw" and he gave us a dozen or so. We exchanged Christmas cards with him, & he sent us pictures of his vacation trip also.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-the-loire.cfm

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

PS - I'll try xe.com the next time we need to send money for a deposit or rent payment.

manouche

I would never presume to arrive in a foreign country without 3 things:
Some very basic vocabulary - hello, thank you, help me, please...
A good street map and a transportation map.
The currency of the realm.

Anything can go wrong, and it usually does at some point during a trip. You should come prepared with enough money to get you to your hotel, plus enough for one or two days' worth of eating and drinking, buying transport tickets, etc. 300 EU or so should be enough for 2 people, and is worth the mere pittance you'd pay for the convenience.