It is best to use an ATM upon arrival. However, until you are making your second trip, you will never be confident that your card will work, so if this is your first trip, you need to have cash on hand -- either euros converted at a rip off rate back home, or the possibility of changing euros at a rip off rate at the airport in Paris in case your card doesn't work in the ATM. (With cash, you will lose at least 10% in your exchange operation, so you would never want to change more than about 100€ tops.)

ATMs are usually the best/cheapest way to get cash. Let your home bank know your travel dates and the regions you will be traveling to. Check your daily limit while you're at it, ask them to raise it if necessary. Ask what their fees are and if they are in partnership with any banking systems in Europe. Get a local US number (not US toll-free number) where you can reach them if the need arises. Using an ATM within the interior of a bank probably helps minimize the prospect of card skimming but not always. If using exterior ATMs, use the ones of major banks and avoid free-standing generic ones in shops. Keep your printed statements. As with anyplace, check your surroundings, beware of staged diversions by people and guard the keypad from view when entering a PIN.

Hi H,

If you convert some dollars into about 100E before leaving, you will lose about $7 on the transaction, but you won't have to worry about not being able to get money upon arrival.

If you stand near the exchange kiosk and hold out some dollars you can sometimes make a private trade that will save both you and the person arriving from Europe some money.

Enjoy your trip.

If you are a member of AAA, use them. I always go through them for a little cash before I leave.

If the idea of obtaining cash in euros is only a backup to having some unforeseen problem with an ATM, a most unlikely event, then why would you exchange dollars before you arrive? It won´t cost any more, and might actually cost less, to simply exchange dollars for euros when you arrive.

In my many decades of traveling to France, I have never seen a situation where all exchange bureaus at an airport were closed and exchanging cash was impossible. On the very outside chance that you arrived with dollars and couldn´t immediately exchange them for euros, taxis now virtually all accept credit cards or the RATP machines at T1 and T2 (the CDG RER departure points) will accept credit cards, even magnetic strip credit cards.

There is absolutely no realistic scenario that would require your obtaining euros before your arrival, probably the most expensive means by which euros may be obtained. You risk absolutely nothing by waiting ans using the CDG ATM machines.

I should mention that I have become so confident about ATMs over the years, that I even arrived in Hanoi without cash and just used the ATMs in the airport terminal. (However, I will admit that I had already been to Saigon in the past and knew at least that ATMs existed in Vietnam and that my Visa card had worked in all of them.)

Thank you all for your replies. I would be happy to lose $7 on the transaction, but last year, when I took 200 Euro out at the Travelex ATM in Dulles airport, I was charged $309.11. (the transaction fee was 5.28 Euro). That works out around $1.51 per Euro..........and that's before my Bank added it's charge. At the time, the exchange rate was roughly $1.34. I expected the total to be about $267 plus a transaction fee. I figure I was ripped off about $30. There has to be a cheaper way.

Yes, the cheaper way is always to run screaming from anything related to Travelex. And never to exchange money before getting on the plane. There is simply no need to.

Lesson learned ! Thanks.

Hi S,

>I have never seen a situation where all exchange bureaus at an airport were closed ...<

What is the point of arriving in foreign country with which you are unfamiliar and having to search for an exchange bureau, where they will charge you a 7-10% premium, when you can do it before you leave, in your own language?

One would want to use an ATM and avoid the cost of an exchange bureau, wouldn't one?

Hi H,

If a Travelex ATM is the only way you can get Euros in your home town, then you will be much better off waiting until you get to France.

Your home bank will charge you the same out of network fee, but the French banks don't charge for ATM use.

One would want to use an ATM and avoid the cost of an exchange bureau, wouldn't one?

That´s exactly the point. There is no realistic need to obtain euros any other way and certainly no need to pay exorbitant exchange rates and excessive fees to have them in your pocket before you leave.

ok. Euros from an ATM at CDG is how it will be. My sincere thanks to all.

The first time we arrived in the Nice airport the exchange bureau was closed and the ATM wasn't working. So it can happen.

Dare I ask if $7.00 wouldn't allow for peace of mind? I/we always take about 100E "just in case"!!! But do let your bank and cc people know you are going and where!!!

Yes, exchanging a little cash before arrival is fine - you will eat it a little bit on the exchange rate and/or fees, but it is nice to have a little cash on hand just in case.

it is nice to have a little cash on hand just in case.

In case of what exactly?

Is it possible that unknowing souls wave the peace of mind banner as rationalization for their needlessly paying exorbitant transaction fees, imposed by their local banks, simply to have a foreign currency in their pockets on an airplane?

Those who subscribe to the peace of mind philosophy will, in all likelihood, continue with their ritual but others, possibly those traveling to France for the first time, might find better ways to spend their money, and arrive at CDG with the assurance that they will find more ATMs available within the terminals than payphones or restrooms.

I also just order a few euros from the local bank ahead of time. I like to have cash in pocket, especially since I am half asleep upon arrival and am not proficient in any language except English.

AAA usually has 100 dollar packs which has about 60-70 euros in them for initial cab ride or snacks or whatever. Always a good thing at least for people like me who like peace of mind!

I also have two atm's when I go just in case one doesn't work right, I have a small account just for travel which I can access if I have trouble with the other one.

Everyone is different.

I always bring enough moneys to pay for the basic necessity for one day.Cab, food etc..,On my last trip I had problems using my ATM card.

Luckily I traveled with my daughter and used some of her cash to pay for small items that I needed and my credit card for major purchases.

Peace of mind for $7 is just fine for many travellers and the "just in case" won't be an issue at all unless you need the !00E and can't, for whatever reasons,get it!!! 2 ATM cards are also a good idea. Sarastro-- one in case comes to mind as my DD bank dropped the ball and her ATM was declined in France on her first trip. Required a call to bank and it got fixed ok but that is an example of a "just in case". I really do not consider myself unknowing, never paid exobitant fees and have travelled extensively over my many years. Learned better safe than sorry so I still recommend getting a few Euros before you go!

Also, if you plan on going back sometime, make sure you have E100 in your pocket on the way home. I always do- keep it with my passport so I don't have to hunt for it next trip. I feel better having a few bucks on me when I arrive.

Have a great trip!

Sarastro - we all bow to your superior intellect. Geez chica. Dial it back a few notches.

Amen, November_moon..Is Sarastro a "chica"?? I hope not, fems are usually more politely restrained are they not???

I don't know amer - just a feeling I got

Sarastro, like you I always felt confident about ATMs in airports and was pretty much as outspoken as you (I'll avoid the term rude).

But last summer arriving in Venice I already had about 70 euros left over in cash from a previous trip. All we had to do was take the Alilaguna into town -- we thought. But because of a regatta, those regular boats were not running, and the ONLY alternative was a water taxi at a fixed price CASH ONLY of a little over 100 euros. So back to the terminal I went -- only to try one ATM which did not work at all and two that refused to take my brand new Capital One debit card (to my Capital One checking account). We've never figured out why. I was in near panic until I finally got someone to tell me about what was apparently the fourth and final ATM in the entire terminal -- sort of hidden away upstairs. All together it was nearly an hour and a half after landing before I finally had the cash!

So now, I don't mouth off quite so much when someone is concerned that there might be a problem. Yes s__t DOES happen! By the way, I couldn't exchange US dollars. I never travel to Europe with any. Maybe that's another thing I should reconsider.

By your own account NeoPatrick, you found an operable ATM. If, for some reason, you had not, now is the time to pay the fees and exchange dollars for euros. There is no need to do this before you depart, and incur unnecessary costs, as this exchange itself is the emergency back up plan and is not done as a matter of course.

I never, nor would I suggest to anyone else, travel without cash in dollars. Nor do I keep all of my credit cards in the same location, one is in my wallet, another in my baggage (along with several hundred dollars in cash). If my wallet is stolen, I still have what is in my luggage. If my wallet and luggage are both stolen, I keep a copy of my passport, bank account numbers, and pertinent recovery information (bank contacts etc) in a secure FTP location which can easily be accessed with any internet connection. Having this information at my fingertips will greatly speed the recovery process in the event of a catastrophic loss.

To what I vehemently object is the suggestion that travelers must pay marked up exchange rates, needless service charges, and exorbitant fees for no other reason than to have euros in their pockets before they arrive at some foreign destination. It´s simply not true and it´s a complete waste of money.

Sarastro, I guess you didn't read the part where I explained that exchanging dollars was not an option. I'd rather not carry US dollars at all when I'm traveling in Europe, even though you like to do that -- amazing, but we ARE different.

And frankly, it would have been worth $10 or so dollars to have had more euros in advance than to have spent over an hour trying, seeking, and making phone calls to try to get cash. I had already been told twice that I had tried ALL the ATM's in the airport. I think the first hour of my vacation in Venice would easily be worth $10 or more!

What works for you always worked for me too. No one here has suggested that "travelers MUST" do anything, and while you think it's a complete waste of money, for some it isn't at all. You sound like someone who insists taking a taxi from an airport to a hotel is a complete waste of money because you'd prefer a cheaper bus -- while for some people the extra money IS not a waste at all, but a much more relaxing means of transportation. Same thing with having money in one's pocket. It doesn't work for you. But for the life of me I don't get why you need to get so worked up when someone WANTS to do something slightly different from the way you do it -- even though, of course, anything you do IS apparently the perfect and only way to do it.

Have to completely agree with NeoPatrick. I just came back from Europe, and I arrived first in Paris with one Mastercard and one Visa (both were of the chip and PIN variety). I had forgotten to activate the Visa for overseas transactions, so I thought I could count on my MC first. Wrong. The ATMs and billets machines would not accept my MC, because they would only accept 'Euro Mastercard'. With no way to call my bank and activate the Visa, I was very thankful for the Euros I had stashed away in my money belt, which I used to then buy a RER ticket into the city.

Sarastro, what some of the others are objecting to (including myself) is your tone. You're free to do what you want, but you don't have to put down other people's preferences, especially when there ARE instances some of us have personally gone through where having Euros in hand saved the day.

Getting ripped off for $7-$10 at your home airport is part of the fun of starting a trip. Why worry the whole flight about whether your ATM card is going to work?

Well neoPatrick, you certainly experienced a "just in case".. There are many out there I'm sure..so, Havmatic, if you want peace of mind get a few Euros at home, go on your trip and don't even think about those "Just in case" events. Have a good time and be fully aware I am envious..