jahana61

Hi everybody ... I'm setting off to my journey to Greece tomorrow and I hope to have a great trip there ... and I will end it in Italy.
I just have one task remained, and I want to ask you ...
I have $2000 and I'm going to buy 1000 Euros, too. but, the first question is that, is it needed to exchange the dollars to Euro before leaving my Asian contry? are you recommend me to travel in both countries by Euros or dollars may also be useful? any way, is there any change in my total cost by paying by euro or dollar?
and the second, is that, one of my friends has told me that there are booths or machines in hotels or airports that can easily exchange dollars to Euros. I want to know if there are such machines in Athens, or Rome airport ...
I will be happy to hear you soon

Christina

I don't know what kind of dollars you have if you live in Asia, but you cannot use any kind of dollars in those countries because that isn't their currency.

Don't you have credit cards and a bank debit card? You should use those instead of carrying around thousands and thousands of dollars/euros in cash.

Dollars will not be useful in Europe because they don't use them, I don't understand why you even have dollars or why you would think you could use a dollar in Italy.

I"m not familiar with machines that exchange dollars to euros in those airports. There are, of course, exchange bureau or companies that have desks that will do it (Travelex is a big name in Europe, there might be others). Actually, they have machines that exchange money in my home airport in the US which are operated by Travelex, so they save personnel costs. But they give terrible exchange rates, just like the booths with people in them do. The airport is a bad place to exchange money unless you are using an ATM, it is almost always cheaper in the city center.

I don't know what your options are for getting money, but would presume you would get better rates by exchanging dollars (why do you have dollars?) to euro at your home bank that an at airport exchange booth, if you really have no way to get money other than cash. Don't you own a credit card or a bank card? But you might get better rates yet at some exchange booth in the city center where you go.

fredandgingermad

I wouldn't change it at the airport, neither would i carry any large amount of cash. Euros needed only

janisj

jahana61: Do you have a bank card (an ATM or debit card)?

If so, put all your money in your bank account and then when you are in Greece/Italy you will use the bank card to get €.

If you do not have a bank card - then carry your $ cash in a money belt and exchange it at Bureau de Change as you travel around. But this is a dangerous and expensive way to go about things. If you lose the money you are out of luck. And it is more expensive to exchange currency.

So -- bottom line is <u>hopefully you already have a bank card</u>.

If you don't have a bank card, it is awfully late to fix this since you are leaving tomorrow.

uhoh_busted

Most of the posters here are familiar with European and American banking systems, but not Asian. I think at this late date, assuming you do not use debit cards for banking, and may not use credit cards either, you are going to be stuck with a lot of cash. Dollars are not used in either Greece or Italy. I hope you have a money belt, or pouch, that you can wear close to your body, under your clothes. It may be good to use your euros first, and when you reach the airport in Greece, change half of your US dollars to euros at the airport. Keep the dollars safe in your money belt, along with your euro cash. When you reach the airport in Rome, exchange the remaining dollars for euros.

You won't get the best possible exchange rate for your currency, but it appears this is the situation you have to deal with. I suspect it would be better to change the dollars to euros in Europe rather than in Asia. As of today at 5PM, One Euro was worth $1.42 US dollars. The rates change all the time. I think if, dealing in cash, you get 1 euro for $1.50 at the Travelex offices in the European airports, you will be doing OK. Be careful, but have a good trip!

nytraveler

Not sure whereyou are from - but using cash - esp dollars - is going to cost you a huge amount in fees/poor exchange rate - and carrying all that money just isn;t safe. I have colleagues come visit me from Japan, China, India and Singapore and they all use credit cards and ATM cards. If you're leaving tomorrow it's obviously too late for you to do so - but what you are planning seems a really bad idea.

DebitNM

As others have mentioned -keep the almost ALL of your money [dollars and euros] in a pouch or money belt under your clothes and DO NOT reach into it in public!! Keep a <b>small</b> amount of cash in your purse [if you are a female] or wallet [if you are a male] to use for things in public. DO NOT show your large stash of cash! If you are a male, keep your wallet in and zipped pocket, inside jacket pocket or front pants pocket - NOT in your back pocket.

When you are in the safety of your room, you can move money from your money belt to your wallet or purse as you need to replenish the cash.

jh2011

Try to look for the exact currency on which country you'd like to visit. Then probably go and search for the exchange rate. However, these rates change daily. So it's up to you if you'll have your money exchanged right away or not.