Seeeker

I am traveling to Germany for a couple weeks, and preparing for having enough cash/access to cash. I'm renting an apartment and will need about 600 euros to pay the owner the day I arrive.

So in Germany I can withdraw cash at ATMs, daily $500 limit for 3% fee (from Chase), so $15.

To be perfectly safe, I went to my local Chase bank and exchanged $1497 for 1,070 Euros. I asked what their fee was and like robots they could only repeat that their fee was built in to the exchange rate, which was 1.399.

Checking yesterday on XE currency converter as a benchmark, $1497 would equal about 1,134 Euros at a rate of 1.320.

Using that as a comparison, exchanging with my local bank cost 64 Euros (1134 - 1070). If I withdrew $1500 over three days from the ATMs in Germany, it would have only cost me $45. (3 x 15).

I also looked at a prepaid Visa travel money card, but they have all kinds of fees added in, a total headache and not cheaper.

I'm not sure my math is right, and it makes my head kind of spin. Ultimately my question is, what is the best way to get your Euros from Dollars with minimal fees? Is there any no-fee way to get Euros?

Thanks.

anyegr

The banks and exchange shops are not charities. They have to make a profit in some way.

If you go to the Europe forum here on Fodors, a quick search will show that this question has been asked and answered lots of times.

I think there are supposed to be some banks that have lower fees than others, but I don't live in the US so I didn't care enough to remember their names.

Personally, I use ATMs when I get to whatever country I'm visiting, but I usually keep some money at the end of a trip so I don't start the next one with absolute zero.

Seeeker

I know they're not charities. Just looking for the wisest option and figure it out. From searching around everyone seems to promote the ATM option. Although that doesn't work if you need, say, a couple thousand Euros in cash for something in particular. It only seems to be best for combining credit card purchases and pocket cash.

thursdaysd

We just had a lengthy discussion on this on the Europe board.

You could have had your limit raised. You could bank somewhere with low/no fees. Credit Unions generally charge 1%, Capital One banking charges 0%.

ellenem

I would not assume that your bank would give you the same rate to exchange dollars for actual euros in hand as it would give for the electronic transaction of withdrawing money from your account via an ATM. These are two different types of transactions.

qwovadis

I use my capitalone.com Venture no fee Visa for everything over there. coinmill.com gives you correct conversion fee varies daily currently 1.31 USD to 1 euro this AM. Big Bank ATM in Germany with my CC works best for me but the one caveat is ATM withdrawals are CASH withdrawals so they accrue high interest from the get go there isno grace period so I go on line and pay off my card IMMEDIATELY so as not to accrue interest. Biggest bank you can find in country will usually have the best rate otherwise but do the math. Money changers like Travelex Amex "TravelCards" clip 30-35% avoid like the plague.

qwovadis

Cap 1 has a great promo right now might be worth it.
Did it and posted here about it last year got 100000 miles/points no fee DOUBLE miles on everything.

http://www.nerdwallet.com/.../capita...e-miles-challe...
Mar 9, 2012 – Don't delay—take the Capital One Venture Double Miles Challenge 2012 and earn 100000 bonus miles before time runs out! This is a VERY ... Annual Fee, Signing Promo, APR, variable*, Intro APR Promotions. $0 intro for

thursdaysd

Ignore qwovadis. He is talking about CREDIT CARDS. NOT what you want to use to withdraw money from an ATM. Fortunately Capital One also offers bank accounts, with ATM/debit cards.

Hearts1003

Check out this website. This is what I am doing for my trip. It's called a cash passport.

http://www.travelex.com/

thursdaysd

See http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...elp-please.cfm

Have you checked the fees and exchange rate for the cash passport? It is almost certainly a really lousy deal.