ATM or bank in Paris?
 

I'm going to be in Paris in May, arriving at CDG airport. I need to exchange a large amount of US dollars for euros right away to pay the owner of the apartment we're renting. Should we use the ATM machines (assuming there are some) at the airport or take a taxi into the city and find a bank? Is the exchange rate the same at ATMs and banks?

If you use an ATM - either in the airport or at the bank - you will get the same rates - the Interbank rate plus 1 or 2% - depending on your bank.

If you try to go into the bank and change actual cash - US $ for euros) you will lose about 7 or 8% on the transaction.

The problem is - will your bank let you withdraw as much as you need in one day? Don;t know how many euros you will need - perhaps you can get the bank to give you a higher ATM limit for the trip. Or, if y ou have checking accounts at more than one bank you can draw from both of them at ATMs.

Use an ATM and a debit card to save yourself a ton of money. We used our Wells Fargo VISA after telling WF before we left that we would be making substantial withdrawals. No problems at all.

Exchanging U.S. currency at banks is asking to take a big beating.

The advice given above agrees with everything I have experienced with money exchanging. Go ATM is you can.

I carry a few American Express checks as a doomsday defense, but I have only had to use one in a semi-forced situation. TCs are NOT the way to do it!~!

I also have more than one source of money via plastic while I am in Europe.

Go to your bank and have them raise your daily withdrawal limit. Also - if you and your spouse both have cards on the same checking account - you each get up to the daily limit. So say your daily limit is $1000 - you can get almost €1300 on one day if necessary. Though you would have to do multiple ATM transactions to get that much.

Hi G,

Ditto J.

An ATM usually has a 350E limit for each transaction, but you can make multiple transactions.

((I))

Hi Gail,

I am in the same situation as you are in. To be on the safer side, I think it is better to get some euros from your bank, and then withdraw some cash from an ATM upon arrival. Is the maximum daily limit of $1000 (~600 euros) enough to pay your rent? And as ira has said, you can only withdraw 350 euro per ATM. And there are chances that the ATMs are out of cash or are broken.Do you really want to look for ATMs when you arrive with luggages?

re bringing € w/ you. If you need €1000 - depending on the bank, it will cost between $70 and $100 more to get your € in the State than from ATMs in Paris.

Now in your scheme of things, $80-ish may not be that much. But I'd personally much rather spend that on a nice dinner in Paris.

YOu don't have to do it at the airport, but if you can and it's convenient, might as well (as long as you take care of that money during transit, etc.). There are also, obviously, hundreds of ATMs in Paris, not just at the airport.

Does all the money have to be paid the day of arrival? There are alternatives such as bank drafts and wire transfers if you need options.

A wire transfer by our bank cost us a $35 charg, but it was the est option for paying a deposit months in advance. We then arranged with our bank to increase our daily withdrawal amount to what we would need to pay the balance on site.

If you do go the ATM route and you can wait...use an ATM in the City the fee for ATM's in CDG was roughly $9 dollars compared to about $2.50 in the city.

tyedye33: What do you mean?? Whether at the airport or in the city, banks in France do not charge for using their ATMs. There is no difference in the cost of using a bank ATM from location to location.

Nonsense. There's no fee at an ATM anywhere in France, ever....unless it's one YOUR bank imposed.

There <i>can</i> be fees at a non-bank ATM. But I don't think there are any of those at CDG.

Perhaps it's one of those cash machines (not bank ATMS) next to the Travelex booth? I have seen those at airports before and always wondered about them.

Regular bank-affiliated ATMs do not charge a fee in France, at airports or anywhere. I have not seen a &quot;private&quot; ATM at CDG, but I haven't really looked that much.

Travelex does have some conversion machine at some airports in the US, I've noticed, and they do charge about 10 percent, I think. I think the ones I've noticed actually just convert money (you put in USD and out come euro), so it's just like a exchange bureau, only no real people (Travelex obviously makes a ton of money on those, they've even done away with labor costs).

I don't know if they have one of those at CDG, I never noticed. I suspect the above poster is simply referring to his own bank's fee, whatever they did (maybe they have different fees depending on the owner of the ATM). It's kind of a clue that the comparison was to a $2.50 fee at ATMs in Paris, and they absolutely do not charge fees (if regular banks), so that was obviously the US bank's fee where tyedye has an account attached to the ATM card.

Travelex has what they call cash-dispensing machines, but I think they also do run some private ATMs (they do in the UK, not sure about France). They are not a bank.

I'm assuming this is for 100 euro or less?

Since this is for a small amount, why not just bring some $US and change it at either your departing airport or arrival airport...or, have the cash and if you don't find an ATM at arriving ariport, cash some US$.

Michael_paris: The OP mentioned a &quot;large amount&quot; of cash to pay for their apartment - so I sorta doubt she is talking about &euro;100 or less.

Big oops....I was trying to post on the thread about XE.com

I stand by my earlier response on thread ;)

There is a single market rate - the one that is mentioned on, say, XE.com
Then there are actual exchange rates, spread around the market rate - made so that the bank earns some premium each time you change money, whichever way (Euros to US$ or the other way round).
And then there are one-time fees (percentage or fixed) that YOUR bank charges for the exchange.
The rates spread on an ATM are about 1-2% each way. If you exchange cash the rates can spread 7-8% away from the market rate. Especially at the places that exchange cash for &quot;no fee&quot; - just compare their posted buying rate to their selling rate and you will see how much you will be ripped off..

Why don't you ask the apartment owner if they will take PayPal? We did that with an apartment in Florence a few weeks ago - and it saved a lot of bother.

Sorry for the confusion but...in my case and I have been to Paris 10/2007 and last month...I had been charged a fee by my bank at home for the withdraw. I could see by the dates that the fee (I received from my bank in the US) for using the ATM in CDG was much higher then in the city itself.

tyedye: Which US bank and which French bank(s)?

Makes a difference. It really has nothing to do w/ the French bank - but whether your own bank is a partner could make a difference.

Sorry, I have no idea what the CDG bank/ATM was. My bank at home is Citizens.

tyedye33 - are you sure the fee is the &quot;foreign ATM&quot; fee? Some banks (like BoA here) charge a 1% conversion fee. E.g., I withdrew euros from an ATM in Spain in Feb. On my statement, I have
one line for the US$ of the amt I took out
one line for the 1% conversion fee
one line for the $5 out-of-network ATM use fee

Nope just 2 lines the amount (in USD) withdrawn followed immediately by the &quot;Fee&quot; for W/D (in US)

Thank you for all the replies. I think we'll get the euros at an airport ATM and not have to worry about finding a bank. It sounds like its the better option. I did check our daily limit (from reading previous posts) and my husband and I have $1,000 each.

Any large bank in the US will allow you to buy Euros in the US and you can bring them with you. Just call the foreign exchange department. I know Bank of America let's you order them online and pick up what you need at the branch. This is what we did for our last trip to Paris/Amsterdam

yes, we know that. It is how much those &euro; will cost you that is the issue . . . . . .

&quot;What to do?&quot; about this issue is a question without an answer. People have differing views about cost vs. convenience vs. security.

We just purchased $200 in euros (paying more than we would in Paris) just to have currency with us to get into our apartment without having to stop to use an ATM.

It isn't the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do. It is just what we decided to do. Our mental calculation was that the additional cost was offset by the convenience. Others will calculate that differently.

Postings on this topic are most useful when they address how to do something and the advantages of doing it one way or another; less useful when they proclaim what the &quot;best way&quot; is. Most messages on this thread seem to be of the &quot;useful&quot; type.

&euro;100 or &euro;150 is no big deal. But we get folks all the time asking about buying thousands of &euro; before leaving home. Sorry - but there ARE right and wrong answers to that one.

Janisj: Were you being sarcastic when you wrote this?

&quot;Now in your scheme of things, $80-ish may not be that much. But I'd personally much rather spend that on a nice dinner in Paris.&quot;

If not, we seem to agree.

d_claude_bear: Sarcastic? Huh? If one reads the entire post I honestly do not see what even hints at sarcastic . . .

It will cost $70-$100 to get that much &euro; currency - and I'd much rather spend $80 bucks on a nice meal than to give it to my bank . . . . .

Janisj:

Because you would &quot;personally much rather spend that on a nice dinner&quot; even though someone else may have a &quot;scheme of things&quot; in which &quot;$80-ish may not be that much,&quot; you are sure that &quot;there ARE right and wrong answers to that one&quot; and that your answer IS the right one.

Did I get it right, in your own words?

Oh sheesh - my two posts have nothing to do w/ each other! <b>Context</b>, man - makes a bit of a difference.

The &lt;&lt;<i>&euro;100 or &euro;150 is no big deal. But we get folks all the time asking about buying thousands of &euro; before leaving home. Sorry - but there ARE right and wrong answers to that one.</i> &gt;&gt; was in response to your talking about buying $200 worth. &euro;100 or &euro;150 - it doesn't really matter and one doesn't lose a whole lot one way or the other. I most definitely was NOT disagreeing w/ you. My &quot;right and wrong&quot; referred to when folks ask about buying ALL their &euro; before leaving home.

The comment about it being better to spend that $80 on dinner was in response to the OP needing a lot of money on the first day and that she would spend a lot extra if she bought the &euro; ahead of time.

NOW - just which one of my posts was supposed to be sarcastic???

janisj--

Le dernier mot, c'est a vous.

if you want the last word - you'll have to work harder than that ;)

I didn't want to start a new thread regarding the same topic but can someone reassure me that I will be able to withdraw at least 600 euros in multiple transactions from an ATM to pay for the apartment I rented.

This is my 4th time to Paris but I have never had to withdraw that much money at once. The owner doesn't accept any other type of payment and wants the money once we arrive.

Thanks! :)

mv_rd: Yes - you can as long as your own bank allows $1000 a day. If not, you need to have your bank raise your daily limit.