TerryLFred

We are heading off to Italy in April and was wondering if anyone knew where to get Euros for the best exchange rates in the USA.

janisj

Why do you need to get € in the States - and how much did you plan on getting?? If just a few $ worth, get them anywhere - your bank, your departure airport, wherever.

But it is much better to use your ATM cards after you are in Europe to get € cash as you need it.

nytraveler

There is no place in the US with decent exchange rates. To get the best exchange rates charge everything you can with your CC and pull walking around money from your checking account with an ATM card (preferably from a machine inside a bank).

If you must have some cash in your pocket when you arrive just change $100 at the Brueau de Change at your departure airport. the rate will be awful but for $100 it doesn't matter that much.

janisj

hit post too soon - there is nowhere in the States that will give you a good exchange rate - that is the main reason it is best to use an ATM card in Italy.

trafaelwyr

If you really want to get Euros before you go to the airport, then search the net for your nearest American Express office. If you're not an Amex member, they charge you $5 for the whole transaction. If you can wait, then exchange at the airport before you depart.

Rastaguytoday

janisj and nytraveler are speaking the gospel of obtaining Euros.

Find a terminal map of your landing airport in Europe and go directly to the ATM once you are past customs. If you transit through a Euro airport, get you Euros there.

Just make sure you have adequate cash in the checking account before your leave.

Some banks are just now getting paranoid about your withdrawals (Citibank in particular). Call them ahead of time to ease the pain. Same thing with your CCs.

After logging in tens of thousands of dollars of expenditures around the world in the last year, and paying them off immediately, I've recently had declines for purchases in the L.A. area. Mind you, I live in California.

If the bank gets paranoid, then, in the short term, you just let them know and follow the rules. Trust me, a letter to my house or a voice mail from the bank doesn't work if you're 5,000 miles away.

janisj

but in either case it will be a bad exchange rate so don't get too many . . . . . .

janisj

oh - my last post was in answer to trafaelwyr's suggestion . . . . .

TerryLFred

I should have specified that we just wanted to have about 100 Euros with us in case of emergency. We plan on using the ATM's in Italy (we did that on our last trip). Thanks for all the info. We are not members of AMX so we will probably just get some Euros at LAX as suggested.

Krysia

If you are a member of AAA, then you can purchase a "packet" of Euros (100 -200...) for immediate use upon arrival. Coins included, if requested. We found it convenient.

NeoPatrick

For some reason I was just struck with the idea that there are some European banks in major US cities -- particularly New York. By any chance do they offer dollar/euro exhanges at a better rate than other banks might? Just curious about that.

lyb

Euros at LAX? why? you will definitely pay more! Emergency? What emergency could happen between the time you get on the airplane and get off the airplane in Italy that you would need money for?

Really, relax, I never, ever, euros before I leave, I just find an ATM at the airport and get money.... trust us

suze

I get them from my own bank at home. You might have to order them and there will be a fee, but if having 100 in your pocket is the goal, this works.

Christina

There are actually cases when you may need euro on arrival and can't get them where you land, although this type of emergency doesn't happen in the air, but on the ground. Twice I have arrived in foreign countries where there was no working ATM and the exchange bureaux at the airports were closed (once due to a couple hour lunch and the other time because the plane was delayed past 10 pm arrival). It hasn't happened a lot, but it has happened to me. Having said that, I don't worry any more about having a foreign currency on me ahead of time if I plan to arrive in a major city airport and the scheduled arrival time is in the morning or afternoon.

For 100 euro, I don't think a couple percentage points make any difference, so the airport or AAA are as good as anything, I suppose. AAA probably has a little better rate than airports which are usually the worst. I think AAA is around 7 pct markup. Your bank should probably be as good as those, if it does that. Once in a while someone reports on here that their own bank has pretty decent exchange rates like around 3-4 pct, but that is unusual.

If you can't find a working ATM upon arrival, you can usually use an exchange bureau at the airport but their rates are often around 10-12 pct markup.

nytraveler

No - very few banks in New York will exchange euros - they simply don;t want to be bothered. One or two major branches of a couple of the largest banks have the facility to do it on the spot - but they charge a fortune in terms of absolutely awful rate of exchange.

J62

If you get >$500 AAA will deliver for free. I just checked, and the net cost to get $500 worth of Euro, compared to using an ATM once you land comes to about $30, or just over 6% net.

That assumes 1% foreign exchange fee, current interbank rate of 1.312, no bank fee for ATM withdrawal.

nwbniteowl

We just got them at Citizen's Bank--no charge. Not sure what the exchange rate is tho. Probably should have waited--wish I had seen this info earlier....

NeoPatrick

I guess it was just wishful thinking that if there is a Bank of Italy, for example in Manhattan, that they'd exchange euros for less than a regular US bank. Especially since I'd assume they'd have a lot of Italian customers coming in to exchange their euros for dollars.

artnuvo

why would you want to do that and bear the handling fee-get them at the airport in europe at an atm.

jrtot

From all the posts I've read, I understand that it's cheapest to get euros in Europe rather than the US. But I'm wondering how much cheaper are we talking about? The posted exchange rate today was $1.319 = 1,00 euro, and Wells Fargo was selling euros for $1.38 each. Is that a bad deal? What will the markup typically be at an ATM in Europe?

Also, do European (specifically Italian) ATMs typically have a per-transaction withdrawal limit? I have asked WF to raise my ATM limit in order to minimize the number of transactions I'd have to make. The hope is to thereby also minimize the number of $5 transaction fees I'd incur.

Thanks for your help!