domnipper

In a rush, over lunch, I converted some dollars to euros at the local bank. They only had a 500 euro note. I'm an idiot, so I don't ponder the implications and proceed on my blissfully ignorant way. Moments back at work, it dawns on me this may be tough to break. Please help me stop kicking myself, certainly I can break this bill at the bank once I get to the airport overseas, yes?? Or a bank??? I see a fee in my future.....

rex

<<I see a fee in my future.....>>

I doubt it. As for kicking yourself... well you already sacrificed something on the order of $25 (or more) if you bought 500 (or more) here in the US rather than waiting to withdraw the same amount from an ATM in Europe.

Don't wear out your kicking foot, or the shoe you wear on it. It would be a shame to have buy new shoes over this decision also!



Best wishes,

Rex

PalenqueBob

Well banks should do it without a fee but it's not unusual to see signs that even 50 euro notes will not be accepted - not just change but apparently a problem with bogus bills. So break them into 20s - though can spend 50s and 100s at supermarkets in my experience without problem. Larger stores have special machines they stick bills in to see if real - and many people put up to the light to see watermarks - i guess since shopkeepers all seem to do this even with 5 and 10 euro notes the tourist should do as well when they get them in change!

elaine

Do you have time before your trip?
If so, take it back to your bank, tell them you should have asked for smaller denominations bills but forgot to do so, and ask if you can trade it in and exchange it, obviously without a fee is preferable. If they're going to buy it back at an unfavorable rate, that would be the fee in your future, but, if you want smaller bills to take a taxi from the airport, or if you're going to buy something you don't need just to break the bill, there's going to be a cost one way or another. I don't know, I wonder if an airport currency exchange desk would accept it?

Patrick

I've gone into banks in Europe to try to get change for laundromats of for parking, and if not a customer (of course I'm not) they wouldn't even change a 10 or 20 euro note for me, so I think it's going to be hard to change that 500 at a bank. I think your best bet will be to have your hotel do it for you, even if it means they take it to their bank to do so if they can't do it themselves.

Meanwhile I'd just get a smaller amount from the ATM when you arrive for your immediate needs.

Incidentally, I've gotten some 100 euro notes from European ATMs many times and have been surprised that no one seems to bat an eye when I use one to pay for something small like a drink in a bar. Big bills don't seem to be the problem there that they are here, where no one wants even a 20 for a coffee or a newspaper. But a 500???

Taking it back to your bank sounds like the best bet, but since you said that's all they had, I'm not sure they'll want to get more just to change that for you.

Travelnut

How will you be traveling into Paris?

If taking the RER, perhaps the ticket window will accept it as payment on your RER ticket or pass.

If taking a taxi, perhaps the taxi will allow you to step inside the hotel and ask them to break it for you.

Otherwise, take it to a branch window at CDG (there are a couple banks in the Terminals) and try there, or try at an exchange window at CDG.

Or, go to the ATM at CDG and withdraw more euro (hopefully in more manageable denoms) and then hold the 500€ to go toward your hotel bill.

Christina

I doubt if a bank will do this for you if you are not their customer. It is just too strange and suspicous, trying to get change for a 500 euro note in a bank where you have no account. I wouldn't be surprised if no one will take it. Maybe your hotel will as they'll figure they can charge your credit card if it turns up as counterfeit?

Your bank sounds really stupid, if someone wanted euro for traveling, why on earth would you give them a 500 euro note. Can you imagine someone trying to pass off a US $500 in most places?

I'd go back to my bank and get them to solve it. YOu didn't ask for a 500 euro note, I'm sure, although you should have rejected it.

massagediva

Patrick-
It sounds like you haven't spent much time in Italy,Rome in particular!Merchants are extremely grumbly when they have to make change at all.

jody

Take it back to the bank that gave it to you! And if they caan't change it tell them to get funds from another branch and go back later! A 100 E note I probably would not worry to much but a 500! They must have been waiting for someone to pawn it off to!

chepar

massagediva-

I've definitely experienced that with a shopkeeper in Rome. On our first day there, I tried to buy several Euro's worth of postcards at a shop on a busy street close to the Trevi Fountain.

I first tried to use either a 20 or 10 Euro note - nope, no change. I then tried to use a 5. Same thing. The shopkeeper was getting pretty grouchy, saying she wanted coins only - which I didn't have, as we had just arrived that day. I basically told her I had no coins at all, so I wouldn't be able to purchase the postcards. At that point she said "Ok, ok", took my money and grudgingly gave me change.

I was surprised, given that this was a busy shop on a busy street close to a major tourist attraction. My sister experienced the same thing at another shop a little further away. Not sure what the deal was with making change.

Patrick

massagediva, quite the contrary, I've spent a pretty fair amount of time in Italy. I live in Naples, Florida, and let me tell you I get grumbled at a lot more here when I pull out a 20 than I do in Italy! And often when I've used one of those hundreds for a small purchase, I do it as kind of a test because I want it cashed, even if I do have a 20 left. That's when I've been surprised that often someone has taken it without batting an eye. On the other hand, it is usually in a regular store, like a grocery.

I've never tried to buy a couple postcards with a big bill in a tourist shop. That could easily be different. It never ceases to amaze me how difficult the clerks in a major tourist area can be with tourists. We were once standing looking at some of those Tuscan calendars and comparing them, deciding which ones to buy (we were planning to do several for gifts) and of course, looking for the ones with places we had been. The clerk came over, pulled them out of my hand and said "these are for buying, not looking". We walked out. So their insisting on coins or small bills in those kinds of shops doesn't surprise me in the least.

massagediva

Someone told me that they were thinking of changing Rome's nickname from "The Eternal City" to "The City of Correct Change!"

domnipper

All is well. US Bank was the one who only had the 500 note on hand. Wells Fargo was very helpful in breaking them down to a manageable size at no cost.

celticdreams

Glad to hear it worked out. My suggestion would have been to change it at a hotel. Or, if you needed to break it sooner, one of the larger airport shops 'should' have done it for you.

BTilke

For future reference, we never had trouble breaking larger bills in Brussels--best bets are the large grocery stores (Super GB, Delhaize, Rob's Fine Foods, etc.) or the Inno department stores--in both cases, you'd have to buy something of course, but it could be something small. They will definitely test your bill to make sure it's not fake and depending on the staffer, you might get a surly look, but they will take it.
I have also seen some of the small corner grocery shops take large notes without raising an eyebrow. On the rue Franklin, in the EU district, somebody bought a pack of cigarettes with a 200 euro note and the guy at the counter pleasantly handed back the change.