baglady

I have always purchased some foreign currency from my bank before I leave; however, when I inquired today it was going to cost me $312 for 240E. Is it cheaper to just exchange once I get there at an ATM? I think it might be.

Thanks, again.

xyz123

I'll do the math for you. As of today, 13/09/04, the closing rate of the Euro was $1.22531. Multiplying that by 240 and then adding 1% which is what most ATM's charge, you would get $297. So the bank is ripping you off for $15. Do you want to p-ss away $15 for "convenience" whatever that means.

So if you went to an ATM on arrival, you would pay $297 for the €240. Hopefully you're smart enough to have an ATM/debit card which carges the proper fee for accessing your money i.e. $0; of course your bank might rip you off with a fee ranging from $1.25 to as much as $5 (total rip off fees for having the audacity to wish to access your money).

So if it were me, as I don't see what the hell convenience is as ATM's in 2004 are readilly available at any international airport, go right ahead and throw away $15.

If it were me, I would simply wait to use the ATM's.

baglady

Gee, thanks for doing the math!!!!! And to think I work for the CFO of a large company. Anyway, I thought it was probably a better deal just to wait and use the ATM upon arrival. Actually, the bank was going to charge me another $15 because I am not a member!

Robespierre

My Charles Schwab Visa card charges bank rate plus $1. So €240 would cost me $295.

allanc

I find that the currency exchange stores in my home town offer a much better rate on Euros than the bank. The service is faster and has a much smaller line up.

Robespierre

Less than Interbank rate? Hard to believe, since they'd lose money on every transaction.

WillTravel

A typical bank charges interbank rate plus 5%.

I don't know about allanc, but the currency exchange bureau I am familiar with charges the interbank rate + 2%.

ira

Hi bag,

As noted, you will get the best exchange rate from an ATM.

Check on how much your bank will charge for each transaction. It could be from 0 to $5.

Robespierre

Sorry. When I said "bank rate plus $1" I meant Interbank. You really can save a lot if you shop around.

RufusTFirefly

And it's not always true that a bank is ripping someone off when they give a lousy rate or charge a high fee. For many banks, especially large countries like the USA and Canada, most banks don't have a lot of foreign currency transactions for any particular country. They often have to go through some extra steps to get a particular foreign currency, and it costs them more money to do so as they aren't set up to do this in any amount of volume.

Might not be the case in baglady's case--maybe the bank is ripping her off--but it could well be.

JoeG

My wife is in Rome and used her ATM card to withdraw $250 Euros today. I checked on line and our bank charged our account for $305.
JoeG

JoeG

Sorry, that's 250 Euros.
How do you make that Euro symbol?
JoeG

ira

Hi Joe,

That's a proper rate. Today's interbank rate was 1.22 $/E.

Don't bother with symbols, just type "E".

Are you the same JoeG who posts to WelcomeHolmes?

Robespierre

Hi, Joe. That's a great number. Not even the dollar that my card charges. Which card is hers?

The Euro symbol is rendered <b>&amp;euro;</b>

strass

We just got back from Europe and waited until we'd landed in Paris at CDG to get euros, from an ATM. We did have to search the airport awhile to find one that worked. But even if we couldn't have found an ATM at the airport, you can use a credit card to buy tickets for the RER train into the city.

Our bank charged us $1.50 per withdrawal.

xyz123

How do you make the &euro; symbol....on windows computers press the ALT key and while holding it down press 0128 on the numeric key board.

&euro; &euro; &euro; &euro;

Robespierre

This &euro; thing has been done to death. Listen up.

The Alt+ shortcuts are browser-dependent. On some browsers, they show up as intended; on others, they don't. The &quot;ampersand-escape&quot; characters are part of the HTML standards.

In order for your Euro to <u>always</u> be visible on <u>any</u> browser, type

<b>&amp;euro;</b> (note the semicolon at the end)

Patrick

And be aware that after you type that combination in a message here, it won't appear as the &euro; symbol until after you post it. Ikept trying it and then would delete it and spell out euro thinking it wasn't working.

WillTravel

One thing to keep in mind when looking at bank statements, at least for some banks. My bank always puts the ATM charge as a separate line transaction (often several lines below the actual exchange transaction).

platzman

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