Unless you have to run out of the airport the moment you arrive and right into a taxi there is never a need to buy Euros in the US. And as for any bank giving you a good deal, or no charge exchanges, I've got some beachfront property.....

The airport ATM's give the best rate. My bank, Chase, charged me $2 per transaction and I checked and found that the rate I received each time I used ATM's was the rate posted in the Wall Street Journal. I also told my bank to increase my daily limit to $1000. So at today's $1.55 per Euro I can take out 645 Euros each day.

Not only does Capital One have a credit card that does not charge a conversion fee or the Visa or Mastercharge 1% fee, Capital One Bank offers good money market rates even with low balances and charges no ATM fee abroad as of 2007. So the only fee would be the nominal one that the ATM bank charges and it never seems to be stated on their machines as it is on ours. Always has been mininal in the past. We have frequently been limited to $240 euros by the ATM even though our bank would have allowed more. We travel with ATMs from more than one bank so can get a big chunk of money for things like the apartment mentioned. Also on rare occasions you might have a problem with one bank.
We have verified than some other banks do charge a conversion fee on your ATM withdrawal (U.S. Bank and World Savings which is now Wachovia). I have no idea on the big ones like Wells Fargo and Bank of America but they are not known for their generosity.
Credit Unions seem to have good fees usually, worth checking on.
We have traveled abroad every year for 12 or more and have only struck out totally with ATMs once and it was totally human error (mine). That is the only time we had to cash travelers checks (soooo much more expensive), but we always take them just as a safety net.
Many times with a non-stop that lands in a European airport before our eventual destination we go to the ATM while changing planes and get some euros there. Munich and Frankfurt are fabulous.

TO AFRICA TEXAS: Did you use a debit or a credit card?

We have been traveling to Europe for twenty years. We go almost every year. I am curious about the great need for Euros. Virtually all the hotels we have stayed in take Master Card or Visa. Except for small village restaurants, most others take a credit card as well. Sure taxi drivers, street vendors, flea markets etc want cash, but most stores also take credit cards.

I always buy our Euros at a bank ATM in Europe. Years ago I was taken a few times using Travellers Checks or dollars to convert to foreign currency, but no more. My experience has been that the Bank ATMs give you the same exchange rate that is the market rate for that day. Yes, you will incur a small charge for using the ATM, but it is a fixed rate whether you are getting 100 or 400 Euros. I have been limited to the amount I can exchange on my debit card. Seems like I ended up with 200 Euros and had to use a different card once.

Finally, we always bring back a couple 100 Euros for our next trip. So far we seem to be ahead.

If you plan to make cash advances with cards, contact the issuer to ascertain if your Personal Identification Number (PIN) is in the proper format for the countries you are visiting. Four-digit numeric PINs are standard in most countries. If you have an alphabetic PIN, change it into numbers before leaving home. The exchange rate for credit card purchases is set on the day the purchase is processed, not the day the purchase is made. Finally, to minimize risk of theft or loss, take only the credit cards you will need during your trip.

We had a Capital One card last year for our trip to Ireland. After receiving WAY too many "special deals", I have been trying to cancel it. I sent a letter asking them to close out my account on Feb. 6. The account is still open and I just received another "special offer". I will NEVER use Capital One. I would rather pay the 3%. Having said that, I will use my ATM card to get cash and use that whenever possible. Each withdrawal cost me $1.50 last year. Kathie

I have to pop in here...

I think a lot of people who assume they are paying "no fees" to exchange $US to Euro really have no idea what exchange rate they are getting. You have to know BOTH of these things to make a knowledgeable decision. What fees, and what exchange rate.

Now, on the subject of a "knowledgeable decision" - when we first started planning our trip over a year ago, I asked the same questions - how should I get the euro I would need for cash expenditures?

I did my homework, and my bank charges no fees outside of whatever fees the local ATM machine will charge (which most agree is none) for withdrawals using my ATM card. So, it seemed like a no-brainer. Just wait and get my euro in June from the ATM machines.

HOWEVER!!! If I had gone ahead and ordered my euro back then, I would have paid 1.42 $US to the euro - which at the time I thought was highway robbery... but guess how is kicking herself now!

I think everyone who advises people to wait and use their ATM cards in Europe should take into account when the person will be traveling. At this point, in this economy, when to purchase your euro is a crap shoot.

I can buy them locally for 1.65 $US to the euro, and maybe the dollar won't drop that far before I travel... but maybe it will!

It seems to me that everyone has to roll the dice on their own on this one!

If your ATM card has the VISA logo on it, there is a 1% conversion fee built in. There is currently a class action law suit which is changing this game a lot.

If you traveled outside of the US prior to a year ago or so, you've probably gotten an offer of settlement from this class action suit. The basis of the suit was that previously, most banks didn't disclose their conversion fees for international transactions. So, if you used a Visa, MC, AMEX, Discover card in the 90s and early this decade, you were automatically included in the plaintiff class.

Anyway, now, banks ATM cards and credit cards are making very visible the conversion fees they are charging, whether that fee is the 1% standard VISA ATM card fee, or is the $3 per transaction fee (which for $200 is 1.5%, by the way) or whatever.

We have several cards, including 2 ATM cards (one with the VISA checkcard logo), 2 different VISA accounts, 2 different AMEX accounts, Discover, and 1 MC account.

I went online and, when necessary, called the individual card/ATM issuers to get the fee structures. I found that AMEX, for example, had fee structures which ranged from 1% to 3%, while Capital One truly has a 0% fee structure.

Of course, that's fine for credit card transactions, but using a credit card for cash withdrawals is generally financial suicide. But, remember, you can pay your bill electronically. So, assuming you're carrying a zero balance into your trip, if you had an emergency and needed to use your credit card as a backup to get cash, you could go online and pay the balance immediately from your checking account. Granted, you'd pay the transaction fee, but you'd end up paying virtually nothing for the ruinous interest, if in fact, you took the "advance" for a single day.

So, the credit card that you never use while in Europe, that has a zero balance when you arrive, may be a decent emergency option when/if all else fails.

"If your ATM card has the VISA logo on it, there is a 1% conversion fee built in. There is currently a class action law suit which is changing this game a lot."

Actually, I think that the lawsuit involves the fact that the fee is not adequately disclosed, so the primary effect is that they are going to greater lengths to inform you up front how they're going to take advantage of you (as if you have much choice).

As to the "no fee" transactions, it is a crap shoot. But if you want to invest in foreign currencies I think there are much better ways to do so than to pay your bank ridiculous hidden fees.

I'm traveling on the 30th, and just went into my local bank to see what their fee is. No fee for exchanging, but their exchange rate was 1.64 dollars to the Euro, whereas the market rate is 1.54. In other words, $10 extra for every $100, $100 extra for every $1000. Seems like a fee to me.

Hey, maybe there's a lawsuit in there somewhere (there always is, right?).

just to muddy the things -- perhaps I am wrong, but I believe Patrick said above that he knew of no ATM card that charged 3% for a cash withdrawal. Mine does (Chevy Chase Bank in Wash DC), so there's one. It just started doing it last year, much to my dismay. Also, I have read on here of other US banks that are now doing that (and I think that's where my bank, which is a small regional one, got the idea from). So I think there are more and more US banks that are indeed charging a 3% conversion fee just to get cash on an ATM card at an ATM. At least my bank doesn't charge any flat transaction fee, just that percentage.

I have a Capital One MC and don't get hardly any special offers from them, I'm surprised someone would cancel a card for that reason, but it can be annoying. I guess they have some small flyer in my monthly bill (perhaps) -- I don't know, I just throw ads in monthly bills away. They don't send me anything else in the mail each month but my bill. I don't remember if they ever did, but if so, I told them to stop it. I do that a lot, and most businesses will indeed stop sending you a bunch of offers if you tell them to stop.

Capital One does charge you large fees for cash advances on a credit card. I have never done that, but it is large, as usual (5% or more or something).

AS for the Cap One MM ATM card not charging you fees. I'm not sure on that one, I have a money mkt account with them, and my original terms definitely said I had an ATM charge of around $2, as I recall (nothing for US, but a fee for foreign ATM use). They don't charge a conversion percentage, though, so that's something. I will admit when I look at their online terms now, I don't find that foreign ATM transaction fee mentioned, so I will be checking into that, that would be great (but it could be I still have it). SInce my bank added that 3% ATM charge, I may actually use my Cap One MM ATM card abroad, which I never did before. I don't usually treat money market accounts as something to be withdrawing from.

Zooey, my comment about changing the game did, in fact, refer to the much clearer disclosure that is now available.

I'm thankful for the lawsuit because prior to the suit, it was virtually impossible to find out the details of the bank charges.

We used our Cap One card and our ATM cards in Canada this past summer and we downloaded our financial transactions daily, which made it very easy to double-check whether we were indeed getting the interbank rate on the Cap One card, and the interbank + disclosed percent on the ATM cards. Granted, it changes fractionally during any given day, but the Canadian dollar was relatively stable compared to the USD during our trip, making the exercise pretty clear. Bottom line, we found that the banks were being honest in their claims.

Yes, disclosure is an improvement.

I'd start threadjacking this into a discourse on adhesion contracts, but I think there are better forums for that kind of discussion.

Taimu, Debit/ATM Card. Never get cash with a credit card, they treat it as a cash advance with heavy fees and interest. The Debit/ATM comes right out of my checking account.

Christina, I said:

"I know of no ATM debit cards that charge 3% to change your own money to euros at an ATM, but I suppose one may exist."

So when you said, "I believe Patrick said above that he knew of no ATM card that charged 3% for a cash withdrawal," you were sort of right and sort of wrong. But you now have indeed proven there is such a thing. Hardly anything surprises me any more about credit cards or ATM/debit cards when used in Europe.