buying euros

Old Apr 19th, 2009, 07:11 AM
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Never a problem here finding a working ATM and if you speak English, you don't have to worry about the language barrier in Western Europe because ATMs in the Eurozone give at least four language choices: English, French, Spanish and German. (Although I'm sketchy on whether Italian banks offer Spanish; they offer the others).

Buying Euros from US banks results in a terrible exchange rate because the US banks do so few tourist forex transactions.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 07:12 AM
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In addition, check the airport you're arriving in for its ATM offerings. Each airport should have a detailed map on the web, assuming you're entering at a major international point (Milan, Venice, Rome).
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 07:31 AM
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St. Cirq, regarding the dollars vs local currency issue:

I had never heard of this either until last summer when I was in Peru. I stood by a lady in our group while she was getting cash at the ATM. She got confused and answered "yes" to the dollars question so the machine dispensed US$. It was such a rip-off because then she had to exchange those dollars for Peruvian soles. Maybe this is a new trend so if the ATM asks, be sure to say you want local currency.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 07:58 AM
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- the bank where I do business got me euros for free last year. I paid a $7.00 delivery fee to pick up $500.00 worth of Euro. We each carried half of the cash with us
- we bought 2 credit cards with us, but planned to use only 1

- we called both credit companies ahead of time to warn them that we would be having charges in Europe

- we withdrew some cash but mostly used credit cards in Germany and Italy
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 08:04 AM
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You say your euros were free, but what exchange rate did they use? You can bet there was a considerable mark up. Banks sometimes say, "There's no fee," but what they don't tell you is that they are charging 7-10% over the interbank rate.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 09:05 AM
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Please, please don't be so naive. Nobody gets euros or anything else from a bank "for free." Whether it's the exchange booth at the Philly airport or your own bank, you can be SURE they're charging you a nice fat fee.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 09:28 AM
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"euros for free..." Amen StCirq. With financial naivete like that it's no wonder we're in the economic mess we are now!
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 12:46 PM
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My point exactly, St. Cirq. A lot of people out there perceive they are getting foreign currency at no charge because the bank teller says there's no charge. And it's very likely the teller him/herself has no idea about the interbank rate and how much the currency is marked up. Unfortunately some people do not take the extra step of calculating the mark up over the interbank rate. EmilyC, I can promise you that you paid a hefty premium because did no bank will do this for free.

It's one thing if you know how much more you are paying and you accept those terms. But it's completely another when you think you are getting a good deal and you're not. Next time please check the interbank rate and do the math. Or if you prefer, post the info here and we will do the math for you. Then you can make a more informed decision.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 12:58 PM
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StCirq on Apr 19, 09 at 01:05 PM

Please, please don't be so naive. Nobody gets euros or anything else from a bank "for free." Whether it's the exchange booth at the Philly airport or your own bank, you can be SURE they're charging you a nice fat fee.


Whoa. Your brush is too wide.

I can take any ATM or merchant receipt from numerous trips to Europe in the past five years, run it through xe.com/ccc, and see that MY bank charges zero, zip, zilch for either a purchase or cash withdrawal.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 01:02 PM
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Yup, my banks don't charge anything either. They get their money from other people. I wouldn't want to be in debt at my banks
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 01:03 PM
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I believe StCirq was responding solely to the previous posters who claimed they either went to A) the airport exchange booth or B) went to their local bank branch at home and got euros for "free" at the prevailing exchange rate. Both scenarios are doubtful.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 01:16 PM
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If you are using ATMs in a busy area, a good idea is to get money on Friday for the weekend. By Sunday the ATMS can be very empty.

We always have some money with us of the countries we are going to and the rest from the ATM.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 01:33 PM
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I always bring some Euros with me..
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 03:05 PM
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I normally don't bring any Euros along except what is left over from my last trip (10 or 20 Euro, enough for a sandwich and a drink at the airport) but I think that in the future I would probably bring some along, maybe even half what I expect to use. The problem I ran into at one point is finding that a lot of places (at least in Italy where I was) don't take credit card, and my daily limit at a foreign ATM by my bank is 200 Euro. The B&Bs I was staying at wanted cash of course, so at one point I was left with about 40 euro to my name to last until the next day when I could make an ATM withdrawl. When I returned to the states, I found that each ATM transaction cost me about $7 US, which adds up when you're using the ATM every day of an 8 day adventure....
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 03:09 PM
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acswift--Sounds like you need a different bank account for traveling. My bank (and many others) charges no additional per-transaction fees and allows a larger daily wthdrawal.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 03:54 PM
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Acswift,

Pick up the phone and CALL the bank and ask them to RAISE your limit. It's not hard to do.

I actually have two bank accounts. I use my main BOA account anyplace BOA has a 'realtionship' and doesn't charge me. For other places I have a back up with USAA!
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 04:12 PM
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Both Pulse and Sirrus networks charge a 1% foreign currency transaction fee to ATM withdrawals whether your own bank adds fees or not. BofA customers can use BNP ATMs in France with no transaction fees (I'm sure BofA makes it up elsewhere). I have heard of BofA exchanging dollars for euros at mid-market rates with no fees for their customers in the US. Perhaps someone can confirm.

As for credit card purchases, both Visa and MC charge a 1% foreign currency transaction fee and your local bank probably will add to that (there are smaller banks/credit unions that don't). Only Capital One adds no fees and actually absorbs the 1% Visa/MC fee. Capital One did recently announce a sharp increase in interest rate charges and fees for those who carrying balances so all of this analysis is pertinent only to those who pay their balances each month.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 04:42 PM
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About Sundays...I have several times not been able to get cash from ATM machines on Sundays in France. Maybe it's because the machines are empty (never thought about that), but I always thought (because of the message I read on the machine) that some kind of weekly interbank reconciliation was taking place.

Yes, MrNuke, that's exactly what I meant.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 05:01 PM
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"I have heard of BofA exchanging dollars for euros at mid-market rates with no fees for their customers in the US."

Sorry, not true.

Sarastro, I am a B of A customer and their fees are about as bad as any bank. They have a markup of roughly 7.5% plus a $7.50 delivery charge. They will waive that delivery fee if you are purchasing more than $1,000 worth of currnecy, but that's only becuase they are making so much on the markup. The flat fee is even higher if you need the currency the next day.

You are correct about their partnership with BNP. They have a few partnerships with foreign banks, such as Barclays in the UK and Deutsche Bank in Germany. BofA customers should call and find out if there's a partnership in a country they are visiting.

If no partnership exists the ATM fee for BofA is $5.00. That's why I keep a small account at a credit union, where the foreign w/d fee is only $1.00.
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Old Apr 19th, 2009, 06:37 PM
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I am actually a BOA customer as well, I called in advance but for "Security Reasons" they will not change my international withdrawl rate. I can take out up to $1500US when I'm here in the states, and I can make purchases on my debit card abroad above and beyond my ATM limit, but they would not change the 200Euro per day ATM limit.
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