Hello all,

I've been searching the forum and haven't found anything on this yet so I thought I post my own question.

We're going to Europe for 3 weeks this June, and every day I'm watching the USD value decline against the Euro. I have most of my budget saved, but of course it's in US$. My question is, is it possible to get a Visa Check Card, or something of the sort, in Euro, so I don't keep having to cringe when I relize how much more expensive our hotels/transport/etc are going to be when we finally get there?

Obviously, currency fluctuations could move more in my favor by then so this could be a risk, but I think I'll take my chances .

If anyone has advice on how to somehow "freeze" my savings into Euro without simply getting out a ton of cash that would be great!

Thanks!

Laura

I seem to remember this question coming up a while ago, and I think the answer was 'NO'. I stand to be corrected!

Changes in the exchange rate between now and June are unlikely to be more than a tiny fraction of the cost of your trip. I wouldn't worry about it but if you are really concerned you could do something like getting Euro denomination traveller checks or even convert some dollars to Euros now. Either of these options will entail some cost but it would give you peace of mind.

I'm not sure Kate's right in this particular case. The concensus was that you can't - Heaven knows why - easily open a foreign currency account in America.

But most British banks offer non-residents, anywhere in the world, Jersey-based internet accounts in £, $ or €. Google "euro offshore account".

I don't think (but google) any offer non-resident foreign currency accounts with debit cards, though some review magazines imply there are such things. But both Lloyds and HSBC offer a product where, after a period of time, you can have a sum of money transferred into any other bank account.

Naturally, they charge (normally about €90 a year) for this. Worse, unless you can find a non-resident account with a debit card, you'll be paying exchange fees three times: once to buy the euros, once to move the euros back to your US account and once to get the money out of your US account in euros. And doubtless there'll be wire transfer fees too.

But google away: there's bound to be some British or Swiss-based bank offering this. Whether it's worth the money is up to you.

NOt unless you have a bank in a foreign country with a deposit in euro. A check card is just a debit card, so it's worth anything in itself. It's just the account you have it linked to.

There are some prepaid cash cards, and I believe you can buy the American Express one in "euro" if you want. Basically, you would buy the set amount at the exchange rate on the date you bought it. However, there are so many fees associated with buying and using that card, as well as a poor exchange rate, that there is no point in doing that to save money. The cost of all the fees, etc., would far outweigh some currency fluctuations between now and June unless the USD declined over 25 pct, I'd say, and I can't imagine that happening.

some say you can buy them in "euro" but I'm not sure how that works. I know you have a transaction fee for using them, so

I would guess that any savings you would make on the exchange rate would bemore than eaten up by the costs to buy the Chekc Card/Travellers Cheques,etc...

Go, use ATMs linked to your bank account (get best exchange rate) and enjoy. People have become massively rich betting on currency shifts, and probably more massively poorer. If the experts can't predict the rate movements, no use in you trying to do the same. As someone said, look at the cost of the trip, and calculate how much a currency shift of 2-5% would make on your budget, in either direction, excluding cost of flights. It's not worth worrying over.

That being said, I predict euro will go up compared to the USD

There are costs to using those prepaid cards -- fee to purchase, per-use fees, etc. -- that you should consider carefully, even without a possible exchange fee for the purchase the card in another currency. You are probably much better off just using the good ole ATM card even if the exchange rate moves a few more points against the USD.

Search this forum for all the reasons to use ATMs. Many threads on the topic, and all experienced international travelers seem to agree that ATM is unbeatable for price and convenience.

sorry, that snippet at the end was bad editing, but the rest of the post was as intended.

Just buy bonds. Get some € bonds for your depot and enjoy. Try getting a least 4% interest.

Wow! Thanks for all the speedy responses. I definitely have some research to do, although it seems to be the consensus that the fees associated probably wouldn't be worth it.

I was actually thinking of the pre-paid cash cards that aren't tied to any account, but a few mentioned that those have lots of fees too, so I'll have to do some checking. I'll let you know if I come up with a fabulous product!