currency exchange
 

Any advice on changing dollars to Euros, JFK or CDG?

Don't exchange cash at either place. Withdraw euros from ATM using ATM/debit card when you arrive at CDG. Cheapest and easy to do.

No place. Changing cash is like throwing 10% of your money out the window.

You should pay for larger expenses with CCs and use pull walking around money from your checking account at bank ATMs with your debit card. That's the least expensive way to pay for your trip.

The exchange fees at the airport are outrageous, to say the least, closer to 12%, plus a bad exchange rate. The advent of ATMs in the 90's all but eliminated the need for currency exchanges anywhere in Europe and nearly put an end to the overpriced Travelers Checks, which very few will accept.

As already noted, get what cash you may need to pay a taxi or that public transportation at the ATM when you arrive at CDG, then stop by one of the bank ATM's once you're in Paris. Make sure you let you bank know you'll be using your debit card while traveling, otherwise it will be blocked. You should also make sure your daily limit will be high enough to allow you to withdrawal what you need for walking around pocket money.

Don't "exchange." Take your ATM card and use it at the first machine you come to.

Also, you may want to check with your bank to see what the fees are for using an ATM out of their network or see if they have an affiliated bank in France. For example, I think, but am not sure, that Bank of America customers can use banks in a Global ATM Alliance without having to pay the out of network fee. If you happen to have a debit card that does not charge for out of network withdrawals and also does not charge a foreign transaction fee, that would be ideal.

Bank of America customers traveling in France can use the BNP Paribas ATMs without charge. The same with Barclays in the UK, BNL in Italy and Deutsche Bank in Germany.

Folks, this may be a dumb question, but I will ask it anyway. Does it cost less than a bureau d’change, to change American dollars into pounds in person at a bank like Barclay’s in central London?

I guess my concern is that my ATM card might be stuck/gobbled up in an ATM machine in some remote location– then I would really be hurting. :) I only access cash at my local bank ATM at home.

Many banks will not provide this service unless you are already a customer and if they do the rate will be much higher than pulling cash from an ATM - again - throwing 10% of your money out the window.

latedaytraveler - I understand your concern - it's statistically unlikely but can be a royal PIA if it does happen. Did you know you can obtain a second ATM card from your bank to keep as backup? I have one and it provides peace of mind.

As nytraveler mentions, few banks, if any, will exchange non-customer's cash. I was lucky in the past of have a local take me into their bank to exchange the case, but unlike the States, you cannot just walk into a bank in the EU and expect to do business, if you can gain entry at all.

If you obtain a second ATM card, it will have to be from a separate account. I have debit cards from both a personal and business account that are not tied together. My wife has a separate account altogether should anything happen.

If you're worried about your debit/ATM card being gobbled up by the machine, only use ATMs at a bank when the bank is open. That said, I've used ATMs all over Europe in small towns and big cities at all hours with no problems at all. (My accounts in the US are in credit unions, which charge no transaction fee and a minimal exchange rate of 1% over the interbank rate.)

NYtraveler, Seamus, Robert, and Mimar, thank you for your thoughtful replies and for the reminder that banks abroad do not do business as openly as those in the US. I will try to use my ATM only at banks during their working hours. It’s reassuring to know that you folks haven’t lost your cards yet. :)

crikey, I've never had any problem changing money in a bank in europe (when I had to do it) unless the bank is not a retail bank of course.

But I'd rather pull the cash from an ATM

two things to remember with ATMs

1) cover the pad as you put the pin in incase someone has stuck a camera above the pad
2) do make sure the slot is the original not a capture slot.

http://www.innocenthacker.com/2012/0...rotection.html

<<<i>Robert2533 on Jun 2, 13 at 10:38pm:...If you obtain a second ATM card, it will have to be from a separate account...</i>>>

Nope, not necessarily. It is of course possible to get a second account and card but I have a second card tied to my checking account.

Never change money at an airport booth. BUT, there are plenty of banks in New York that will exchange USD for Euros for a five percent fee. So it's not 10 percent as one commentor claimed.

Unless you have a no-fee ATM card you will pay a three percent foreign transaction fee plus an ATM fee that likely adds up to more than five percent. I personally like having a little local cash on me when the plane lands.

FHurdle - did you check what rate you get at such places?

FHurdle, okay, a 5% fee on top of a very bad currency exchange rate. You end up losing all around. Bank of America charges a 1% foreign transaction fee plus $5 per transaction, which is why when we're in the Basque country (both sides) we get cash from the BNP Paribas ATMs, no fees or transaction charges.

Seamus, if you have two ATM cards attached to the same account, if one is blocked, both will be blocked, as the account will be frozen until you respond to the phone call they made to you home phone.

No Robert2533, a five percent fee on top of the current SPOT rate. I calculated this. Currency values are based on an exact price. Currently the spot price is 1.30880. Multiply that by 1.05 and you get 1.37424. That is the price you will pay for Euros at Wells Fargo, plus a $5 fee regardless of the size of the transaction.

This is a better deal than using an ATM unless you have a no-fee cards, since ATM users must pay both a three percent transaction fee and an ATM fee, and they are limited to relatively small transactions.

Seamus, yes, I've checked the rate and used the service before. I actually called a couple of weeks ago to get the current rate, compared it to the spot rate, and figured out that they were marking them Euros up by five percent, which is quite reasonable.

I’m back. Today I stopped into my bank – SOVEREIGN north of Boston – where I have had an account for years, although this bank site has had many iterations in the last decades. I was told that I could purchase sterling at the daily rate with a charge of $8 for overnight mailing. It could take a day or two.

Sounds good to me…

latedaytraveler, did you get their daily rate and compare it to the interbank rate?

your bank will give you the daily rate to BUY euros. I'm willing to bet that is 5-7% higher than the interbank rate, which is currently 1.31.

If you are only exchanging $100-200 USD into Euros, then the total cost of somewhere between $15-25 is simply another one of those costs you just absorb and don't fret about. If you are exchanging larger amounts of $ then it's worth paying close attention.

Re Fhurdle's #s, those are very different from my experience. I've never had a 3% transaction fee, and I don't pay an ATM fee, so my total cost using an ATM in Europe is 1% (foreign transaction fee), not the >5% you were faced with.

I eliminated all the calculations etc by simply getting a totally fee free ATM card from Andrews Federal Credit Union. They do not charge ANY fees. They also offer a totally fee free credit card that is a true chip and pin. One stop shopping.

<<Sounds good to me…>>

Not really. Read J62's post. Daily rate does not equate to interbank rate.

I belong to a credit union that charges a 1% FTF and zero ATM fees. I just won't give away money to banks and would consider 5% to be robbery.

My total cost for using an ATM in Europe is $1. No FOREX fees.

latedaytraveer: not only is the bank's daily rate likely not the interbank rate, seldom do US bank personnel know what they are talking about when it comes to foreign currency.

Ask them what today's rate is.

Mimar, Janisj et al, I will return to my local bank for clarification and get back to you...

Did I say, I will be buying pounds, not euros?

The current interbank rate for pounds is 1.54.

Doesn't matter what currency - the best way to get foreign currency is via ATM in that country.

>>I will return to my local bank for clarification . . . ...<<

Which may or may not clarify things - As I said, very few US bank staff know <i>anything</i> about foreign exchange.

I'm in Paris right now, and the skeptics who said that you could not exchange dollars for euros because there is no place to do so are incorrect. I've seen many many exchange bureaus as I've wandered the streets of Paris. ATMs are not all that easy to find as you might think, by reading fodors!!! And yes, I'm using my ATM card. Rates at the exchange counters have been very awful when I've taken a quick peek.

BUT in a pinch, if your ATM card gets gobbled up, you CAN indeed find plenty of places to trade in your dollars. Just wanted to clarify that for folks on other threads who seemed to be saying that it was not possible to do. Not singling out any person or thread, just giving my own perspective from being in Paris right now.

No, you misunderstood. There is almost no place to cash traveler's checks. There are plenty of places to exchange money. But, as you say, the rates are terrible. I'm surprised you're not seeing many ATMs. Often they're inside a vestibule.

Wow, I feel like you can't turn a corner in France without seeing an ATM. I just spent a month in Paris and the countryside and ATMs were everywhere.

JAHM, there are probably 25 of them in Le Bugue, the closest big village to my house, and there's a population of maybe 5,000 there. You're right. You can't move without tripping over an ATM machine. Same is true all over France, Italy, everywhere I travel.

In Paris they are ubiquitous, sometimes several in a single block. I don't know where simpsonc510 is, but his comments make no sense. They are WAY more prevalent than exchange bureaus, thankfully.

>I'm in Paris right now, and the skeptics who said that you could not exchange dollars for euros because there is no place to do so are incorrect. I've seen many many exchange bureaus as I've wandered the streets of Paris.<

Exchange bureaus will rip you off. Exchange bureaus should be on the bottom of the list of places to go to get money.

We were in Paris in April/May. ATMs were everywhere in the city. If you can't find one, you aren't looking very hard. With our PNC account, we pay no per transaction fee at ATMs anywhere in the world, and only the standard 1% VISA/MC foreign exchange fee. So we pay 1% over whatever the current interbank rate is. However, worldwide do watch out for non-bank ATMs--many of these will not give you the best of exchange rates.

Almost every bank in Paris has one or more ATMs, and THEY don't charge a fee. There are some US ATM cards--we used Schwab Checking this May and June--that also charge no fee and actually reimburse any fee an ATM operator charges you. They claim to convert at the interbank rate in effect when the transaction occurs.

There is a lot of variance in how banks handle currency exchange, and many of us don't research the subject sufficiently to give an informed opinion.

Almost all ATMs go through and exchange system run by mastercard or visa, and that system charges a 2 percent fee for the exchange, but gets you the best exchange rate available. Almost all card issuing institutions pass that 2 percent fee on to you; some add their own percentage or flat rate; a few absorb the 2 percent fee and do not pass it on to you. So depending on your card issuer, your cost may vary, and if your card issuer says no fee, that does not necessarily mean that you are not paying the 2 percent to the exchange system. In any event, using the ATM is almost always your best option. If you lose your card, you call them and they send you a new card by express service, which in my experience means you get it in one or two days. If it is worth it to you, open an account with one of the institutions that charge no fee themselves, and eat the exchange service fee, but to effect real savings, you would have to travel extensively.

In my case, my wife and I have a joint account, and each of us has a debit card; when I lose mine, we just use hers to get a wad of cash, then call and get new cards sent to us.

I have never seen an exchange bureau that offers competitive products. If they cite a good exchange rate, they charge a commission that would embarrass a realtor; if they advertise no commission, they use an exchange rate that would embarrass a loan shark. They have been bypassed by technology and are surviving by preying on the ignorant.

<i>I have never seen an exchange bureau that offers competitive products. If they cite a good exchange rate, they charge a commission that would embarrass a realtor; if they advertise no commission, they use an exchange rate that would embarrass a loan shark. <b>They have been bypassed by technology and are surviving by preying on the ignorant.</b></i>

Truer words were never spoken on this forum.