MrNuke

Realize I'm a couple of days late here, but...

<i>"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>
I don't see anyone in this thread disputing that you can exchange dollars to euros. Most of the conversation above centered on walking into a bank. That doesn't mean there isn't anyplace and I didn't see anyone here suggesting it.


<i>"I've seen many many exchange bureaus"</i>
Yes and there are particular areas where they are concentrated i.e. around Bourse. What everyone else above said about exchange rates still applies though. The exchange beaurau is going to take a huge percent off the top. You are better off using an ATM card.

<i>"as I've wandered the streets of Paris. ATMs are not all that easy to find as you might think, by reading fodors!!!</i>
I honestly don't think you were looking very hard then. It is hard to go more than 4 or 5 blocks in many places of Paris without hitting multiple ATMS.

<i>
"And yes, I'm using my ATM card. Rates at the exchange counters have been very awful when I've taken a quick peek."</i>
Hence everyone's advice in this thread.

ssander

I use a credit card that has no foreign transaction fee...they're out there...just phone a couple of the major banks/card issuers. In addition,the exchange rate is always excellent -- my understanding (not from experience, but what I've heard numerous times) is that credit cards give the best exchange rates.

For cash -- since there are always places (including many hotels) that either do not accept credit cards or give a discount for cash -- I use my credit union ATM card that has a 1% transaction fee...not too bad.

In Venice this May, I had trouble getting my ATM card to work when I tried it in the airport (I used my credit card to buy the boat tickets to the island), as well as outside a bank near my hotel. I was getting a little nervous, but I went inside the bank, and the machine inside worked fine...weird!! This was the first and only time (in over a dozen trips) that I had ATM issues. Generally everything works well.

Just be sure to notify the card issuers of your travel plans, and take a backup credit card and ATM card in case you have a problem.

SS

sparkchaser

If your ATM card isn't being accepted it is probably because it is a non-network ATM.

ssander

sparkchaser...

That's what was so weird. It was in the network and worked on the machine inside the bank but not on the machine outside the bank. Maybe that machine (being outside) was in disrepair. The climate is pretty humid in Venice -- maybe metal parts don't hold up very well.

SS

sparkchaser

That is weird.

chartley

We were in a small town near Siena, where there were two cash machines. One would not work for me, despite automatically showing English instructions, but I was later told this was because it was a "farmers' bank" and only handled local business.

The other bank was a branch of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which is Italy's third largest and the oldest surviving bank in the world. It accepted my card and pin, but then showed a message in Italian with the options si and non. I thought the message meant that it could not give me cash, and did I want to proceed to other options. I chose non. At a second attempt, it displayed the same message and I chose si. It dispensed my money.

After research, I realised that the message was actually telling me that the machine could not print a receipt on that occasion, possibly just because it was out of paper.

Overseas ATM transactions can fail for all sorts of reasons. The moral is to never let your cash run too low, and try another machine, preferably at a different bank.

kayd

"The moral is to never let your cash run too low, and try another machine, preferably at a different bank."

YES! And have a spare ATM card for another account, in case the problem is with your card.