Christina

well, first of all, without knowing what the OP's bank charges, you can't claim it is fiscally foolish. It is not, and most banks in the US charge around 7 pct, which is not that crazy, anyway, to make sure you have some cash if you are landing late at night. There have been some people on Fodors who claimed their bank charged less than that, so you can't say for sure. I actually think that's not a bad idea for the first place. It isn't that big a cost for security at all, especially since many people may pay 3 pct on their ATM card, anyway.

And the OP couldn't "have done" something since this trip hasn't happened yet. I don't remember being able to get euro at ATMs in Prague, but since I never would have had a reason to do that, maybe I'm forgetting. I know you can in a few places (I've seen that in Switzerland). But the idea that you need to get euro immediately upon arrival doesn't make any sense, either, since they are going to be in Prague a while where they would use koruna. They would have plenty of time to get euro later, if they wanted it.

live42day

I have been in the position a few times where the ATMS were out of money either because of a holiday or busy weekend.
Stone town, Zanzibar, St. Petersberg Russia, Jaisalmer India all had empty ATMS when we arrived and we had to wait until the next day.

When we were in Luang Prabang had to find three ATMS to get my card to work.

In Mandalay airport (Burma) the money exchage was closed , for no apparent reason, until after our flight left.

I am probably more cautious than I need to be, yes, but thats okay I can live with that. And maybe even sleep better because of it.
We all travel a little bit differently and this is what I have chosen to do. As I said, I know I spent a bit more money but my bank only charged me for one transaction fee for all the currencies and a few percentage points here and there when you are only talking about exchanging $100 is not a big deal (to me) for piece of mind.

Certainly all other travelers can wait until they get there.

As I said in my original post " I know that others wont think it is necessary to do so" I was really just asking if the Euros would work if I couldnt get the local currency.

sparkchaser

<i>Can you get Euros from an ATM at the Prague airport?</i>

Dunno. Never flew into Prague. If I did fly into Prague, I'd just grab Kroner out of the ATM. After all, I would be in Czech Republic.

centraleurope

My guess, you probably wouldn't get kroner... But at the rate this is going, you never know.

Michael

<i>I have been in the position a few times where the ATMS were out of money either because of a holiday or busy weekend.
Stone town, Zanzibar, St. Petersberg Russia, Jaisalmer India all had empty ATMS when we arrived and we had to wait until the next day.

When we were in Luang Prabang had to find three ATMS to get my card to work.

In Mandalay airport (Burma) the money exchage was closed , for no apparent reason, until after our flight left. </i>

Having had that experience, and deciding that you do not want the risk of not being able to get money out of an ATM, why the original posting?

adrienne

sparkchaser - I was wondering if Euros were available as you said to get Euros when landing in Europe. I didn't remember seeing that option in Prague and thought I was not paying attention.

I would get Kroner too (and have done); not sure why you advised the OP to get Euros upon landing in Prague.

centraleurope

Koruna are most likely in the ATMs in Prague... But the smartest travelers on the planet all knew that.
Kroner often come out of ATMs in Denmark.

The OP simply wanted to have a smattering of currencies for each of the countries he was visiting. It gave him piece of mind, and he was willing to pay that premium for that piece of mind. Some of us do not require that, others do. Whatever lets you sleep at night is money well spent.

I actually was not aware you could order the currencies in the US, so that is interesting.

Now, we can all move off this post. There are surely lots of new travelers unaware they are complete idiots. We need to go break it to them. (Gently, as you are all known to do).

live42day

Michael
the original posting was to ask if I could get by with Euros in Eastern Europe if I was not successful getting the local currency

sparkchaser

<i>not sure why you advised the OP to get Euros upon landing in Prague.</i>

D'oh! I assumed they would have landed in FRA, CDG, or MUC first before connecting to PRG. You know what happens when you assume...

Michael

<i>the original posting was to ask if I could get by with Euros in Eastern Europe if I was not successful getting the local currency</i>

That appeared to be a secondary question.

<i>I was going to go to my bank tomorrow to order some local cash, but wanted to ask first what is necessary.

We start in Prague, so we were going to bring $200 worth of Czech Koruna. Then to Poland so was going to have $200 of Polish Zloty. Not sure where we are heading from there, perhaps Hungary, Romania Albania, Macadonia?? Not sure.</i>

Bobandco

Each country ATMs will give you local currency on most US ATMs, check with your bank. US dollars and Euros can be used in some situation but changing them is easy as there are exchange houses all over the tourist zones. I would not worry too much about having local currency when you land. The worst exchange rate you will get is in the US, second worst is with taxis and restaurants and then the next worst is at the airports and hotels so use them, but use them sparingly. Best rates will be Credit Cards, ATMs and Exchange Houses. I trace a lot to central and eastern Europe and that is my experience at least

live42day

Thanks so much everyone. Michael I guess what I meant to say, and didn't say it well, was would Euros be accepted in countries like Romania and other Eastern European countries in the event that we cant get to an ATM from the train or bus station for what ever reason.

I am in Canada not the US.

My bank does not charge me much to exchange money. It is not much worse than waiting until we got there. It sounds like I am lucky compared to others.

I am not a Newbie traveler. I have traveled extensively for the past 40 years. My health has recently changed dramatically and I need to have as much in place a head of time as I can.

Thanks again for the information.

centraleurope

Enjoy your trip Live42day... What fantastics countries you are visiting...

Bobandco

centraleurope, I like your attitude on everything. Outstanding to have you here.

centraleurope

Thanks bob!