We are going to France in June. As everyone knows, the exchange rate is not good! Any tips for making the exchange from dollars to Euros as cost effective as possible? Appreciate the info!

Withdraw money in France from the ATM for the best exchange rate possible.

Also check with the company that your ATM card is with and ask about additional fees they may hit you with. That way you factor that into your budget.

There is no per-transaction fee from the European ATM, only what your own bank may charge for out-of-network ATM use. So even if you do have to pay a few bucks to your bank, you can keep the cost down by withdrawing larger amounts (300 instead of 100, eg).

Changing bank may save you money as some US banks don't charge for foreign withdrawals whereas other charge what can only be described as punitive fees. Other banks may waive charges if you use the ATMs of partner banks

do a search for "ATM" as somewhere there's a long discussion on who to use / who to avoid / which ATMs to use

On our May '06 trip to eastern Europe, I withdrew a total of approximately $1,350 from ATMs and the total transaction fee charged by my bank was a bit over $10, certainly not punitive and well worth the convenience. They did not charge a per-transaction fee but a small percentage fee. I would not have been helped by withdrawing larger sums at per transaction.

<<< They did not charge a per-transaction fee but a small percentage fee. >>>

Normally you are charged a %age but there's a minimum fixed charge, so withdrawing €10 could cost $3

I don't want to sound flip, dieeat, but my experience is that the less I worry about the exchange rate when I'm travelling, the more I enjoy my trip! Seriously, I've travelled with people who count every penny, compare each transaction, etc., and while they probably end up with a few bucks more than I, for me, the added stress isn't worth it. Travelling requires enough energy & attention-paying, and I'd rather spend my energy on stuff I enjoy. Just my opinion.

After doing meticulous consultations with my ATM bank and credit card issuers for my recently completed European trip i found that paying with credit cards was now better, for me at least, than by going the ATM withdrawal route. Both my ATMs charged a fee, one $3 and one $5 plus 3% for ATM withdrawals whereas all four my credit cards was just the 3% fee and no others. previously i had found ATMs a better way. But now i use ATMs for as little as possible and use credit cards, accepted at nearly every place from youth hostels and Mcdonalds and supermarkets. so call your ATM issuers and credit cards and see what is best.

Thanks everyone, including you, Lucie. One there, I promise not to evaluate transaction fees. Through your suggestions I found that Capitol One does not charge ANY transaction fees; they even absorb the 1% fee charged by Visa. And upon checking I found that our bank card charges 1% for an ATM withdrawal rather than a flat fee. So I am knowledgeable now and prepared to go! Thanks again!

My take on this is that we usually have a fixed budget and I certainly want to have in the back of my head what additional costs my be hitting my account when we w/ draw money. I would withdraw about 300euro per day and was charged about 388. USD. That can be significant over time.

HI die,

I suggest using your CC whenever possible and getting cash from ATMs when you need to.

Some USD Traveler's checks are useful for emergencies. You can deposit them when you return.

You're cool, dieeat. I hope I didn't sound cavalier about money, because believe me, I'm not. We just know ballpark what we can afford, and we always manage to stay within whatever our budget is without sweating too much when we get "less-than" on occasion.

Like ira, we pay for as much as possible w/cc's, and we withdraw money from ATMs on an every-other-day basis. We carry a few emergency trav. cks., which we never use -- but of course if we didn't have any, we'd need one for sure!

Have a great trip!