isu_steph

My husband is leaving for France in May and will be there for a month prior to my step son and I arriving. He is wondering if he should leave the United States with some Euros on him. That way he doesn't have to rely on immediately needing to find an ATM to withdraw Euros. Does anyone have any input on this?

janisj

If it makes him feel better - yes, he can buy a few € at his departure airport. The rate won't be terrific, but since he'd only be getting some "seed money" the risk isn't very large.

There is no economical way to get € Stateside, so there is no benefit to ordering his € from a bank. Just show up at the airport w/ maybe $100-$200 cash and buy the € at the bureau de change in the departure lounge.

see_the_world7

If you are asking if he *needs* to get money ahead of time, then the answer is almost certainly no. We always rely on getting money at the ATM as soon as we arrive (this is the best rate too) and using credit cards if needed.

As janisj says, if it makes him feel better, then that's fine.

Gretchen

We always get 100E at the airport when we are leaving. Just nice to have some in pocket.

platzman

Don't expect banks, in the current environment especially, to decrease fees in any way. My own bank never charged currency exchange fees (other than the typical poor exchange rate) until very recently. Now the fee is $10 per transaction plus about 6.5% worse exchange rate. Guess what I'm doing? Simply using the ATM at the arrival airport or using credit card to directly pay for everything.

ira

Hi isu,

Many people feel more comfortable if they buy about 100E at the departure airport.

It will cost about $7 more than if you get the money at an ATM in Europe.

P_M

Actually there is one economical way to get €'s in the US. I placed an ad on craigslist.com asking if anyone had leftover €s from a trip. In my ad I said I would pay the interbank rate. This is a good deal for me because I would avoid the markup and bank fees. It's a good deal for the seller for the same reason.

Within 3 hours I had 2 good replies to my ad and I was able to get the €'s at interbank rate. But having said all that, I only recommend this to people who are already familiar with €'s, otherwise you might not know what you are getting.

nickidee

If anyone truly wishes to get a substantial amount of euros before they leave and/or travelers' checks in euros (for apartment deposits, etc.), I just used Wells Fargo Bank's online foreign currency service. I thought their rates were pretty good, better than any other agency I've used in the past, or the airport exchange bureaus. Charged the sale to my credit card, and they overnighted the cash and checks to me....got them the next day. I was very satisfied. I had to have 800 euros in either cash or travelers checks when I arrived at my apartment, to pay my apartment rental up front. I was uncomfortable carrying that much cash, as well as I have a daily limit I may withdraw from an ATM, so got the travelers' checks (AmEx). Worked out well for me. Here's their website:

https://www.foreignexchangeservices.com/

acswift

I've had pretty good luck in the past getting money in local currency from an ATM at my arrival airport. I believe (but don't remember) that Charles de Gaulle airport even had one right near baggage claim. You can most likely look on the Airport's website to find locations of ATMs in the airport in which he will be arriving.

FrankS

I've had no trouble getting Euros at ATMs in France. Rather than take the hit here, just keep some US Cash on you and trade it for Euros if the ATM for some reason doesnt work.

After awhile, he will bring some Euros home with him for the next trip.

P_M

nickidee, if you are happy with what you got from WF bank then that's great and I'm happy for you. If you need that cash up front and you don't want to carry that much cash then maybe this was a good thing for your needs.

For the benefit of the OP, I looked at Wells Fargo's web page. The mark-up is about 8% plus an $8 service fee. By using your ATM card in Europe there's usually a 1% markup plus whatever flat rate your bank charges, which in my case is $1.00. So if you don't need a huge amount of cash up front then I think it's best to use the ATM when you arrive. If you are REALLY uncomfortable to arrive with no €'s then get no more than $100 worth before leaving.

suze

Arriving with euro already in your pocket is more about comfort level. It typically costs more to get them in the U.S. but to some people it's worth it. It's not a right or wrong kind of question/answer.

I travel with an ATM card, and a few hundred in USD to exchange in emergencies, sometimes travelers checks depending the length and type of trip (I exchange these at a bank, don't try to spend them directly). Sometimes I buy 100 euro (or whatever) in advance from my home bank's foreign exchange bureau.

isu_steph

Thank you everyone! All had great input. I think he was more nervous because when we went to Italy last year we had some problems with his ATM card initially. Mine worked fine, but his fear was he would have problems again and not have money. I think the obvious solution would be to make sure he had some USD on him and exchange if needed. I knew the ATM's had the best exchange rates. Thanks!

greg

I think of two issues.

The first one has to do with the efficiency of conversion. Most replies address this angle. Unless you are using a rip-off debit card, the destination ATMs provide the best exchange rate as many have mentioned.

The second part has to do with whether you can make the debit card work at the destination ATM. This has to do with the probability and the setup.

The setup has to do with whether your debit card is linked with the correct account. By this, I mean a checkings account. If what you are using is a card linked only to savings accounts, the fact that the "default" is linked to a saving account will NOT help you get Euro.

Additional setup requirement is that the debit card is enabled for oversea uses. One of my debit card is disabled outside the U.S. as a default. The bank "codes" my card for oversea use, but they can only code up to 5 days ahead. This creates a checklist for each trip, to call my bank 5 days before my departure. Unfortunately, this type of operation is handled by inexperienced operators (probably temps...) at my bank and they tend to make mistakes such as instead of coding for oversea uses, they disable my card even in the U.S.

On the probability side, there is a very small chance that your debit card transactions are not authorized due to various operational reasons. Here the opinion splits whether one got hit by one of this low probability events. Some people have never been hit by one of these and would consider this issue ignorable. I had my share of problems in this area so I always travel with enough Euros to at least get to my hotel and eat one meal.

chartley

I think Greg's reply is a good summary of the issues.

Travelling from the U.K., I invariably make sure that I have €100, $100 or more in my pocket, as I have had problems with ATMs on arrival.

What always surprises me is the problems that Americans have in obtaining foreign currency before departure. Living in the U.K., I can get foreign currency on demand in a number of places locally. This is not just the commonly used ones like euro and US dollars, but currency for Japan, Turkey, Australia and a host of other countries. Our local Marks and Spencer even has an ATM which dispenses euro and US dollars.

Is needing foreign currency really so unusual in the U.S.?

Nikki

Yes, it really is so unusual. Most local banks would have almost no need to stock any foreign currency.

ira

Hi chart,

>Is needing foreign currency really so unusual in the U.S.?<

I would venture that over 60% of residents of the US will never, ever need foreign currency, That includes Canadian Dollars and Mexican Pesos.

Fewer than 30% of native-born US citizens have passports.

Do keep in mind that the US stretches from Shannon to Yekaterinburg, and from Copenhagen to Athens.