Hi...does anyone have an opinion or information on exchanging currency? I'm wondering if we should wait until we get to Frankfurt, to maybe get a better exchange rate than here in the U.S.

You can use your ATM card to withdraw money after arrival. In most all circumstances this beats any other way of "exchanging".

By using an ATM, we would only be subjected to our banks fees, correct? Do you get the best rates that way?

agree, carry a fe dollars for you return home and just go right to an ATM when you arrive. Check with your bank and see which banks they have a relationship with and see if fees are waived. Remember you have a daily limit there just as here 9and there is a time difference ...your bank operates on the US day. Take out the most you can so that the number of withdraels ar reduced and your potential fees are minimized

It will only get worse. The $ is losing 0.5% of its value against most other major currencies per day. Check the charts. What are you waiting for? $1.50 per Euro will be reached in no time.

If you do a srarch here, you will find a very lively and informative set of threads related to ATMs, CCs, travellers cheques,etc..

Based on supply and demand, more expensive to get foreign currency at home versus over there. My bank is around 4-5% above exhcnage rate

Use your ATM card, linked to chequing account, with 4-digit PIN. Sometimes, it is not a bad idea to have a few euros just to get you from airport to city, but that is more for a fallback.

Note that there are two costs to currency exchange, a fee and/or exhcnage rate. Do not fall for the "no fees" currency exchange, they make it back by setting the exchange rate to their advantage.

Come to Switzerland! That's what the rest of the Europeans are doing. Our Franc is beginning to go farther than the Euro.

kimbies1204,
See http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20050624b1.asp

Henry

I'm going to convert quite a few of my assets into Francs! Good idea right now.

I love this forum...and I love all the input from everyone. So many experiences and knowledge out there, thank you all for sharing!

LOVED Switzerland...how can I actually live there?!

Logos999 may be right about the € reaching $1.50 soon, but if you change your money in the US you will probably already be paying more than that. In the long term the dollar may make a comeback. When are you traveling?

You answered my question on the layover thread. Thanks.

>dollar may make a comeback
Well, it's over, you don't need much imagination to figure that out. $1.50 is just one step. Of course, as said, it depends how soon you need the Euros. The $ has sunken, all you can do is to somehow save what you still have today. Look at the figures of the market, oil and gold. It'll be interesting to see, how fast prices in the US will rise in the near future.

Hold that thought for six months, Logos, and who knows what the €-$ rate will be. I'm betting that the € will continue to rise against the $ for a while, but I've seen too many currency fluctuations to be sure about anything anymore.

You want to make a bet? It's very different this time. Dollars are "printed" like crazy. Chinese products still dumped far below costs on the US market, destroying local US production. Foreigners aren't willing to pay for US consumption anymore! The US and it's citizens are broke today.

If you watch the markets every day there's no way out except...
You can only urge people to be careful and protect their savings, but they need to decide for themselves.

Logos999, I wrote:

"I'm betting that the € will continue to rise against the $ for a while...". Are you offering to bet against that? ;-)

The current drop in the dollar seems to be mainly caused by the Federal Reserve's cut in interest rates. If dollars are really being printed like crazy, that will cause inflation, and interest rates will be forced up again.

The € may be affected by the need to plow money into support for those new EU countries, I don't know. The long term effect of the expansion make weaken the €.

As I said, the $ will probably continue to drop in the short term. Indeed, this morning the £ rose above $2.10 for the first time in years. But only a very brave man will gamble on forex rates in the long term.

Do you mean USA Dollars for Euros? Check lists posted at money exchanges. Rates will be highest at the airport and hotel. Beware of street touts! Their product may be counterfeit.

>mainly caused by the Federal Reserve's cut in interest rates.
This time, I believe it's very different. I'd be willing to bet . The state is broke, the people are broke. M3 is kept secret in order to not disturb everybody. Endless amounts of phony credits have been sold to the rest of the planet. Foreigers stop lending money to the US, because they don't expect to be paid back anymore. Only this foreign credit has kept US consumption going for so long. It's what's happening right now. Japan and China sitting on piles of $ loosing value every day. The war will do the rest. Wait and see. (Or better don't wait.)

>>The US and it's citizens are broke today.<<

OK, logos, you didn't have all that much credibility as an ecnonomist, but with that statement, you have none.

Well it's not MY money, it's just the facts. Maybe you're not aware of cruel facts and believe a dollar is always worth a dollar. The good thing is that the debt will disappear along with the assets.