Exchanging Dollars for Eu.
 

I have been reading various theories re. the "BEST", meaning most economical way to procure Eu in Europe. I am totally baffled. Here are my usual methods and none seem particularly good at this time considering the value of the dollar.
1) take lots of $100 dollar bills and exchange at the European bank. The banks charge a percentage of the number of bills as well as assessing the exchange rate so it pays to have large bills and not a stack of $10s and $20s.

2) just use ATMs - BUT our BOA charges a percentage of total and so does the European bank owning the ATM so each $300 transaction cost me $8.00 last year - we will need lots of cash to pay for meals cooked at our villa and collecting $300 worth of Eu (about 150 Eu!) EVERY day at $8
per transaction seems painful. My BOA ATM is registered to allow me to take $500 from Eu ATMS - however, the Eu ATMs have never allowed me to do that. The largest withdrawal has been $300.

3) just exchange HERE in the US and go. How much would that really cost me over the other options? I know that getting Eu in the US is not going to be at a great exchange rate but is it SO bad that I should just put it out of my mind?

In terms of carrying cash I am not concerned as I am VERY careful - and, when we get to our hotel I lock the cash into my suitcase....yes, things do get stolen from hotel rooms but not suitcases - unless, perhaps, you are staying at huge chain hotel or a small very low end hotel...never had a suitcase stolen in the 55 + years I've been traveling!

Sorry this is so long - informed ideas would be appreciated.

Exchanging cash for euros is about the worst exchange rate you can get anywhere. Besides a poor exchange rate, you'll pay a banking fee. Expect to pay between 12% and 15% for an exchange.

Using an ATM is the best rate you'll find. The only thing to be weary of is if you use the ATMs for the Bank of Santander. They appear to be using the DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) scam in their ATMs.

Bank of America charges $5 for each transaction except at the BNP Paribas Banks in France.

so you aren't concerned at all about carrying the money (I sure would be), so it's just a matter of finding out the facts, then.

Find out what the exchange rate is at the place you think you can do it in the US, it doesn't matter what other places charge but the place you use. Then compare that to the exchange rate you pay by doing it at at European bank, that's all.

YOu are misinformed about charges at ATMs, however. The European bank owning the ATM does not charge you a fee, I'd be willing to bet anything on that. What bank are you talking about in which country that did that? Because no Eur. bank ATM ever charged me a fee, so why would they charge you? Maybe you have only been in some countries where I"ve never been where they allow that, I don't know but I think you have been misinformed. Did BOA tell you that?

just guessing, ATm is costing you 3 pct plus $8, so if you take out about $200 worth (wouldn't take out less for that fee), you are paying about 7 pct.

A bank in the US may charge about that same amount to give you foreign currency, but they might only charge 4-5. But you'd have to find it first and ask them.

You know what you pay in Europe, what is it? I would guess to walk in off the street you are paying probably around 5 to 10 pct for foreign exchange, but I really don't know as I have hardly ever done that so don't remember.

If the ATMs are conveniently located, I'd just pay the $8/transaction fee every few days, after getting my bank to raise my daily limit to $500. That costs only about 2 percent, probably better than the cost of exchanging one currency for another.

I don't like to have more than several hundred dollars cash on hand. If you can get several thousand in one trip to your US bank, don't mind paying more than 5 percent, and are comfortable having that much cash, go for it.

I can buy euro cash at my bank for ~4-5% above the currency rates but they have an inventory so no charge to ship bills to branch.

You might be able to get lower fees from a credit union or a different bank.

Capital One's credit cards used to have minimal international add-on fees, but that may no longer be the case. and it is a CREDIT CARD.

It sounds like your are paying about 3.0% to use the ATM and probably paying an additional 3.0% international add-on. That is a little steep.

My bank can provide Euros. They need a few days notice to get to the branch bank. I never considered using them for a large amount so I never studied the exchange rate.

If you do get involved in alot of exchange rate math, remember that there are tiers of rates used but typically only one exchange (the big bulk rate) is published.

I have a BoA ATM card and have never been charged a fee by the European bank. BoA charges me a $5 fee if I use an out-of-network bank. So I'm not sure what this additional $3 charge comes from.

Also, the ATM allows €300 per withdrawal. I don't think it's $300.

As for meals at restaurants, why not just pay with a CC then if you're so worried about using ATM.

Easy answer: get a different bank checking account, especially at a credit union, Capital One, or Compass Bank. Most of the above do not charge for ATMs out-of-network (CapOne will but maybe only $1.50) and most of above pass on, at most, 0-1% foreign transaction fees on ATM Withdrawals.

I haven't used my CapOne DEBIT card yet but will in April. I am expecting:
- 0% for foreign transactions
- $1.50 per ATM withdrawal
we'll see.

Travelnut,
Are you using the debit card for the CapOne HYMM account? The FAQs state that there's no per withdrawal fee. I'm interested in this account so would like to hear your experience after you try it out assuming we're talking about the same product.

No, only the regular basic checking account.

Thanks, I didn't even know they had checking accounts. It appears that's not available in my state.

Just got back from France and used my new Schwab account debit card. There was no transaction fee and no charges for ATM withdrawls. They will also refund ATM fees if another bank charges them to your account. This doesn't happen in Europe but they have refunded the fees charged by US banks that I have used. The account is the Investor Checking Account and this is also the account we opened for my daughter who is studying abroad for the year.

I'm with those who can't imagine carrying so much cash (US or otherwise). I took out 250 Euros at a time and tried to use my credit card for as many charges as I could.

One thgin to bear in mind, when looking at what your bank charges you, you would need to look beyond just whether there was a fee or not and compare the rate used to the exchange rate at the time. They can bury overhead in the exchange rate

No fee does not mean no charge.

Oh - one other thing. We too have a BofA account and I take great offense to their charging more for a withdrawl from an International Bank ($5) than they do for other withdrawls from a non-BofA account ($2). With the foreign transaction fee on top of that of course.

re: CapOne checking accts - right, you have to complete the account opening in person at a branch. I visit Texas several times/year, so I got it done over the holidays.

Compass Bank is a regional, probably southern/eastern US. Most credit unions are good, too though.

I have never, in hundreds (probably thousands) of ATM withdrawals all over Europe, been charged any sort of fee by the European bank.

I just don't think you're right about that.

I obtained an ATM card through my brokerage account (Fidelity). Because this ATM card is a VISA product, there is a 1% foreign transaction fee. However, Fidelity rebates all ATM fees. In addition, the cash account that funds the ATM earns more interest than the typical cash account. The card has a daily $500 ATM withdrawal limit.

We did not obtain any euros before our last trip (March 2008), waiting until we arrived at the Rome train station before withdrawing cash.

We also used a Capital One credit card, which has no foreign transaction fees. On our last trip, we found ourselves using more cash than on previous trips, since one of the B&Bs did not accept credit cards. Also, we noticed more restrictions on credit card use in stores (ie. minimum purchase requirements). We used cash most of the time at restaurants, since we didn't like the credit card to leave our sight.

Sorry - just to clarify what I meant with my Schwab account refunding ATM fees. They do not refund European ATM fees because, just like StCirq, we have never been charged a fee by a foreign ATM. And checking my recent transactions against the historical rates listed on xe.com, I see that they are right in line with the rate given - or perhaps the "fee" is so low that I can't really see it. When I first opened the account with them I thought the foreign transaction fee would be 1% but I think it is actually 0.

Does everyone agree that by using your credit card as much as possible (obviously first I would need to check to make sure that there are no foreign transaction fee's) is a fairly safe way to do business in a foreign land? I'll be in Prague, Budapest, and parts of Poland, all of which use different currencies. I know i'lll need to do some ATM withdrawal, but i'm wondering if anyone has any problem with the idea of using a credit card as much as possible?

I travel quite frequently to Europe, both business and pleasure, and use the CC (both mine and the business) as much as I can.

The one card you DO NOT ever want to use for paying hotels and restaurants is your DEBIT CARD. My bank (a Federal Credit Union) warned me against ever doing this.

To the above warmings against using debit cards for paying hotels and restaurants, I forgot about RENTAL CARS. Bad idea to use a debit card (i.e. the type that has the VISA logo) for renting any equipment, really.

About fees by ATM owner: yes, this is definitely the practice by many banks in Europe. Fortunately, not all do it. On my last trip to Barcelona, I skipped a couple of ATMs that had posted fees by ATM owner. I used an ATM near the hotel that had no charges.

>DO NOT ... DEBIT CARD.
Why? I do this rather frequently in many places and never had a problem.

Find out what bank your BofA has an agreement with and there will be no fees.

Viajero, I am confused by your remarks. I have never been charged a fee by a European bank for using their ATM. Perhaps you are thinking of private ATM's, not related to a bank? I skip those both in the US and abroad because of higher fees.

I am also wondering why you say not to use a debit card for hotels, restaurants and rental cars.

I've never heard of the no Debit Card thing, either. Can anyone offer an explanation? Or is this just the normal issue whereby renting a car with a debit card results in a large hold being placed on the account to cover overage fees?

As to the original question, I exclusively use ATMs. Even if your bank charges fees, the conversion rates on cash can be so awful that I can't imagine using an ATM will be that much more expensive. Throw in the hassle of changing cash, and I really don't see how one wouldn't come out ahead.

I also use my credit cards as much as possible. Usually, we use AMEX for the points and don't have too many problems. A few places don't take AMEX, but I find that most of the big ticket places (hotel, cars, flights, expensive restaurants) take it, so it isn't an issue.

The primary reason I can think of for not using a debit card is fraud since it comes directly out of your bank account. Both cards I carry are ATM only. But I suppose if you only use your debit card at ATMs, it's not that much of a risk of having your card number stolen. I've had fraudulent charges on my credit cards a number of times, but since they're credit cards, it's never been too much hassle and the charges are quickly reversed.

In reply to the statement about debit cards: Fraud and scams involving hotels online transactions and even handling restaurants bills (tips, etc...) are some of the most common type sources of scams and complaints banks get related to consumer cards. According to the bank officer, transactions with a debit card exposes personal finances to a much vulnerable level than credit card type transactions. In her view, if you are making hotel reservations, you should never use your debit card. Another reason she said was excessive temporary hold on the funds, which for some people is not a big deal, but for some is. She mentioned a client whose checking account was unknowingly close to depleted by a rental car company who charged him for a fender bender he said he was unaware of.

bookmarking for later

bookmarking

But what about large amounts? I'll have to pay in advance for our apartment rental, needing about 900 Euros on our first day. What's the best way to get a load of Euro right away?

For a great many years I have taken euros with me..from my bank...the rate I am charged is well worth the convenience, to me. I use the Capital One credit card..no exchange fees..I believe it is the only one without the fee charges. I take other credit cards with me, for emergency and my bank ATM card for same reason. This is my preferred way of doing it. I leave on Tuesday and I am all set with everything..

Everyone has their preferred way of doing it...your choice.

With cards from several bank accounts where you have a high enough daily limit, you could do several ATM transactions in succession to get around the ATM's per-transaction limit.

But in your situation, I would probably get Euros before I leave the US (at least half of the amount I'd need the first day) and not have to worry about a possible ATM malfunction.

WOW - there's a lot of information in this exchanging dollars for Eu forum. I now have discovered a very good system for obtaining EU before leaving for Italy. The travel co. Abercrombie and Kent has an exchange program in their on line "store." I told them how many dollars to transfer into EU, sent my bank routing/account #s and 5 days later my Euro arrived via Fed Ex. The rate was much better than BOA and I have a sense that there was no processing fee involved. Some of you might wonder at the audacity of my handing out those #s but I shop on line frequently,trust the security systems and have never had a CC or ID stealing problem. I realize that carrying SO much money is a bit scary but on this trip i do not have a choice as there are 10 of us (family) and the meals at our villa can only be paid in cash. I, like dikensdad, will also use a Fidelity debit ATM card and my Capitol One card. I think it's the best I can do in this crazy period of the no-value dollar.

gianetta-- I have found that AAA is the best alternative to buying large amounts of Euros for cases like yours where you need to pay cash for a rental upon arrival. If you are a member of AAA, there are no processing fees, you pay what the US government pays for buying Euros.

I assume you are talking about AAA in the US? Have you actually bought a lot of euros from them and there was no there is absolutely no markup on them? Because they do have a markup so I wonder how that was possible. You can even go to their website and figure it out, they quote it right online. Today, they are giving you 605 euro for $1000 and officially you'd get 644, so that's about a 6-7 pct markup.

Here's the URL on my local chapter which connects you to the online currency vendor and quotes you the rates:

www.aaamidatlantic.com/Travel/ForeignCurrency

They don't call it a "processing fee", so if that's just the terminology they quoted you, that doesn't mean anything. They have a marked-up exchange rate and it's right online. Actually, Travelex handles it, and the only advantage of buying $1000 or more is there is no delivery fee. You can only buy small amounts in their offices, and I think they may have even a bit higher markup.

Christina-- dear, I never post about an item which I have not have experience. Otherwise, I would had stated so. Yes, I bought more than $3K at AAA not two months ago. If you know anything about foreign currency you know that the US governement pays a markup when buying foreign currency. As stated in my message, that is what I paid. AAA did not charge me a processing fee to transaction the money from them to me. Again, from ACTUAL experience. No clue what they quote online, I dealt directly with their Office staff.