Going to France and Spain for 11 days. How can I get the best value for my dollar! Help! Going in two weeks!

If you search this forum you will find many posts about this. Generally the consensus ( if there is ever consensus on Fodors!) is that using ATM's when you are in Europe , along with credit card purchases on Capital One or another no fee credit card ( if there is one) is best. Notify your bank and credit card company of your travel plans and be sure you have a 4 digit code ,#'s, not letters , for use in the ATM.

You'll find there's very little value in exchanges cash. Fees from the "money changers" can run 7% to 12% and the exchange rate is outrageous. Changing US Dollars for Euros went out the window with the advent of the ATM machine. Using plastic is easy, smart and to your advantage, even with the ridiculous fees added by the bank.

You can use your debit card at the ATM for cash and also charge expenses on your credit card. They both will have the most favorable exchange rates. The best alternative would depend on your credit card and what kind of fees it has.

In my case, my credit card charges 3% for all foreign charges, whereas the ATM charges $5.00 for all debits at foreign ATM's or bank. Your fees will depend on what your bank charges.

For me--$500 cash for $5.00 or
$500 on credit card for 3%fee of $15.

If you ATM limit is lower, you can ask your bank to raise it.

Be sure you have a 4 digit ATM password.

Some banks charge less, especially credit unions, but make sure a credot union ATM card has the cirrus, Plus, or Interlink sign on the back.

Don't bring traveler's checks and don't bring dollars to change into euros. The fees are higher.

Hit an ATM machine before you leave the airport so that you have euros right away. Don't expect a cab or shuttle driver to accept dollars.

Ditto to all of the above and make sure you notify your bank and credit card companies in advance about foreign use.

This is the one issue where Fodorites overhwhelmingly agree.

Hmmm. In UK, there are several money exchange offices that do very competitive online/mail order service, exchanging pound for euro or many other currencies. The rate is nowhere near 7-12% above interbank. For example, exchanging today, I can get a rate of 1.1909 euro to the pound (no commission, no insured postal charge for a minimum order of £400), while the interbank rate is around 1.201. For US$ I can get 1.4401 against interbank of 1.4550. This is within 1% of wholesale money market rates.
https://www.iceplc.com/

Of course going to a money changer, esp at the airport, will be much more expensive, with a typical mark-up of 5-7%.

By far the best value is using your credit card for all major expenses and pulling walking around money from your checking account at the ATM on every corner.

Other options will cost you much more - up to 8 - 10% of your money.

I recall someone stating that the ATM machines had 5 numbers for pin, not 4. Has anyone run into this? If so what did you do? Please advise and thanks!

My card has a 4-digit (all digits rather than letters) pin and has never had a problem in Europe.

euromom: "<i>I recall someone stating that the ATM machines had 5 numbers for pin, not 4.</i>"

No --for years PINs had to be 4 digits, but now they will also take 5 digits. The conventional wisdom is to have a 4-digit PIN but it isn't absolutely necessary.

One issue re: PIN is that apparently letters do not appear on the buttons as they do in US so make sure you know your PIN in numbers, not letters. This sounds simple but I have known people to have difficulty with this.

Alec--I don't think that euromom is in the UK.

yeah. ATM works as well as in US. four or five digits - no problem.

I was in Luxembourg a few days ago and saw that the ATM was willing to accept 12 digits, even though I only had 4 to offer it.

jubliada, we learned the hard way about letter-pins in 1995. In today's world most of us can look at a cell phone to match letters to numbers but in 1995 I didn't have a cell phone. My mom's pin used letters all at the end of the alphabet and we had a helluva time sorting that out as we stood in front of the ATM.

Do have a hundred or so in US twenties as an emergency reserve just in case the first ATM is uncooperative and you need to get Euros from an exchange booth for your ground transport. Once you get to the city (any European city) you'll see ATMs just about everywhere.

A hundred or so US twenties? Wouldn't 300 be better?

Now in the age of smart phones, many moble phones no longer have the letters on the digits - so that back up plan is going by the wayside. Definitely better to know the digits.

That would be five to ten US twenty-dollar notes as the emergency stash. More if you think prudent (but I've never had to use mine at all, and a taxi from a major European airport to central city would likely not be much more than 100US/80E/70pounds.)