kd

The locations and hours of operation for airport foreign exchange facilities are established for the convenience of international arrivals. So, whatever airport you are in, look for foreign exchange near where arriving passengers go through customs and immigration.

kd

Continuation of above message --- since arrivals in the eastern US of flights from Europe occur mostly in midafternoon (not sure about flights from Asia), you may not find the exchange windows open during morning and evening hours except in very busy airports like JFK. So, don't worry about getting Euros here -- get them when you arrive in Europe, where they will be cheaper anyway.

Jim

Bank of America rates are the best that I've found including those posted below.<BR>Pick up at local BOA bank.

Juju

Airport exchange booth at departure or arrival airport. It will be way less trouble than anything else you might do. But more than likely, there will be an ATM in the airport, and you can get money from that.

Sue

Yes, I am anal-retentive. Yes, I can be a big pain in the ***. Yes, I do plan on using the ATM in Europe when I get there. <BR><BR>HOWEVER, I want to have some local currency on hand just in case the ATM doesn't work with my PIN, out of cash, eats my ATM card, etc.<BR><BR>My local credit union doesn't handle foreign currency. Their policy. Local banks I've called don't want to work with non-customers (including Bank of America). My local AAA only wants to sell Euro travel checks. This is what has set me off on a mild panic. (And I do realize there are many, many ATM machines in Europe, but I want to have cash in hand when I deplane.)<BR><BR>The results so far thanks to the people here:<BR><BR>Fleet: a minimum of $100 in foreign currency. $10 shipping for this amount. Thanks Jim for this site<BR><BR>Oanda: a minimum of $200 in foreign currency. $8 shipping for this amount. Oanda has a better conversion rate. Thanks Book Chick and Joanne.

ron

Sue, check out these people:<BR>http://www.cashbycourier.com/<BR>They seem to say no delivery fee for orders over $300.<BR>I am familiar with their parent company, Accu-Rate, and have used them a number of times (at their retail location) to buy foreign cash and cheques.

BARB

Bob--there is a Travelex currency office in the main atrium at Atlanta Hartsfield .

Pauline

Sue,<BR>Do you have a local AMEX or Thomas Cook office? <BR>You should be able to buy foreign currency from them or if there is a Travelex agency at your departing airport.<BR>My bank has to order foreign currency in but if I visit the local AMEX office, they usually have the currency I need. (I'm in Australia).<BR>I like to take some foreign currency with me.

x

Sue, relax. Let's say you arrive in Europe and for some reason, you can't get the ATM at the airport to work. In this unlikely scenario, simply walk over to one of the many foreign currency exchange booths in the airport and exchange dollars there. Don't waste your money with the bad rates/fees you'll pay to get the Euros over here (and anyone who tells you you can get a good rate over here can't do the math).

Susan

I live in a small village. Last year I got French Francs from the local branch of HSBC (a Hong Kong bank). No fees, no commission, no nothing. They gave me the going rate for that day. And I don't even have an account there. See if you have one near you.

x

Just because you don't pay a fee or a commission doesn't mean you didn't get a bad exchange rate. There is no way a bank will process a transaction for no profit (and indeed a loss when you properly account for their costs to process the transaction). That profit/cost recovery was built into the exchange rate. It likely wasn't huge, but probably 5%-10%.<BR><BR>Susan may protest, but I'd ask her what reference she used to check her exchange rate against.

Christina

hey Sue I'm anal retentive also, so I usually try to take some with me regardless. now, I don't travel THAT much internationally, maybe twice a year, but even in the last ten years of my travel, I've had it happen several times that I could not get any local currency from the exchange booth in an airport. It does actually happen. I will agree the odds are slim, but it happens. Once, my plane was delayed and we arrived at a time of night when they were closed (and wouldn't be open again for maybe 7 hrs), another time they shut down for "lunch" for 3 hrs in middle of day, another time they ran out of money!!! yes, they did. So, it really depends where you are going as some airports don't have "many" foreign exchange bureaux, but only one. Depends on their size.<BR><BR>I will admit that if you are going to a big city and are scheduled to land in the morning, risk is very minimal--but as airport rates are very bad, the cost won't be a whole lot worse in US than in that airport and it will save you time on landing.

Susan

Well, x, The same day that I made the transaction, I checked www.oanda.com, the currency site, as well as another one that I can't remember right now, and the rate they were showing was the same rate that HSBC gave me. I was surprised myself that there was no fee or commission added.