Help!! What is the best way to change $1000 to euros in Madrid???
 

We have rented an apartment in Madrid. /We need to pay for it when we arrive, so we will need about $1000 in euros. We can exchange the money here before we go but the exchange rate at our bank is pretty bad. Is there another way??? Thanks for any help you can give us..

Any time you exchange currency you get a worse exchange rate. You can exchange some at home if you wish -- and at the departure and/or arrival airports. But the best rates are using your ATM card to get cash in Spain. You can ask your bank to raise your daily limit - at least temporarily - so you can get all/most of your cash on arrival.

Agree with above. Use your ATM card to withdraw cash when you get there.

Use ATM.
If you have friends who would be traveling to Europe who don't care to keep left over Euro, tell them you will buy their Euro at the official exchange rate. They win by not being hit with the ~10% fee, and you win by being able to buy Euros at home at 0%.
You mentioned "we". If you put together three debit cards withdrawals, you should be able to come up with about $1000 using default daily limits of a typical debit card.

You might also ask the owner or agency to accept payment over a couple of days if that's easier for atm withdrawals after arrival. Most, I think, would find that acceptable. But ask before you arrive so you can proceed accordingly.

In this case, I would change the money in the US, unless the owner of the apartment agrees to accept cash installments. Most of the apartments I've rented wouldn't have been able to do that, because the owners have all lived offsite, and sent an agent to collect the money on the first day.

The ATM will give you a better exchange rate, but I don't care for withdrawing large amounts of money on the street. If someone sees you making multiple withdrawals, there may be a temptation to follow you and make a single withdrawal from your wallet.

If the exchange rate is $1.35 instead of $1.32, that's a difference of $30. It would be worth it to me for the added security. Get the money in the US, and carry it in a money belt or pouch well concealed under your clothing.

This, by the way, is one of the reasons I prefer hotels to apartment rentals, although I do rent apartments from time to time when traveling with a family group.

Hi P,

Your ATM card will give you the best rate.

You can open a second acct, which will double the amount you can withdraw each day.

You can ask your bank to raise your daily limit for one day.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

It's wise to have a second chequing account, at a different financial institution, anyhow. Sometimes, for whatever mysterious reason, an ATM card won't work on a particular day or at a particular machine. The second account serves as back-up (and relieves stress.) Of course you do not keep the two cards together, in the same wallet or same purse, so they will never go astray together.

If you can find a source in the US that will change the cash for only 3 cents above the interbank rate (I've never seen this anywhere unless there were also significant fees involved) then go for it. But I think pulling from an ATM is really your only choice.

That means pulling from an ATM is really your only sensible choice. I would ask your bank to raise your rate for those couple of days and use the ATM inside a bank - not on the street.

American banks rip their customers off on the exchange rate anytime they convert money into foreign currency.

Go for the ATM's.

In the future, make sure you can pay with credit card, not cash. We avoid places that demand cash on arrival because of the issues you are facing.

Insisting on payment with a credit card would rule out apartment rentals in many places. In Rome, for example, the only apartment rentals I've ever encountered that allowed payment by credit card were for apartments managed by a hotel.

>>but I don't care for withdrawing large amounts of money on the street. If someone sees you making multiple withdrawals, there may be a temptation to follow you and make a single withdrawal from your wallet. <<

No need to w/d it on the strew if you are nervous. Use an ATM at the airport . . . OR - use a machine inside a bank. Better IMO than carrying huge amounts of cash all the way from home.

>>If the exchange rate is $1.35 instead of $1.32 . . . << Usually IME the difference at many US banks is at least 10¢ (and often even more) - not 2¢ or 3¢, plus they sometimes add fees on top of that.

You may encounter a per-transaction limit at some ATMs, typically around E300 (separate from the daily limit your bank sets), so if you are declined when you ask for 500, try again for a lower amount. You can make repeat withdrawals at the same ATM, up to your bank's daily limit, or go to a different ATM if that doesn't work.

"Insisting on payment with a credit card would rule out apartment rentals in many places. In Rome, for example..."

Not so, just another reason to use Airbnb, a huge number to choose from, all payable by credit card. And no exchange fees whatever.

Open u a Charles Schwab checking account and they way all the fees. I just take out smaller amounts of cash as I see no reason to have to hold it. Best thing we did.

* worry "waive" all the fees. Darn autocorrect

If we get the euros in the US, is it a problem going through security wearing a money belt? Do I take it off and send it through with my jacket, shoes, etc?

You will probably be required to remove a money belt and send it through screening with your jacket and shoes.

I suggest you not even put it on until you're through security. Send it through inside a jacket or other item where it wouldn't be expected to be, as valuables might such as in a purse. Then put it on in a restroom.