Need to buy Euros for apartment payment before I depart. Travelex???
 

I will be checking into an apartment on the day of my arrival in Paris and will need significant Euros to pay the owner. The last time (pre-Covid), Travelex had a better rate than my bank. Now when I search for Travelex, they don't seem to have the buy and ship to home service here in the US anymore. And, I see all their storefronts at JFK are "Temporarily Closed".

Does anyone have a suggestion for an alternate service with good exchange rates in the US? I'm hoping to find a better rate than my bank. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

It is often recommended that people travel with more than one card. Can you not withdraw from an ATM on arrival in Paris (possibly using both cards) and/or pay your host over two days? ATM rates (in local currency) are said to give the best rate.

I always use ATMs when traveling for cash. Unfortunately, not even 4 card withdrawals on my day of arrival will cover the cost of my apartment rental for 8 weeks. So, I do need to travel with cash to augment my withdrawals.

Who is your bank? Two of mine (Wells Fargo and a large credit union) will ship to home for a pretty nominal fee. BUT if you need a boat load of cash that might raise flags. Can't you just do an international wire transfer from your bank to the landlord's account??

Can you talk with the owner about alternative payment--some US dollars, some euros?
Can you buy euros through your bank in the US if you are American?
Can you do some sort of deposit/wire?
Does your bank have a corresponding bank that maybe some type of arrangement can be made that way--money transferred from your account to the owner's.

8 weeks payment: when do you actualy have to pay him? When will you get the key? Is there an agent or are you dealing directly with the owner? Do you know him or stayed in the unit before? How are you protecting yourself once you hand over the money? How has the owner dealt with previous renters as some long term renters must have had a similar issue of payment.

Whar are your dates? Is it feasible to secure another rental? Sorry, more questions than the answers you were looking for

I recently sent money to a friend's bank account in India using Xoom. Very easy.

https://www.xoom.com/

I bought Euro's through AAA a couple of years ago but can't recall if Travelex was the company AAA used. Please let us know how it works out for you, and good luck.

You have to pay 8 weeks of rent in cash, on arrival? What kind of guarantee do you have that this is a legal property?
There is a limit on cash payments in France, so depending on the amount the payment itself could be illegal.

That was my thought as well. I suspect it is illegal in any case because a cash payment will not go through the books and tax won't be paid on it. It could be part of a money laundering organisation.

I think you need to seriously think about this. Anything above €10,000 in cash in any currencies must be declared on arrival in the EU.

Probably the landlord will accept a wire transfer. It is super common in Europe. Just ask the landlord if it’s possible.

I use https://wise.com
it is super easy and you can even use a credit card.

Warning! Warning! Red flag of a scam, I am afraid.
Eight weeks payment in cash in advance? Legitimate owners do not do this.
Does the apartment actually exist? Is the owner an "owner" of nothing at all?
What happens if you get an uninhabitable place with some really nice internet pictures scraped from some other property? It has happened.
What if the place is being rented against building rules and the owner's lease and you are caught in the middle and tossed out?
Is the "owner" renting it to five different marks at the same time, taking the money, and disappearing?
There is a very large amount of due diligence required for you. I have grave doubts that this will end well.

Thanks everyone for your responses! Yes, the apartment is legal (listed on both VRBO & Airbnb with license # and plenty of positive reviews). Yes, I rented from the owner once before. He lives outside Paris and works so I don't want to inconvenience him with multiple trips into the city. Plus, I'd like to just get it done when I check in. I would prefer arriving with the money rather than a transfer as it's still possible I may have to cancel due to Covid and/or a medical condition I have. That way, I only lose my deposit. If it weren't for Covid and my problematic ticker, I'd use Xoom or Wise. (Thanks for those suggestions!)

At this point, I'll go ahead and buy my euros from my bank tomorrow. More expensive but I'll get to cross out one more thing on my "To Do" list!

Again, thank you everyone for your responses!

OK, just remember what I said about the limit on cash you can bring into the EU without declaring it.
I would still ask the owner if you can do a transfer, maybe half now and half shortly before you leave.
Large denomination euros are impossible to spend and banks in Europe are suspicious of anyone depositing them.
I'm not sure I'd be too happy carrying a great wodge of cash like that.

Xoom (at least the last time I tried), does not process commercial transactions. They actually called me and asked who exactly I was sending the money to. It was a charity, which they said was not a permitted transaction for their service. This was before PayPal bought them out; maybe now it's allowed.

I use Xoom to send money from my American account to my Italian account.

Call me suspicious, but any businessperson wanting 8 weeks rental in cash in advance must almost certainly be doing something dodgy and doesn’t want a paper trail of the transaction. That’s not the normal way of doing business. It could be tax evasion, violation of the French short term rental rules, or a number of other things, and being registered with VRBO and AirBnB is no proof the transaction is legit. If something goes wrong for you, how will you prove you paid 8 weeks rental in cash?

From Dee_Dee's latest post, it seems the plan to pay all in cash and all up front is Dee_dee's - nowhere does she say the owner is asking/demanding full payment or cash. It seems Dee_Dee has decided to do this for her own reasons (I wouldn't myself but that seems to be what she's decided is best)

my fear as well

Dee_Dee has rented from him before . . .

that’s why a wire could work. People have the money the same day or the next day.

Yep - it looks like Dee_Dee understands that but seems to have her reasons