Where is the best place, with lowest price, to buy euros in United States
 

The message title IS my question.
The exchange rate is going up by the minute isn't it? And no one seems to see it "dropping".
I just thought someone might have found a great place, trustworthy, and a lower price than most.
(and I don't want to hear "wait till Europe and use ATM machine there!")
We DO , however, go this route for SOME of our cash toward the end of a trip.

your own bank?

"I just thought someone might have found a great place, trustworthy, and a lower price than most."


So you are not looking for a guy in a van in the AM/PM parking lot then.

Sorry, it is Friday afternoon.

If you live in Los Angeles, I can recommend an exchange place in Downtown LA I used to buy euros before I left. The rate was about +.04 cents to the dollar over the bank rate.

Normally, I go the ATm route, but I needed 800 euro on arrival and didn't want to risk the ATM not working. Good thing I did it too because I discovered my ATM had a much lower per-withdrawal limit than I expected.

I have to say though, your question about "best place..in United States" is a bit vague. Are you willing to travel across country to buy euros at the "lowest price"? ;-)

Prices change by the minute...Try as you will your price will be at or close to the market. Currency traders, arbitrage is the game, deal in currency differences. If you are sure that the Euro is going to go up and up you should buy now and cash in later. I have Euros I acquired when they were worth $1 each. I also have dollars that were once worth much more. Game! Start a chart and plot the value of the Euro today..each day plug in that day's value....extrapolate and then decide whether to buy now or later. All major banks will give you Euros at todays value for your dollars.

If you are talking about $5,000 or more go to Northern Trust, excellent rates, no "hidden" fees.

Hi M,

The Euro is now $1.58, down from $1.59.

Wait till Europe and use ATM machine there!

The Euro would have to rise another 7% or so for you to break even on buying in the US.

((I))

How much do you need? I usually wait until I get there and use an aTM.

Of course it depends on where I am going and which banks I will find.

If you want about €100 or so, ask around if you live near a big college. Foreign students often have a few euro on their hands and don't want to pay the US banks an exorbitant rate to exchange it.

I have swapped dollars for euro at the wholesale rate and both of us were happy with the transaction because we cut out the middle man.

Everybody says to "wait 'til you get there and use an atm". On my last trip, every ATM in the airport was either broken or out of money!

Kristina: It would be done by MAIL,duh?
But we'll probably end up doing what we always do,,,,buy several hundred from our bank, supplement with ATMs in Europe, and charge our hotels.

dolciani! Just what I thought could happen. Interesting!

Our tracking has shown that the exchange rate has gone up at least a point every day this week. Suprised someone said it had dropped,,,but really, a minor change here and there won't make a whole lot of difference.

As others have said, going through a bank is going to be about at a 7% premium. Anyone is going to be very hard pressed to find a better exchange here than at an ATM there.

I personally don't have a need or see a need to have several hundred euros going to Europe. I can't think of many scenarios that would require me to have several hundred euros on me right away in Europe.

The best rate (relative term) for $ / Euro exchange that I have seen for online orders is Bank of America. Roughly 6-7% premium above the bank rate.

&quot;<i>Everybody says to &quot;wait 'til you get there and use an atm&quot;. On my last trip, every ATM in the airport was either broken or out of money!</i>&quot;

No big deal. The reason I carry about US$200 cash (or even $200 US$ TCs) cached in my wallet -- then if that once in a 1000 chance of all airport ATMs being down, I can step across to a Bureau de Change and exchange for enough &pound;/&euro; to tide me over until I can get to an ATM in town.

&quot;<i>Good thing I did it too because I discovered my ATM had a much lower per-withdrawal limit than I expected.</i>&quot;

You've probably read on <u>many</u> threads that lots of us contact our banks/credit unions to raise our per-day limits before leaving for overseas. Not a hardship since we need to call the banks anyway..

Idea...Find a resident of the Euro Zone that is to travel to the USA. Meet somewhere and exchange currencies at that day's market price. Easy?

janisj-I did call my bank before I left. I always call my bank and cc companies to let them know I'm going out of the country too. I think the issue I had with my card was because of the bank ATM I was using, not my bank, but I'm not sure.
In addition, one of my traveling companions had her Washington Mutual ATM card blocked after the first withdrawl even though she too had alerted them of her travel plans.
As I said before, I <i>normally</i> don't get cash in advance but sometimes it is necessary. In my case we had to pay for an apartment rental in advance, on arrival, on a Sunday morning. What's funny is that I actually &quot;saved&quot; some money on buy buying in advance.
I bought euros at $1.54 and 1.57 in advance before I left. When I was there last week, the rate was $1.58. Even if it had been lower, it would have been worth it for piece of mind.
Now, I <b>did not</b> get enough euros for the whole trip mind you, just enough for the first day and happily used my credit union ATM card (with only $1 per transaction fee) for the rest of the trip.

This seems an oxymoronic query:
Where do I go to save money on money since I don't want to save money via an ATM?

Kristina, sorry - I misunderstood what you meant. Thought it was that your ATM <u>card</u> had a lower limit, not the machine. Yes - it is very common for an ATM to have a &euro;250 or &euro;300 per transaction limit. But one can usually simply re-insert the card and take the full amount out again (or step to the next machine)

&lt;someone might have found a great place, trustworthy, and a lower price than most&gt;

If there was such a thing believe me Fodor-ites would have found it by now (but I have yet to hear of a place fitting your description).

Try Wells Fargo either on line or a branch.

You can order online and they will overnight to you. They charge $.07 over the rate plus $8.00 fee.

&quot;someone might have found a great place, trustworthy, and a lower price than most.&quot;

Well, maybe, but if so it would be like that restaurant everyone is looking for in foreign cities -- you know, the one with the best food in the country with great prices that no other tourists know about.