Where to get best rate in changing dollars
 

We will be arriving in Lisbon on a Sunday and will need to change dollars into Euros before leaving for two weeks in Spain. Where will we get the best exchange rate in changing cash into Euros. I know our airport here in Guatemala has absolutely the worst exchange rate in the country. Our hotel in Lisbon? How about in Spain? Hotel, bank, ??? Gracias!

Can you use an ATM when you get there?

I would prefer not to use an ATM. We have had terrible problems in Guatemala.

Do you have a US bank account that you can get an ATM card for, for use only in Europe, and leave Guatemala out of the picture?

Do not carry around a lot of cash in your luggage or person. As said use an ATM. Traveller Checks can be hard to cash.

ATM I usually look for HSBC because they are all throughout Europe.

Almost everyone uses ATM machines so most people would not know what the exchange rate is for banks or currency exchanges. You'll have to walk around and look at the rates and choose the most favorable. If you don't arrive with Euros you'll have to exchange at the Lisbon airport so you can get into town.

And the exchange rates at airports are the highest. Do what you can to establish an account in a US bank and use an ATM. Carrying large sums of cash isn't a good idea at all.

Whatever you do, don't ever change money in a hotel. You'll get the absolute worst exchange rate. You'll have to go to a currency exchange place, and the rates (as everyone has pointed out) can vary dramatically. You can probably just change some money at the airport in Lisbon and then more as you need it. But if you have an account, the best exchange rates are always through an ATM.

Sorry about your problem in Guatemala but Lisbon is not Guatemala.....the best way to handle cash when travelling is as follows (assuming you're from the USA)...

1. Open up an internet checking account with a bank that does not charge for ATM withdrawals and gives a free ATM or debit card and charges at most the 1% visa/mc foreign transaction fee. Most of these banks do not require minimum balances and just before you leave, put whatever money you think you're going to need inhto the account. Reduce it back to $1.01 when you return home.

2. Get a credit card from a US bank that does not charge a foreign transaction fee. A good place to look for such a credit card is Capital one. Most of their cards do not charge an annual fee and do not charge foreign transaction fees.

3. Use your credit card for all purchases, no matter how large or small, that takes credit cards.

4. Upon arrival at the Lisbon Airport, pull out €100 with your internet bank atm or debit card. If you start running low on euro, depending on how far into your trip you are, you can always find another ATM, they are all over the place, and pull out more euro.

Voila.

A painless way to handle money on a European trip.

Cap One online checking acct is easy to open (all online, even initial deposit) and like their credit card, is totally fee free. Highly recommend Cap One for overseas use.

Doug_Stallings, xyz123, Debit NM.....thanks! My application for Cap One is in the works. Voila! y gracias!!!!

Changing cash anypace - and carrying a lot of cash - is a fool's game. Pay for whaterver you can with credit cards and pull cash from a checking account with an ATM card.

Don;t know what's going on in Guatemala (do you have a US bank?) but europe is in the digital age and dealing with money in any other way (cash, Trav Checks etc) - is incredibly expensive - can easily cost you 10% of your money versus 1 to 2% for electronic means).

nytraveler, my SIL was going to order some Euros from her bank (in the US), but when I told her to ask the exchange rate and we did the math, it came out to a 10% loss. So we both have Cap One cards in the works. We use only cash here in Guatemala and we are comfortable with it when travelling as well. But, yes, it is time to get into the digital age!
ATMs here have been hacked and cards cloned for well over a year (mostly in Antigua) so we are a little wary...

ATM hacking and credit card cloning unfortunately is something we have to live with as there are lots of sub humans out there pulling thisd garbage. It could happen in some third world country, it could happen in Beverly Hills or on the French Riviera. But there are some things you should understand.

1. That is the reason I suggest never using your prime checking account while travelling nor make ATM withdrawals from your main checking account or use its debit cards. Yes you will get your money back with or without some hassling but while this is going on, some payments you have in the works for things such as utilities etc. might turn to rubber. If they hack into a credit card just used for travel, it's not such a big problem. Again you will get your money back.

2. If somebody clones your credit card, you are not out any money. All credit card companies will work with you. You will have to fill out some papers and the fraudulent charges will be removed from your account. While this is gong on, you are not liable for anything. Over the years, it's happened to me three times and I may use my credit ards 100 or more times in a month (lunch every day, groceries, yada yada yada). The biggest problem, and it's no harder than changing an expiration date on a card, is notifying the companies who atomatically debit my card for various things such as phoe servicde, cable television.

It is for this reason that I never get the mentality of using a debit card's ability to function like a credit card (except it is immediately debited from your checking account).

It is also the reason I have no problem using my credit cards for small purchases. If there is a credit card decal on the window, out c mes the credit card. There are some who suggest that because of the possibility of credit card fraud, one shold not use a credit card for a small purchase. NONSENSE. That is what the credit cards are used for i.e. convenience.

I have taken trips for two or three weeks at a time and have ended up using cash for less than $20 or so with everything else gong on credit cards whether it be at home in the USA or in many places in Europe.

But I do understand there are a few archaic places where use of credit cards, sspecially for small purchases, is frowned upon. The only thing I ask and should be fair is that if a merchant wishes to establish a minimum for use of a card, there be a clear sign saying so. I once tried to use a credit card at a subway shoppe in London and was told despite the prominent signs they accept cardcs, they didn't accept them for less than £5 and when I made a comment there should be a sign was told it is common knowledge that credit caqrds should not be used for purchases less than £5. Well it's not common knowledge and it's absurd.

Okay, another question....will the exchange rate be the same all over Europe when getting cash from ATMs? Will all ATMs (say in the Cirrus network) give the same rate?

The exchange rate varies daily, if not hourly, and may be different every time you make a withdrawal. The actual exchange rate you receive will be whatever the rate is at the time of the withdrawal and processing of the transaction. So it will vary, though probably not by much. But you always get the best available rate this way.

For the most part, exchange rates are set by the shared teller network through which the transaction is processed and they have specific rules for currency exchange...generally they use what is called the interbank rate which is the rate listed in the papers that banks use for exchanges between themselves of millions and millions of dollars or euro or pounds or swiss francs or whatever. It is the rate listed on xe.com. They (the shared teller networks, cirrus and plus) then add a 1% fee, their take from the transaction. The exchanged amount then reaches your bank where interesting things can happen. Most banks on ATM transactions pass alog the 1% fee, some add another 2%, others may eat the 1%. You have to ask your bank but if two people made the same withdrawal at two different machines of say €50 whether one was in Greece and the other in Ireland, the transaction would be the same But exchange rates are constantly changing and 10 minutes later, the exchange rate could be somewhat different although not by much.

One other caveat on this whole thing. There is a cancer called dynamic currency conversion which is spreading to ATM's. With this scam, either the merchant or now some ATM's say as a courtesy (right) and to assist your record keeping, we can charge you in your currency (say US dollars). So instead of requesting €50 you would request $50 and the ATM will perform the exchange. What they don't tell you is this is one big fat rip off. They use rates far above what the shared teller networks use. It works the same way sometimes with credit cards if a merchant tells you they will run the charge in your curfrency as a convenience to you. Remember Nancy Reagan, JUST SAY NO as in NOOOOO. Insist the transaction be done in local currency and on an ATM insist the withdrawal be in local currency (euro?)...sometimes the merchant lies to you and says they have no control over it. BS.....the merchant can only perform this scam on you if you give permission and many try to tell you various lies. If they refuse to do it in local currency call for the manager. If they still refuse don't be a fool and okay I'll pay cash. Rather cross out the converted amount on the sales slip and write local currency not offered. And when you get home, dispute the charge. The credit card company will have to charge it back to the merchant.

This scam is growing across the world...I never used to see it pulled in London and now it is. Just remember if an amount in your currency appears on the sales slip or on the ATM screen, you are being ripped off.

The reason that traders are unwilling to accept debit and credit cards for small purchases is that the commission charged by the banks on the transaction can be disproportionate to the profit made on the item sold.

Perhaps it's different in the United States, but that is certainly the case in the U.K.

chartley...in the USA, until about a year and a half ago, the visa/mc merchant agreements had two prohibitions in them...1. merchants were not permitted to establish minimum sales amounts for use of a visa or mc and 2..merchants were prohibited from surcharging credit card purchases (although they did allow discounts for cash and some day I will figure out the differencde but haven't yet). In a n anti consumer part of a bill reforming the banking industry, a clause was inserted prohibiting credit card processors from prohibiting merchants establishing a $10 minimum for use of a credit card and allowing credit card surcharges. Why this bill got such support when it is obviously anti consumer is beyond me. In any event, that is where it stands today. However, all I ask is that merchants be required to post such policies so that if I go into a shop, I am not surprised when despite the credit card decals, I am told sorry cash only. It is embarassing to have to leave the merchandise and explain to the clerk I don't have the cash....