metopera

In the past I have always exchanged foreign currency upon arrival in travel destination, but would like to take advantage of the weaker Euro. Any advice as to where to purchase foreign currency at competitive rates with no or reasonable service charges, in the New York City area? Thanks.

janisj

You don't want to 'exchange' currency anywhere. You'll want to use your ATM card after you are in Europe.

There is no place in the States where you can get € w/o fees and/or marked up rates. You will get much better rates at ATMs anywhere in the eurozone.

Buying currency w/ currency is just about always the most expensive way to go.

metopera

Thanks janisj, I totally agree. However, going to Paris for the weekend, regardless how lovely the thought, doesn't seem like the most
economically sound way to put in a little stash of extra Euros. Then again....

janisj

Oh - You aren't going to Europe? So you mean to buy € for an 'investment'? Traders who deal in millions of $/€ a pop have a hard time timing purchases to makes any profit. Buying € on spec doesn't make any sense IMO.

You would most likely lose on the transaction, and if the € goes down more, you'd lose even more . . . .

doug_stallings

If you're a typical traveler, then you have 2 choices:
1) Simply order euros from your big U.S.-based bank today and get a pretty lousy exchange rate and perhaps pay a fee.
2) Buy euro-denominated traveler's checks today and pay about 1% fee and get a fairly lousy exchange rate.


You get the best exchange rate by using an ATM in the country in which you are traveling. I know there are people who want to get today's really good exchange rates for the euro because they fear the euro may rise in value over the course of the summer. Well, that very well may be. Or maybe it's not. Unless you're talking large amounts of money (i.e., more than $10K), I don't think it's worth worrying about.

You'd be better off investing your time in obtaining 1) a Capitol One credit card that doesn't carry absurdly high foreign transaction fees; 2) Opening up a bank account with a bank that doesn't charge absurdly high exchange and ATM fees abroad. Some of the online-only banks are actually pretty favorable in that respect. Frankly, I think you save much more in the long run by pursuing both of these strategies, especially if you travel alot.

But you basically have to bite the bullet and accept the fact that you will lose about 3% on every foreign transaction when you exchange money. And if you can limit yourself to a 3% loss, then that's pretty good.