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Does currency mess with Euro effect US travel to Europe at all?

Does currency mess with Euro effect US travel to Europe at all?

Old Dec 9th, 2011, 01:41 AM
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Does currency mess with Euro effect US travel to Europe at all?

Obviously totally ignorant on these matters. 21-yr old DD is going with study group from college (WW II course) to France, Germany (also short stay in non-euro countries) - trip is 3 1/2 weeks. in January Hotels and air are already paid as part of course fee, but meals are not.

When we travel we like to bring a small amount of local currency - have some leftover euros - but should we expect things to cost more/less based on US dollar - and is there anything else we should know. Should we buy more euros to send with her? If currency mess really gets worse, any problem you could foresee with credit cards, cash from ATMs, etc.
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 03:05 AM
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Manage boutique large investments for lients overthere.

Currently they are having to "goose" the economy by

buying bad bonds and printing more euros so odds are

great Euro will be at current levels in Jan or better

perhaps fall a little. Long term it will fall a lot

unless they get their fiscal house in order.

Always ATM my euros with my no fee Visa CCs currently

marruitt.com Preferred Chase Visa or capitalone.com Venture

Always use Visa CC for all transactions get best exchange

taken widely over there.Big Banks do change euros if in

a pinch I use them.Money changers are the scum of the earth

clip me 30-35% I NEVER use them. insuremytrip.com wise

risk of strikes etc if things collapse currently it appears

things are variable but stabilizing they just pulled an

"all niter" to save the Euro markets are rallying this

morning so odds are great she should be fine.

Good luck!
Good luck!
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 04:12 AM
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Things are substantially more expensive in Europe than they are in the US. Expect things like meals out to cost between 1 1/2 and 2 times as much as they do here.
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 04:46 AM
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you mean affect, of course...depends on the value of the Euro vs. the dollar
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 05:14 AM
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Value of euro is dropping....i.e. now $1.33 versus $1.45 some months ago. Makes travel cheaper over there. Suggestions are to find a no foriegn transaction fee credit card (Capital One has one) and / or us ATM card without a fee to get cash for smaller expenses. If hotels (biggest expense) already paid for, then this should suffice.
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 05:33 AM
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Do not buy euros before your daughter travels. It's really a waste. You get a lousy exchange rate by getting the money in the U.S. It's always better to take money from an ATM in Europe (ideally with an ATM/Debit card that doesn't charge a foreign-exchange fee). There's really no need to take any local currency with you since it can be obtained very easily once on the ground there (all the airports have multiple ATMs), but if you have some on-hand already, take it along.

As other posters have noted, Europe is significantly more expensive than the U.S., particularly in larger cities. But the current devaluation of the euro will only work in your favor. I really doubt the euro will go back up significantly over the holiday period, but if the trend seems to be on an uptick, you can get some euros now through your bank and might come out about even if the euro goes back up 5 cents to the dollar or so. You can track the euro on sites like xe.com.
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 06:05 AM
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And in the end, what does it matter? Your daughter is going, she needs to eat etc and she can try to be frugal. I wouldn't worry so much about the exchange rate; it is [will be] what it is [will be].

Along with Doug and nygvic, have her get cash there not here. Also, since she is going to non-euro countries, she is better not getting a lot of cash at any one time, no matter where she is; that way she won't have to worry about having leftover [of course, she could just buy something to use up any remaining money ]

If inclined, take a read through this and see some suggestions I made after traveling to Europe this past spring to euro and non-euro countries.:

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthr...ave-thought-of!
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 08:26 AM
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Thanks. Aware that getting local currency in US is more expensive - it is our personal preference to have equivalent of cab fare, simple meal - that type of thing in local currency with us when we arrive. And since DH just found some euros in his sock drawer that he was sure he had turned in, we have that covered. (He also found some Egyptian pounds from 10 years ago, but these will not be useful on this trip)

Dtr is good at figuring out best way to get cash/make purchases - she lived for 6 months in Argentina and has been to far more countries than I - just wondering if euro crisis stories was in any way relevant to travel - appears not.
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 08:43 AM
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I always use oanda.com for currency conversion from dollars to euros, or whatever currency in the country we're visiting. They have a "traveler's cheatsheet" that comes in handy. It gives you dollar/euro; euro/dollar (or wheatever currency), print it and it's small enough to fit in a wallet. After printing, they're placed back to back and taped or stapled together. I always make one for myself and one for my husband.
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 08:47 AM
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Th eonly plae it might be an issue is Greece - and who nows what is going to happen there. The countries she is going to are fully stable financially - so shuold be no unexpected problem - except that things will cost more (esp if you don;t live in a large city and are used to small town prices).

For exampels you can use the McDonald's caluclator - which shows the cost of a McMeal in many countries (not that she shuold be eating Mickey D's - but just as a comparison). The last I looked a big Mac meal in Switzerland was about US $17 - but France/Germany operate on the euro and shuold be less than with the fran.
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Old Dec 9th, 2011, 04:55 PM
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Expect things like meals out to cost between 1 1/2 and 2 times as much as they do here.

I doubt it. In the States, one has to add about 25% for taxes and tip to the posted price. That is included in posted European meal prices, except perhaps for small change as a tip.

I would not use McDonald's as the calculator. In Germany, a doner kebab or a wurst would be a more representative equivalent food, and might be cheaper.
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Old Dec 10th, 2011, 05:13 AM
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Yes, really. Some of it's the exchange rate, but on our trip to Dublin last year we only ate two real restaurant meals due to sticker shock. Yes, the tax is included, but you still should tip about 10%, at least in the British Isles. Also the kind of entry level sit-downs that you can get out of in the US for under $20 a pop seem to be a lot less common in Europe. Not to mention the much higher cost of soft drinks, which will mount up for Americans used to drinking 5 or 6 glasses of soda in a restaurant for $2 or $3.
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Old Dec 10th, 2011, 06:32 AM
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Thanks for the advice - even that which is unrelated to question. She has not found in travels that it ever actually costs as much to eat/drink as was predicted here or in guide books. She will eat local food, does not drink 5 glasses of soda - if she ate street vendor food in Peru, I guess she will eat anything and survive.
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Old Dec 10th, 2011, 08:12 AM
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You could give her the Egyptian pounds to convert to euros.
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Old Dec 10th, 2011, 10:47 AM
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Well I guess kids drinking 5 or 6 sodas at meals is the reason for our massive incidence of obesity and the number of 20 year olds developing diabetes. Also - I expect would have other very unpleasant consequences.

Agree that soft drinks in europe are very tiny and very expensive. They should get used to having a beer or a glass of house wine - and always carry their own bottles of water with them.
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Old Dec 10th, 2011, 11:11 AM
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Even when your daughter wants some more "exotic" fare than McDonalds, it's easy to fill the stomach with less than €10 in Germany.
Street food in cities like Berlin is often less expensive than the Big Mac Meal (which is around €6-7): fresh Thai curry for €5, Noodle Box for €2, slice of (Italian, not the Hut) pizza €2-3.
If she is exploring on her own, the Uni cafeterias (or Mensa) also always have several meals for lunch, with a surcharge for visitors, but still very moderate in total (under €10 incl drink, dessert, salad). If she likes Italian, the somewhat new chain "Vapiano" is in all major cities now. Pasta costs €6-9 and gets made fresh while you wait in a dozen varieties.
Beverages are always cheaper to buy straight from supermarkets which all (except for the discount chains) have coolers with 1/2 liter bottles for around €1.
Against common believe, beer is not THAT cheap in Germany. In pubs you can expect to pay around €3 to €3.50 for 1/2 liter.
It's always a good idea when they ask local peers whenever they meet some for places to eat that won't break the bank.
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