need euros for travel, where to buy?

[stevepaa]

Daughters are going to Europe for ten days. Should they buy euros here from bank, from airport window or wait until they get to destination bank?

thanks

[einreb]

Originally Posted by stevepaa

Daughters are going to Europe for ten days. Should they buy euros here from bank, from airport window or wait until they get to destination bank?

thanks

just wait till you get there and use an ATM card... it will give you the 'going rate'.

[Neilk]

Tell them to withdraw at least $100+ at a time so they don't get nickel and dimed with ATM fees from their home bank. It doesn't help that $100 won't go far these days in Europe.

[Rick Lee]

Don't banks in the U.S. now charge about 3% for foreign currency conversions, whether on a credit card or through an ATM machine? I can't remember if I got hit with the fee with ATM's in China, but I did with credit card purchases there.

[stomachmonkey]

Wife is getting back today from a week in Paris.

She grabbed a couple of bucks at out local bank just to have immediate cash on hand. Everything else ATM and C Cards.

Helps if you use a major like CitiBank that has ATMS in europe.

You should let your back/credit card co know that they will be using the card in europe.

Always a small chance that the card gets shut down due to "suspicious activity", hence a good idea to have a couple bucks cash on hand for unusual situations.

[TechnoViking]

ATM when you get where you're going. CC for all the big stuff.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by einreb

just wait till you get there and use an ATM card... it will give you the 'going rate'.

I go to Europe for a living and thats what I do. Also my bank debit card does not charge me a penny for ATM fees so its free.

I always have $50-100 bux in any currency for the country I am visiting but then once there recharge it with the ATM card.

[Hugh R]

I'd bring $100 in Euros to tide them over until they find an ATM, the banks will give you the best exchange rates. Stay away from the airport guys and the hotel they rip you off. Us cc for most transactions.

[JE928sx4]

ATM. Just got back from Germany. The ATM gives you the best rate. The TRAVELEX at the airport is = to highway robery.

[stevepaa]

Thanks for all the reponses.

I knew Joe was there all the time and Rick came back from china.

I'll get them set with their ATMs.

[Don Plumley]

There's usually an ATM at the airport in the arrivals area. Just as long as it is not a travelex machine, and it has the same interbank symbol (e.g. Cirrus), that's the best way to go.

[LakeCleElum]

AND, Make sure your ATM card does not hit the expiration date mid-trip. Happened to me in England once. Another time, I was in Nice and Visa advised the vendor to have me call in the next day to verify I was traveling out of the country.

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

You should let your back/credit card co know that they will be using the card in europe.

Always a small chance that the card gets shut down due to "suspicious activity", hence a good idea to have a couple bucks cash on hand for unusual situations.

A big YES to this. They froze our card after about 4 days in Hungary last year. It took a call to the bank in Canada to solve.

Ian

[johndglynn]

Maybe look into cards which can be used abroad with no fees - we have them here in the UK and they save some useful money. Otherwise I agree go ATM, there will be machines at the airport they fly into. I usually do 200 euros at a time to keep fees down and then keep any change for the next visit.

[on2wheels52]

I'm heading to Germany this week, had been told to exchange money at the airport. Is there another place there besides Travelex? Last exchange rate I see is 1 U.S. dollar = 0.649097754 Euros. What rate are they giving?
Jim

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

You should let your back/credit card co know that they will be using the card in europe.

Always a small chance that the card gets shut down due to "suspicious activity", hence a good idea to have a couple bucks cash on hand for unusual situations.

Ha ha! My on-the-ball cc company called me about a week after I got back from Germany once and said someone had been using my card at a gas station near Frankfurt. I asked if they had also noticed the activity in Brussels, Maastricht and Luxembourg the previous week, not to mention the rental car at the airport two weeks before that and plenty of gas stations all in between. Sheesh.