Best option for getting foreign currency.
 

I only bank with a credit union whose nearest branch is 2500 miles away and they don't sell foreign exchange anyway. I'll see if any of their share branches do. BofA charges $1.436 per Euro and the current rate is $1.361. My ATM card will probably have a 3% foreign transaction fee, but that doesn't look too bad compared to BofA. There's nothing for sale on the local Craigslist. I got it for market rate last time because I found a lady who had bought way high, came back with too much and just wanted to unload it. I have a Chase MC and so can order it at one of their branches, but I can't find their rate on their site. What's the best way to get as close to actual market rate? Just use my ATM card once there?

I just use my ATM card and take out the maximum euro I can.

Aha! Minutes ago Mrs. Lee just found 350 Euros laying around from the VAT refund she got for a purse she bought last time in Munich. That'll get me started.

This. I bank at Wells Fargo - I use a Cirrus ATM and get whatever I need in any currency at whatever interest rate they charge - which is usually much better than the airport exchange. Only very few ATM's do I see a $3 charge.

For dinners/hotels I use either my mastercard or amex, amex has a surcharge and I assume mc builds it into the forex rate.

In the big picture, I don't look at exchange rates at all. I know there is currency loss going in both directions. It's just the price of pleasure to visit to foreign country. It's nothing I can control, so I simply don't worry about it. My dad on the other hand, won't go on some trips because he says the exchange rate is bad. I did the math for him once, it is trivial dollars. The epitome of "penny wise, pound foolish."

Well, I always use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees when it's accepted. But I got really embarrassed last time when I took some friends out to dinner and belatedly learned the restaurant didn't accept ccs and I was short of enough cash to cover the whole check. I will also be getting my Sinn U2 repaired while there and I know the shop I go to only takes wire transfers and cash. Though I can get a no-fee FX wire transfer through work and get a $250 bonus for referring myself. They'll let me take the watch home and wire them the money afterwards.

I see that you have it solved, but all the travel forums agree that ATMs in-country are the best rate. Just be sure to raise the daily/weekly max of cards if necessary & give them a heads-up about your travel before you go.

Ian

Funny you should mention that. When I absolutely had to impulse-buy a Sinn 857UTC a few years ago, the above-mentioned shop, again, only took wire transfers and cash. It was a Friday night, they stayed open late for me and called the boss in to talk to me. I couldn't get $1800 out of an ATM there and was leaving for home early the next morning. They told me to take the watch and wire them the money within two weeks. They even filled out the VAT refund paperwork and wrote on it that I had paid cash, so I could get my refund at the airport. We're personal friends now.

Just got home from a month in Europe.......Did the local ATM thing........My bank charged me a "foreign transaction fee" of about $10 per withdrawal..........I'd get $300 to $400 Euro each time and tried to put most expenses on my visa card.........Called both Visa and my bank B4 I left......

Not sure if this was the "cheapest" way to go............When you are there for a month and paying $100 US to fill fill an 11 gallon tank, what's a few bux here and there???????

Screw BofA.....

I have a separate ATM card linked to a secondary checking account for overseas travel. The account is free. I can transfer money from my primary checking account online, this way I can keep just a grand or so in the travel account and not incur a big loss if it is stolen/compromised.

My wife travels for a living and her Credit Union credit card gives a better transaction rate from atm's than other cards.
Also, many restaurants in Europe won't accept cards that aren't chipped and chipped cards aren't that easy to find here. Ask your provider.

My bank does it for me for free. RL, if you want me to "launder" some money for you (:D) just let me know how much you need and I'll put in the order.

Usually takes a day or two.

Most card companies now will provide the chipped one now if you ask for it. My marriott rewards card is chipped, and also metal! Chase sapphire is another chipped one.

Chase will do this for me too. But it's not free unless they sell at market price. They usually sell for more, which, depending on how much you buy, can be a lot more than any upfront fees.

And remember the exchange rate! My card had a daily limit of $250. I kept trying to get 250 Euros and was repeatedly refused. I didn't occur to me until the second day that I was asking for money in excess of my daily max.

By the way. You can no longer easily exchange USD in Europe except at the airport money launderers and their exchange rates are usually best accepted in the extremely bent over position.

Chip credit card for sure. I requested mine about a year ago. It's really a hybrid; has a strip and chip.

Of course Rick knows not to carry a lot of Euros around, but on my recent trip: A friend from Ohio was in Paris on his way to meet us. Pocket was picked to the tune of $2,300 Euro + cards....Ouch..

What kind of purse did she buy that she got 350 euros back on VAT?

I don't the exact amount of the refund, but she bought a Chanel purse in Munich for something like 3k Euros, which, of course, has not come out of the package once in the two years she's had it.

US chipped cards are worthless at gas stations and French highway tollbooths as they are chip and sign and not chip and pin. I created a little back up last weekend at a tollbooth in France trying to use my new chip credit cards, fortunately the call button helped.