Bank Of America Foreign Currency Exchange

[travelplus]

I wanted to let you know that if you are clients with Bank Of America and have a Checking/Savings Account you can order Foreign Currency using your Checking Account. If you order less than $1,000 then you will be charged $7.50 by FedEx 2 Day Shipping. I recommend that you order your currency early so you have it for your trip.

 

You can choose to have it shipped to either your Home but your local branch is safer as you need to be home when FedEx comes. If you chose to have it sent to your local branch they will sign it for you.

 

You can mix currencies as well. If you order the currency at your local branch you will pay $40 for the processing fee but this is waived if you order it online.

 

Bank Of America will also "Buy Back" your currency as well. You can see the rates before you hit the "Submit Button".

 

For those of you who have tried this service please give me your experiences with it. My Father and I are using it for the first time for our upcoming cruise.

 

Its a great way to have local currency to start the trip especially if you are arriving on a Sunday or are just plain tired to find an ATM etc.

[Ashland]

I wanted to let you know that if you are clients with Bank Of America and have a Checking/Savings Account you can order Foreign Currency using your Checking Account. If you order less than $1,000 then you will be charged $7.50 by FedEx 2 Day Shipping. I recommend that you order your currency early so you have it for your trip.

 

You can choose to have it shipped to either your Home but your local branch is safer as you need to be home when FedEx comes. If you chose to have it sent to your local branch they will sign it for you.

 

You can mix currencies as well. If you order the currency at your local branch you will pay $40 for the processing fee but this is waived if you order it online.

 

Bank Of America will also "Buy Back" your currency as well. You can see the rates before you hit the "Submit Button".

 

For those of you who have tried this service please give me your experiences with it. My Father and I are using it for the first time for our upcoming cruise.

 

Its a great way to have local currency to start the trip especially if you are arriving on a Sunday or are just plain tired to find an ATM etc.

I have done this both before a baltic cruise and a western med cruise but just ordered a small amount (for airports and incidentials) as we just prefer to exchange/cash small amounts of US $ and or US travelers checks onboard for the currency needed for each of our ports..mainly we wanted a travelers check in Euros to pay for a private RIL tour in Rome as was suggested by them...We have found this very easy to do as we don't care to worry about finding, using or the possible problems with ATM's when we travel....JMHO and what works for us.

[KStevens79]

I wanted to let you know that if you are clients with Bank Of America and have a Checking/Savings Account you can order Foreign Currency using your Checking Account. If you order less than $1,000 then you will be charged $7.50 by FedEx 2 Day Shipping. I recommend that you order your currency early so you have it for your trip.

 

You can choose to have it shipped to either your Home but your local branch is safer as you need to be home when FedEx comes. If you chose to have it sent to your local branch they will sign it for you.

 

You can mix currencies as well. If you order the currency at your local branch you will pay $40 for the processing fee but this is waived if you order it online.

 

Bank Of America will also "Buy Back" your currency as well. You can see the rates before you hit the "Submit Button".

 

For those of you who have tried this service please give me your experiences with it. My Father and I are using it for the first time for our upcoming cruise.

 

Its a great way to have local currency to start the trip especially if you are arriving on a Sunday or are just plain tired to find an ATM etc.

 

I know this is an old thread, but how did this work for you?

What/where did you end up getting your Euros?

 

Thanks!

[cruisenfever]

I know this is an old thread, but how did this work for you?

What/where did you end up getting your Euros?

 

Thanks!

We order ours through Wells Fargo since we do not have a WF branch in our area https://www.foreignexchangeservices.com/index.html?partnerid=FES&serviceType=order They do charge a service fee.

[reallyitsmema]

I know this is an old thread, but how did this work for you?

What/where did you end up getting your Euros?

 

Thanks!

 

Check out AAA if you are a member. I just ordered some currency, not Euros though, and if you are a AAA member and spend at least $200, there is no fee. The exchange rate they were offering was better than BOA on the day I was there. BOA charges a $7.50 fee for customers. AAA said the currency would be in within 3-5 business days but it was there the next day. AAA currency comes through Wells Fargo.

[cruisenfever]

Check out AAA if you are a member. I just ordered some currency, not Euros though, and if you are a AAA member and spend at least $200, there is no fee. The exchange rate they were offering was better than BOA on the day I was there. BOA charges a $7.50 fee for customers. AAA said the currency would be in within 3-5 business days but it was there the next day. AAA currency comes through Wells Fargo.

Thanks for the info. We have lots of AAA locations.:D

[slk230red]

I know this is an old thread, but how did this work for you?

What/where did you end up getting your Euros?

 

Thanks!

 

I'll post my experience. I've ordered Euros from my local Bank Of America branch 3 times. Since it's only a few blocks from my house, I go to the teller and order Euros in various denominations. If it's less than $1,000, I pay the $7.50 fee. They deduct the charges from my checking account and the Euros are delivered to my branch in about 2 days. They call when they arrive and I pick them up.

I've also used ATM's in Europe to get foreign currency and haven't had any issues.

[KStevens79]

Thanks!!! I never thought of AAA! Was going to use BofA, but definitely going to look at AAA now!

[reallyitsmema]

Thanks for the info. We have lots of AAA locations.:D

 

You're welcome.:) My AAA office actually had Trip Paks of Euros on hand in limited quantities. The other thing I forgot to mention was they said they will also buy unused currency back at no fee, bills only, not coins.

[Dragonkeper]

What is the difference of getting the exchange at the bank or AAA over getting them at the airport? Do you get a better exchange rate or is it just more convenient?

[reallyitsmema]

What is the difference of getting the exchange at the bank or AAA over getting them at the airport? Do you get a better exchange rate or is it just more convenient?

 

The exchange rate I got at AAA was better that BOA but they were very close. AAA had no fee and BOA was $7.50 so I went with BOA. My DH was travelling and checked the rate at the airport for comparsion and it was the worst rate by a significant amount.

 

Just do a little research and see what works out best for you. Sometimes convenience wins.

[alfaeric]

Timely thread resurrection...

 

The AAA- WF thing- that's on line.

 

AAA has "Trip Packs" at their full service locations, but currently, for $100, you get $76 Euros. Not a great exchange.

 

On their website- there's a link to get foreign currency- which is on line only through Well Fargo Bank. Yesterday, the exchange rate was $1.1608 per Euro, which is pretty good.

 

I called some local banks, including a local branch of BoA. BoA's exchange rate was $1.165, but I had to have an account. Again, a good rate.

 

Another local bank was $1.1414, but the account requirement was more stringent.

 

My current credit union does not sell Euros, naturally. BUT- they have NO foreign fees to get money at ATMs, just the normal $1.50 fee for not being their network. And then the exchange is whatever the raw exchange rate is that day.

 

As a reference, yesterday's raw exchange was $1.11, and the airport TravelEx exchange was $1.23.

 

So what to do? Well, #1 choice would be to use an American Express card- which for us does NOT have any foreign transaction fees and runs the live exchange rate. And since we don't see it going up over the next month- it should be at least below $1.16 (vs getting cash now).

 

Choice #2 will probably be using alternate card, but we need to check the fees.

 

Choice #3 will be using an ATM when we get there. Since we will probably get 200 Euros, the fees will not be more than 2%, and the best we can get locally is a 3% hike over the raw exchange rate.

 

We *might* buy some Euros before we go, but don't really anticipate a problem, since we map out the ATM's at Rome's airport.

 

One should call their banks to tell them about travel- don't want a hold put on your card when you are using it.

[Dragonkeper]

The exchange rate I got at AAA was better that BOA but they were very close. AAA had no fee and BOA was $7.50 so I went with BOA. My DH was travelling and checked the rate at the airport for comparsion and it was the worst rate by a significant amount.

 

Just do a little research and see what works out best for you. Sometimes convenience wins.

 

Thanks for the information.

[Clarea]

What is the difference of getting the exchange at the bank or AAA over getting them at the airport? Do you get a better exchange rate or is it just more convenient?

The best exchange rate we got was from an ATM in Europe.

[Dragonkeper]

Timely thread resurrection...

 

The AAA- WF thing- that's on line.

 

AAA has "Trip Packs" at their full service locations, but currently, for $100, you get $76 Euros. Not a great exchange.

 

On their website- there's a link to get foreign currency- which is on line only through Well Fargo Bank. Yesterday, the exchange rate was $1.1608 per Euro, which is pretty good.

 

I called some local banks, including a local branch of BoA. BoA's exchange rate was $1.165, but I had to have an account. Again, a good rate.

 

Another local bank was $1.1414, but the account requirement was more stringent.

 

My current credit union does not sell Euros, naturally. BUT- they have NO foreign fees to get money at ATMs, just the normal $1.50 fee for not being their network. And then the exchange is whatever the raw exchange rate is that day.

 

As a reference, yesterday's raw exchange was $1.11, and the airport TravelEx exchange was $1.23.

 

So what to do? Well, #1 choice would be to use an American Express card- which for us does NOT have any foreign transaction fees and runs the live exchange rate. And since we don't see it going up over the next month- it should be at least below $1.16 (vs getting cash now).

 

Choice #2 will probably be using alternate card, but we need to check the fees.

 

Choice #3 will be using an ATM when we get there. Since we will probably get 200 Euros, the fees will not be more than 2%, and the best we can get locally is a 3% hike over the raw exchange rate.

 

We *might* buy some Euros before we go, but don't really anticipate a problem, since we map out the ATM's at Rome's airport.

 

One should call their banks to tell them about travel- don't want a hold put on your card when you are using it.

 

Good info to know.

[Dragonkeper]

The best exchange rate we got was from an ATM in Europe.

 

I had planned on using the ATM in Europe, but I will have to check with my bank to see what fees they might charge first. I am still a year out from my cruise so I have time to do a lot of research and find what will work for me.

[alfaeric]

I had planned on using the ATM in Europe, but I will have to check with my bank to see what fees they might charge first. I am still a year out from my cruise so I have time to do a lot of research and find what will work for me.

 

You may be in really good shape. As part of the research yesterday, my wife found a website that projects what the exchange rate should be- and it's projected to be under $1/euro next year. Two years ago, it was over $1.30.

 

Last time we traveled at less than $1 was 2000.

 

Hope the projection is right.

[Clarea]

I had planned on using the ATM in Europe, but I will have to check with my bank to see what fees they might charge first. I am still a year out from my cruise so I have time to do a lot of research and find what will work for me.

We opened an account with Capital One because they have no foreign transaction fees and reimburse ATM fees up to $30 per month.

[Dragonkeper]

You may be in really good shape. As part of the research yesterday, my wife found a website that projects what the exchange rate should be- and it's projected to be under $1/euro next year. Two years ago, it was over $1.30.

 

Last time we traveled at less than $1 was 2000.

 

Hope the projection is right.

 

Hope the projection is right too.

[Dragonkeper]

We opened an account with Capital One because they have no foreign transaction fees and reimburse ATM fees up to $30 per month.

 

That is something to look into as well. Thanks.

[Daveintb]

Just done my exchange with BOA, pretty good rate and very convenient [emoji4].

[LookingForward2]

very informative thread - thanks to all!

 

I've searched and can't come up with solid answers...

Can you take money from your OBC at guest services and get it in Euros?

(I know there may be a fee, like at the casino) - but I'm needing to know if it can be done. I've read both sides and RC customer service says yes (we all know that reliability)