Question about Euros

[Lilystar]

Hello all you helpful people!

 

So I have been round and round with researching this so I finally decided I would just ask for opinions.

 

Consensus seems to be that the best exchange rate is had when you use your American bank debit card in a European ATM once you arrive there. I'm wondering just HOW much better it really is. Because after doing the legwork with each of my 2 banks, I'm going to get socked with a fee each time I use the ATM along with any fees the foreign ATM charges. One of my banks charges $5 per withdrawal PLUS a 3% fee of the amount taken out. The other bank charges $3 with no percentage.

 

Currently to convert dollars to Euros in advance at either of my banks, the exchange rate is $1.42 equals 1 Euro. So my question is, is the exchange rate SO much better on withdrawing when I get there that it will make up for those fees I'm going to get charged?

 

Has anyone gone there (Rome, Barcelona, Cannes) in the past 30 days and could report what the exchange rate that they received?

 

Thanks so much for any help and advice!

Edited July 18, 2014 by Lilystar

[cssc123]

My PERSONAL experience in the past has been the following:

 

 

there is no such thing as a "best rate" when exchanging money.

 

Obviously your own banking institutions are going to give you a better rate vs the kiosks at the airports/in the city. But within one banking institute it very rarely mattered if I pre-purchased currency vs took out money at the ATM as far as a specific rate.

 

What the difference really comes down to what the exchange rate is at that moment of the transaction which day to day can change wildly.

 

 

 

I personally found the best deal was to use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees (CapitalOne is one that has that benefit and I'm sure there are others) and use it for everything and anything I can and just get currency at home prior to travelling for things that NEED to be cash.

 

I don't use foreign ATMs due to my bank account getting frozen while travelling due to fraud (actual fraud - not them freezing due to suspected fraud because of the travel) I since prefer to make sure I have cash on hand and use plastic whenever I can as much as I can.

[hawkeyetlse]

The other bank charges $3 with no percentage.

That's not too bad. Totally worth the convenience of not having to wait in line at an exchange office and worry about getting ripped off there. I would just withdraw money with that card, trying to maximize the amount each time to minimize the number of withdrawals.

[Lilystar]

That's not too bad. Totally worth the convenience of not having to wait in line at an exchange office and worry about getting ripped off there. I would just withdraw money with that card, trying to maximize the amount each time to minimize the number of withdrawals.

 

I was not even toying with the idea of going to an exchange office. I am deciding how much cash in Euros I would get exchanged at my bank prior to leaving.

[4774Papa]

Hello all you helpful people!

 

So I have been round and round with researching this so I finally decided I would just ask for opinions.

 

Consensus seems to be that the best exchange rate is had when you use your American bank debit card in a European ATM once you arrive there. I'm wondering just HOW much better it really is. Because after doing the legwork with each of my 2 banks, I'm going to get socked with a fee each time I use the ATM along with any fees the foreign ATM charges. One of my banks charges $5 per withdrawal PLUS a 3% fee of the amount taken out. The other bank charges $3 with no percentage.

 

Currently to convert dollars to Euros in advance at either of my banks, the exchange rate is $1.42 equals 1 Euro. So my question is, is the exchange rate SO much better on withdrawing when I get there that it will make up for those fees I'm going to get charged?

 

Has anyone gone there (Rome, Barcelona, Cannes) in the past 30 days and could report what the exchange rate that they received?

 

Thanks so much for any help and advice!

The current FOREX rate is 1.3527 dollars to buy one Euro. The 1.42 rate is not good. European ATMS don't charge fees and would probably give you something close to the FOREX rate.

 

Three dollars per exchange would be about 1% if you withdrew about $300.

 

My ATM is with a credit union and I am not charged fees for using a foreign ATM.

[NMLady]

Hello all you helpful people!

 

So I have been round and round with researching this so I finally decided I would just ask for opinions.

 

Consensus seems to be that the best exchange rate is had when you use your American bank debit card in a European ATM once you arrive there. I'm wondering just HOW much better it really is. Because after doing the legwork with each of my 2 banks, I'm going to get socked with a fee each time I use the ATM along with any fees the foreign ATM charges. One of my banks charges $5 per withdrawal PLUS a 3% fee of the amount taken out. The other bank charges $3 with no percentage.

 

Currently to convert dollars to Euros in advance at either of my banks, the exchange rate is $1.42 equals 1 Euro. So my question is, is the exchange rate SO much better on withdrawing when I get there that it will make up for those fees I'm going to get charged?

 

Has anyone gone there (Rome, Barcelona, Cannes) in the past 30 days and could report what the exchange rate that they received?

 

Thanks so much for any help and advice!

 

We always order foreign currency through our bank before we leave. To us, the convenience of not looking for an ATM while on a tour or in port is worth the bank fee and lower exchange rate.

This proved really helpful in Funchal where we went directly from ship to our tour bus and at one stop locals were selling handcrafted items but were accepting only Euros. We were able to purchase some as gifts but many of the other tour members could not since there'd been no ATM to get Euros.

[hawkeyetlse]

I am deciding how much cash in Euros I would get exchanged at my bank prior to leaving.

The rate is usually worse if you're buying foreign currency at home. I wouldn't bother at all. Assuming you're flying into Europe, ATMs will be one of the first things you see after getting off the plane, often right by the baggage carrousel. I would avoid those, however, and use a proper bank ATM in the airport arrivals hall.

 

If you're arriving in the Eurozone via cruise ship, then depending on your port people will be able to advise you about the availability of ATMs. But in general they are all over the place.

Edited July 18, 2014 by hawkeyetlse

[mugtech]

Another alternative is to get Euros on the ship, for a one time service charge of $10 to get any amount you wish charged to your on board account, and the Euros you do not use can be paid back to your on board account at the end of the cruise. And if you use an NCL credit card you get the 2% cash back on the net advance.

[Blondie008]

Another alternative is to get Euros on the ship, for a one time service charge of $10 to get any amount you wish charged to your on board account, and the Euros you do not use can be paid back to your on board account at the end of the cruise. And if you use an NCL credit card you get the 2% cash back on the net advance.

 

Thats great info - never knew that.

[hawkeyetlse]

Another alternative is to get Euros on the ship

What are the rates like onboard, generally? And do they apply the same rate selling you the euros and buying back your leftovers?

[mugtech]

On May 9, 2014 I paid $1.40/Euro, believe I got the same rate on the payback, was only 20 Euros out of 400 purchased. Euros not accepted in UK and Turkey, but Turkish Lyra can also be purchased on the ship (Spirit).

[4774Papa]

One some of our cruises (in particular our Black Sea cruise in 2013) Celebrity had two ATMs on board, one giving dollars, the other euros.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Another alternative is to get Euros on the ship, for a one time service charge of $10 to get any amount you wish charged to your on board account, and the Euros you do not use can be paid back to your on board account at the end of the cruise. And if you use an NCL credit card you get the 2% cash back on the net advance.

 

Wow! First I have ever heard of that. I need to investigate for our British Isles cruise next year. Thanks!

[Nudibranch]

First, call your bank to see what foreign conversion, transaction and any other fees it charges to use your credit and debit cards abroad, and find out if it has affiliated banks you could use in the countries you're visiting. Check their website also. In May, before we traveled to Europe, my sister looked into purchasing euros at her local branch and they were charging her $1.47. I told her to wait, that we could use a debit card at an affiliated bank abroad to withdraw euros. Good thing. Based on her account, she paid no foreign conversion or transaction fees at $1.38, the wholesale exchange rate at the time. The ATM card has to have symbols such as a Visa or MasterCard logo and be used at the ATM and not a teller. It's my understanding and experience that buying euros locally is usually not best.

[rocklinmom]

We just did the Grand Med cruise on NCL and we ordered 300 euros in advance from our bank to carry there and used it for transport from the Venice airport to our hotel. Then of course for gelato. On the ship we did two currency exchanges for more euros during the cruise. It was easy and they had a fair rate, and the fee was only $10 each time. As mentioned you can use your NCL credit card too (since it's charged to your onboard account). They would take back any unused euro bills but not coins (we kept ours for the flight home). We also got Turkish lira there and just kept the few leftovers as souvenirs for our kids, since they can't refund them. The last thing I wanted to do was swipe ATM cards in foreign machines, much less search for them, but I'm sure people do that too. It was fun paying in different currency, all part of the experience :-)

 

 

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[SadieN]

Not entirely on topic-

 

Get a coin purse. The smallest Euro bill is e5. Europeans have no problem waiting for you to find exactly e3,41.

[danacline]

For our trip last month, my wife and I each bought 500 Euros at our banks - USBank and WellsFargo. Neither "charged a fee" but the exchange rate was jacked up to around $1.46 per Euro. When we needed more in Italy at my daughter's house, we just used a local ATM and I think we paid about $6 total to get 100 Euros from our account. No issues at all.

 

Someone said that when you get money in the casino against your shipboard account, you can then cash out in Euros, so no $10 fee to do that.

[Lilystar]

First, call your bank to see what foreign conversion, transaction and any other fees it charges to use your credit and debit cards abroad, and find out if it has affiliated banks you could use in the countries you're visiting. Check their website also.

 

Per my original post, I already did all of the above. And as far as affiliated banks go, I'll have enough issue just finding my way around in general, I don't want to be wasting time on my European vacation looking for banks. That's a total waste of time to me.

 

My question wasn't IF I could use an ATM, it was whether or not it would cost me a LOT more money to get Euros from my bank first.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Lilystar

[MATHA531]

There is no easy answer because a lot of it depends on just what you intend to do with the euro (btw the official plural of euro is...euro not euros but I digress). It depends on if you're going to stay in a country that uses the euro pre cruise, post cruise or what you think you're going to need durig any excursions you do when in port so it's a very difficult question to answer but I can give you some generalities.

 

1. In general, the best exchange rates are at ATM's. For the most part, the local ATM which probably operates through the shared teller networks cirrus or plus, do not charge a fee for ATM withdrawals and more or less give that day's official exchange rate which you can check in the papers or at xe.com. Your bank may or may not add extra fees for ATM withdrawals. You can open an internet bank account say with Charles Schwab Bank which requires no minimum balance. I keep $1.01 in that account and just before a trip, I might transfer $500 to the account. They give a debit card which you can use for ATM withdrawals in Europe at the official rate and charge no additional fee. At the end of the trip, I transfer whatever is left in the account back to my main checking account. Easy to do leaving $1.01 in the account. Avoids the problem of having my main account frozen for fraud and also there are no fees and Charles Schwab Bank rebates any fees ATM's charge for having the audacity to use the machine of a different bank either domestically or on holiday out of country (assuming one is a US citizen). Upon arrival at the European airport, you can hit the ATM for whatever euro you think you're going to need. Also

 

2. I credit card everything using a credit card which has no foreign transaction fee so I get the exact exchange rate. A go9od choice for a credit card is the Bank of America travel rewards card. It has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee and has the valued emv chip that is much more prevelent in Europe. If using a credit card, if the merchant asks you if you wish to convert the currency to US dollars (again assuming you are from the USA), this is a scam called dynamic currency conversion. As Nancy Reagan used to say, just say no no matter how they try to talk you into it.

 

Even if you're doing a ship transfer, there will be a time upon arrival at the European airport to pull out euro from an ATM. Unfortunately, if you're doing independent touring, most of the ports do not have ATM's right smack at the port. If you're doing excursions either with the ship's overpriced ones or indendent oens, once you get into town, you will easily find ATM's.

 

Different people have different ways of doing things and be aware that in some countries, the use of credit cards is not used as extensively as say in the USA or the UK. Also some merchants, unfortunately, may have established minimums for use of a credit card.

 

If you exchange cash, whether at home or abroad, you have to watch out for much higher rates and additional fees which may be listed or may not be and you may have an unhappy surprise after exchanging cash when you see the amount of the fees some charge. The ships are horrific that way. I would never exchange for euro on a ship.

 

Also depending on destination, not every country uses the euro. The UK most assuredly does not; their currency is the pound although the same general ways of handling cash apply and the Baltic countries such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden, have their own currencies but again ATM's with a card that charges no fee is in general the best way to get whatever cash you need to supplement your use of a credit card with no foreign transaction fee.

 

Hope that helps.

[Lilystar]

Not entirely on topic-

 

Get a coin purse. The smallest Euro bill is e5. Europeans have no problem waiting for you to find exactly e3,41.

 

I hear ya!! My friend collects foreign cash/coins and I recently looked at all the Euros and commented how heavy their purses must be!

[Meanee]

A day before the cruise, I strolled into my bank (Chase) and asked them to give me certain amount of euros. They did. There was no fee. They told me that they will accept back unused euros (except coins) when I am back.

 

ATM withdrawal is at forex rate, but they charge 3% fee.

 

I used my Amex and Capital One cards most of the trip. They have no fees at all. Make sure you have your card's PIN. Some vending machines won't take your card unless PIN is entered, even for credit. Vendors, however, had no problem like that. Make sure you tell them that your card is "swipe and sign" and they will accept it.

[Nudibranch]

Lilystar, I gave general information on the topic and later re-read your question and saw that you had checked with your bank. The short answer is that it was less expensive to withdraw euros from the ATM of the affiliated European bank which was on the next street over and had several branches conveniently located in all the towns we visited. After doing the math, the question is how much does one want to pay for convenience.

[aubreyc1988]

I also have a question about this for seasoned cruisers. We are going to St. Martin for the second time, and the first time when we went out to eat in the french side, they of course charged us a hefty conversion fee. Should we get a few Euros this time around to avoid that or not bother? I think they charged us around 10.00 in conversion fees

[SadieN]

DD had an issue at her local bancomat in Rome. The machine said her card was declined. Called the bank, card's good, went to another one, got the euros.

 

Either the machine was out of money or couldn't get a connection.

[DevonianCruiser]

Another alternative is to get Euros on the ship, for a one time service charge of $10 to get any amount you wish charged to your on board account, and the Euros you do not use can be paid back to your on board account at the end of the cruise. And if you use an NCL credit card you get the 2% cash back on the net advance.

 

Every time I've looked at exchanging a different currency on any ship it's always far worse a rate. I think the cruise lines realise they have a 'captive audience' and can make quite a bit of money this way. The cheapest rate from the UK is to use an impartial site like 'money saving expert' to get a list of all the best deals and to then order before you leave. Exchanging money abroad from cash point machines is okay bit your bank will probably charge for each transaction and you're at the mercy of the banks rate at the time.

 

Or consider getting a special credit card. There are banks in the UK that offer cards with no overseas charges. This is a growing concept (think the post office do one), there maybe cards in whatever country you come from that do a similar thing.