Buying Euros Ahead

[jms2362]

I heard that using your ATM in Europe is the best wasy??

[agabbymama]

I am a member of AAA. Are you saying you go to a AAA store and purchase? What is the charge?

 

You probably should call and make sure your AAA office has a travel department and that they sell the 100 packs of EUROs. The website says not all offices participate. I don't know the actual charge. Haven't purchased any from there yet.

 

I purchased from on-line AMEX website, had them priority mailed to my

house and paid a hefty fee to do it. Not only don't they give you the current exchange rate, but then they charge you $12 service fee and $30 fee for credit card transaction. My friend belongs to AAA and said she would buy them there as long as we were paying fees anyway.

 

Give them a call and see what they tell you, a phone call is all you'll be out if you don't want to buy them there.

 

As it stands right now, I don't have an ATM card that will work in Europe and I don't want to go to the hassle of opening another account somewhere just to be able to use it in Europe on one trip.

[nask]

We bought Euros at AAA 10 days ago and got ripped off. I knew it by the time we got home from AAA. They charged us 7 dollars for every hundred that we gave them. We gave them 500 dollars and they charged us 35 dollars. I think the rate was 1.62 or 1.64. We then purchased more through B of A. We have an account there and was charged a straight fee of 7.50. That would have been the charge for any amount.

[Cruise Junky]

We are from Vancouver. Last year, my family group of 13 people went on a 14-day Galaxy Eastern Med cruise as well as stayed 2 nights pre-cruise in Rome and 5 nights post-cruise in Greece.

 

We bought all our Euros (total 11,000 Euros) from a foreign exchange broker in downtown Vancouver at the then market rate of 1.40 to 1.42 (what a deal - we should have bought more).

 

I think we use the same broker. They're across the street from me at work. I buy Euros every month.

[natesfirewife]

We have a layover for two hours before we fly to Barcelona to set sail a couple of days later. I was talking to a friend today who told me not to get euros in the US before the trip. He said to wait until we have our layover in London and to use the ATM at the airport, the conversion rate will be better. Thought I'd pass it on. :)

[krclayton]

Are there ATMs in the London airports that dispense Euros? I would think they give British Pounds, but maybe they have both types there. Just be sure because I'm sure you don't want to get Pounds that you will just have to exchange later anyway.

[Krazy4Kruisin']

We bought Euros at AAA 10 days ago and got ripped off. I knew it by the time we got home from AAA. They charged us 7 dollars for every hundred that we gave them. We gave them 500 dollars and they charged us 35 dollars. I think the rate was 1.62 or 1.64. We then purchased more through B of A. We have an account there and was charged a straight fee of 7.50. That would have been the charge for any amount.

 

I just ordered online from B of A yesterday. Did NOT pay any fees what so ever. The euros will be delivered to a bank because I couldn't guarantee that someone would be home when they were delivered that way. The exchange rate was 1.6282. I had also called Amex and they were higher, plus they charged a $5 fee. And you had to either pay with cash or check. Couldn't use your credit card to pay for them. At B of A, they just took it out of our account.

[Lucyonthesea]

I've never seen an ATM in the UK that gives euros.

[JLC@SD]

We have a layover for two hours before we fly to Barcelona to set sail a couple of days later. I was talking to a friend today who told me not to get euros in the US before the trip. He said to wait until we have our layover in London and to use the ATM at the airport, the conversion rate will be better. Thought I'd pass it on. :)

 

I would get them at an ATM in Barcelona's airport.

[whogo]

There seems to be some confusion on this thread. A "no fee" advertisement means that the mark up is hidden in an unfavorable exchange rate. By charging $1.62 per euro instead of $1.54, Bank of America is marking up by 5% with "no fees".

 

Here are the mark ups I found in getting price quotes for my cruise last December:

 

0% to 3% most credit cards for purchases (not cash from an ATM!)

0% to 3% most debit/ATM cards for international ATM’s + $0 to $5/transaction.

1% to 16.5% foreign exchange kiosks in foreign countries

5% for euros on the Legend of the Seas in December, 2007

5.5% Wells Fargo foreign currency or traveler’s checks + $8 delivery for most customers

7% AAA Visa TravelMoney Card (plus $4.97 activation, $2.00/international withdrawal, other fees)

8% Travelex online for foreign currency or traveler’s checks (6% for AAA members), credit card purchases treated as cash advance; there may be other fees.

8.3% UK post office dollars to pounds

 

A cash advance in euros from an ATM with my credit card would cost 3% of the amount of the cash advance but not less than $10, plus 3% currency conversion, with interest at 22% APR. Ouch.

 

You can see how your cards stack up at this link: http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange

[FLJudi]

I went to our local AAA yesterday. They were offering 57 euros for $100. That's a rate of 1.75 when the interbank rate rate is 1.55 - 20 points!

 

For those who worry about finding ATM's in Europe or not having Euros to pay their drivers - the drivers will always be happy to stop at an ATM for you. There are many ATMs in the airport, and every few blocks in most areas - more ubiquitous than Starbucks here. You will not be spending all of your time looking for one. Relax.

[Host Karen]

I just ordered online from B of A yesterday. Did NOT pay any fees what so ever. The euros will be delivered to a bank because I couldn't guarantee that someone would be home when they were delivered that way. The exchange rate was 1.6282. I had also called Amex and they were higher' date=' plus they charged a $5 fee. And you had to either pay with cash or check. Couldn't use your credit card to pay for them. At B of A, they just took it out of our account.[/quote']

 

BoA may not have charged you a separate fee for the currency, but you paid a fee nevertheless. The exchange rate yesterday was less than $1.56 per euro, so BoA made at least $0.06 on every euro you purchased.

 

This is why we are waiting until we arrive in Europe to get our euros from an ATM, a practice that worked successfully the last time we cruised from Barcelona. Of course, it helps to have at least some euros in hand if possible when you land to pay for any incidentals prior to reaching an ATM, but I would hold off on obtaining large quantities of euros until landing in Europe.

[Krazy4Kruisin']

BoA may not have charged you a separate fee for the currency, but you paid a fee nevertheless. The exchange rate yesterday was less than $1.56 per euro, so BoA made at least $0.06 on every euro you purchased.

 

This is why we are waiting until we arrive in Europe to get our euros from an ATM, a practice that worked successfully the last time we cruised from Barcelona. Of course, it helps to have at least some euros in hand if possible when you land to pay for any incidentals prior to reaching an ATM, but I would hold off on obtaining large quantities of euros until landing in Europe.

 

I understand that now the euro exchange rate is NOW $1.56, but when we ordered them from BoA, it was $1.63. That is the chance we took by ordering them ahead of time. But I wanted to have some euros with us as we got off the plane and didn't really want to go searching in the airport for an ATM machine. I wanted to have enough to take the water taxi to our hotel without having to worry.

So, in my opinion, it's not that BofA charged us a fee. I still don't think they did. We just took our chances and it didn't work in our favor this time. But if the rate had been higher, everyone would have said we got a great deal. Oh well. I am not going to lose sleep over $50, considering the cost of the entire trip! It just means that it will cost less once we are there, hopefully.

[Susan-M]

So' date=' in my opinion, it's not that BofA charged us a fee. I still don't think they did. [/quote']

 

BOA's rates include a fee or mark-up, e.g. BOA's current order rate is $1.63, but the trade price is $1.54.

 

From BOA's site: "The rates used are Bank of America's order rates as of the date and time shown."

 

A site that I like to check currency trade prices to determine the mark-up between that price and what my bank is charging : http://finance.yahoo.com/currency?u

 

I agree that in the grand scheme of things, saving or paying a few extra dollars for currency exchange isn't going to have a big impact.

[Cruise Junky]

We have a layover for two hours before we fly to Barcelona to set sail a couple of days later. I was talking to a friend today who told me not to get euros in the US before the trip. He said to wait until we have our layover in London and to use the ATM at the airport, the conversion rate will be better. Thought I'd pass it on. :)

 

Please don't do that, you'll get Pounds not Euros. Do it in Barcelona at an ATM.

[Host Karen]

I understand that now the euro exchange rate is NOW $1.56' date=' but when we ordered them from BoA, it was $1.63. That is the chance we took by ordering them ahead of time. But I wanted to have some euros with us as we got off the plane and didn't really want to go searching in the airport for an ATM machine. I wanted to have enough to take the water taxi to our hotel without having to worry.

So, in my opinion, it's not that BofA charged us a fee. I still don't think they did. We just took our chances and it didn't work in our favor this time. But if the rate had been higher, everyone would have said we got a great deal. Oh well. I am not going to lose sleep over $50, considering the cost of the entire trip! It just means that it will cost less once we are there, hopefully.[/quote']

 

I understand the desire to have euros on hand when you get off the plane in Europe. That's why I ordered some prior to our last trip to the Med and why I'm pleased we had some left over from that trip so we'll have some on hand this time.

 

However, I don't think the euro has been as high as $1.63. BoA is going to make money from a currency exchange, even if it hides the fee as I'm sure it did in this case. When I looked into ordering euros from them a few months ago, the euro was $1.48 and BoA would have charged me $1.52 -- a bit of a bargain now, but they were still making money on the transaction.

 

I agree that it's not worth losing sleep over the difference, especially when viewed in light of the entire trip and its cost. I just wanted to clarify for everyone reading this thread that even if a fee is not broken out when purchasing euros in the US, the seller (BoA, AAA or any other company) will be charging more than the going rate and the rate one would get if taking euros out of a European ATM the same day (excluding any possible transactions fees charged on that withdrawal).

 

Have a great time on your cruise!

 

Karen

[whogo]

I understand that now the euro exchange rate is NOW $1.56' date=' but when we ordered them from BoA, it was $1.63. That is the chance we took by ordering them ahead of time. But I wanted to have some euros with us as we got off the plane and didn't really want to go searching in the airport for an ATM machine. I wanted to have enough to take the water taxi to our hotel without having to worry.

So, in my opinion, it's not that BofA charged us a fee. I still don't think they did. We just took our chances and it didn't work in our favor this time. But if the rate had been higher, everyone would have said we got a great deal. Oh well. I am not going to lose sleep over $50, considering the cost of the entire trip! It just means that it will cost less once we are there, hopefully.[/quote']You can check the interbank rate for the day that you purchased your euros at http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory .

 

You will see that although the cost of one euro climbed pretty steadily from $1.47 on 1/1/08 to a peak of about $1.60 in mid April, the euro never got as high as $1.63. Bank of America's fee was hidden in their exchange rate mark up.

 

I have not seen anyone post a way to buy foreign currency in the USA for less than a 4% mark up, although I am not interested until the rate is less than 3%.

[krclayton]

OK, this really doesn't have anything to do with buying cold hard Euro cash in the US, but it all made me curious about how much I paid last September when we cruised the Med. It turns out I only used two methods of payment in Euro: ATM card (from my credit union savings account) and my American Express card.

 

Using the ATM card, I paid about a 1.5% premium on the Interbank rates reported on oanda.com com for the dates. In addition, I pay my credit union a $1.50 fee for using a non-network ATM, but I'd pay that even if I withdrew elsewhere in the US or even from the ATM in my own work building, so I don't really count that. It has nothing to do with FX.

 

On Amex, I paid a 3% premium on the oanda.com rates. A little higher, but of course I get points, purchase protection and I don't have to worry about carrying all that cash with me.

 

So for me personally, I figure that anything I pay over 3% needs to be worth it for me from a convenience standpoint. I may buy some to get me started (tips in airport, shuttle/metro/taxi cash just in case you can't find a working ATM), but by and large I'd prefer to find an ATM and pay 1.5% or use my card and pay 3%.

[verga]

We are from Vancouver. Last year, my family group of 13 people went on a 14-day Galaxy Eastern Med cruise as well as stayed 2 nights pre-cruise in Rome and 5 nights post-cruise in Greece.

 

We bought all our Euros (total 11,000 Euros) from a foreign exchange broker in downtown Vancouver at the then market rate of 1.40 to 1.42 (what a deal - we should have bought more). We were all a bit concerned bringing so many Euros but we didn't want to be bothered looking for ATMs as our day-to-day itinerary was packed with private tours. All of us wore money belts. We paid for our Rome and Greece hotels and our private tours in those cities and Naples in Euros cash.

 

The downtown Vancouver FX brokers provide a better exchange rate than the airport ones including the banks. We call the FX broker ahead of time and do our exchange that same day. We tell them what denominations we want (mostly 200s and 500s Euro bills, some 100s and a few smaller smaller ones). We later exchanged the larger bills at the cruise ship for smaller bills.

 

Perhaps your cities have these FX brokers too?

 

Is a foreign exchange broker not an option in your cities?

 

I just called this same FX broker I purchase my Euros in downtown Vancouver, which is just a small store front office with barred window, manned by 2 mature-aged ladies:

 

Today's rate if I buy Euros - 1.5638 Canadian = 1 Euro & 1.013 = 1 USD

xe.com's rates are 1.54869 for Euro and 1.00529 for USD

 

No service or transactions fees - straight cash exchange. ID is required to deter money laundering, I guess.

[agabbymama]

Is a foreign exchange broker not an option in your cities?

 

I just called this same FX broker I purchase my Euros in downtown Vancouver, which is just a small store front office with barred window, manned by 2 mature-aged ladies:

 

Today's rate if I buy Euros - 1.5638 Canadian = 1 Euro & 1.013 = 1 USD

xe.com's rates are 1.54869 for Euro and 1.00529 for USD

 

No service or transactions fees - straight cash exchange. ID is required to deter money laundering, I guess.

 

Nope, we don't have those critters. I know I used them in Budapest, but here in the U.S. no such creature. We used to have a Thomas Cooke Money Exchange that might have been similar, but they went the way of the dodo. We have AMEX Travel & Money Exchange but they've already been covered on this thread. And there is an exchange at the LAX airport, but not sure what rates they give. And not all banks deal in foreign currency. The two banks I deal with won't even get you foreign currency.

With my banks telling me my ATM cards won't work in Europe, I'm not going to take a chance on waiting until I'm there. I will get them here, regardless of what they cost me, and that's one thing I won't have to worry about.

[Krazy4Kruisin']

I understand the desire to have euros on hand when you get off the plane in Europe. That's why I ordered some prior to our last trip to the Med and why I'm pleased we had some left over from that trip so we'll have some on hand this time.

 

However, I don't think the euro has been as high as $1.63. BoA is going to make money from a currency exchange, even if it hides the fee as I'm sure it did in this case. When I looked into ordering euros from them a few months ago, the euro was $1.48 and BoA would have charged me $1.52 -- a bit of a bargain now, but they were still making money on the transaction.

 

I agree that it's not worth losing sleep over the difference, especially when viewed in light of the entire trip and its cost. I just wanted to clarify for everyone reading this thread that even if a fee is not broken out when purchasing euros in the US, the seller (BoA, AAA or any other company) will be charging more than the going rate and the rate one would get if taking euros out of a European ATM the same day (excluding any possible transactions fees charged on that withdrawal).

 

Have a great time on your cruise!

 

Karen

 

Well, I guess what I meant by no fee is there wasn't an extra charge besides what they "make" on you. I called American Express and they wanted an additional $7.50 to buy euros, besides the upcharge they already were getting. And even with BoA, if you don't have an Advantage account, or something similar, they charge their own customers.

 

So yes, I understand the fact that the bank is charging us more than if I waited to get to Venice, but I can go straight to the water taxis once we get our luggage and not have to search an airport for the ATM machines. I don't think we bought so many euros ahead of time that it will make that big a difference.

 

Oh and by the way, at BoA we got the most euros for our money out of 3 places I checked.

[Host Karen]

Well' date=' I guess what I meant by no fee is there wasn't an extra charge besides what they "make" on you. I called American Express and they wanted an additional $7.50 to buy euros, besides the upcharge they already were getting. And even with BoA, if you don't have an Advantage account, or something similar, they charge their own customers.

 

[b']So yes, I understand the fact that the bank is charging us more than if I waited to get to Venice, but I can go straight to the water taxis once we get our luggage and not have to search an airport for the ATM machines.[/b] I don't think we bought so many euros ahead of time that it will make that big a difference.

 

Oh and by the way, at BoA we got the most euros for our money out of 3 places I checked.

 

I agree that this provides the most peace of mind and that's probably why most travelers prefer to carry some euros to Europe with them. After a long flight, the last thing you need is to worry about finding an ATM when all you want to do is get your luggage and head to your hotel or ship.

 

I agree that BoA had a relatively low rate compared to some of the other currency sellers. It certainly pays to do research.

 

Have a great time!

 

Karen

[whogo]

We have a layover for two hours before we fly to Barcelona to set sail a couple of days later. I was talking to a friend today who told me not to get euros in the US before the trip. He said to wait until we have our layover in London and to use the ATM at the airport, the conversion rate will be better. Thought I'd pass it on. :)

Don't even think of buying euros at a foreign exchange booth in London. You will be charged a mark up twice; once to change from dollars to pounds, then again to change from pounds to euros! In December, I was quoted a rate that turned out to be a 12% mark up at Heathrow. Try paying that twice.

[whogo]

Is a foreign exchange broker not an option in your cities?

 

I just called this same FX broker I purchase my Euros in downtown Vancouver, which is just a small store front office with barred window, manned by 2 mature-aged ladies:

 

Today's rate if I buy Euros - 1.5638 Canadian = 1 Euro & 1.013 = 1 USD

xe.com's rates are 1.54869 for Euro and 1.00529 for USD

 

No service or transactions fees - straight cash exchange. ID is required to deter money laundering, I guess.

I have been hoping that someone would post a bargain foreign exchange operation in the USA. I can find no such beast. I called 6 currency exchanges in Chicago and none sold foreign currency. They sold money orders and probably did payday loans and the like.

 

American Express just quoted a 6.5% mark up. An Amex cardholder pays a $3 fee instead of a $4 fee. €1000 for $1,639.66 total when the interbank rate is only $1.5393/€.

 

I will stay with my 0% mark up credit card. I will tolerate my 3% mark up ATM card until I spend enough overseas to make a cheaper ATM card worth it.

[agabbymama]

I have been hoping that someone would post a bargain foreign exchange operation in the USA. I can find no such beast. I called 6 currency exchanges in Chicago and none sold foreign currency. They sold money orders and probably did payday loans and the like.

 

American Express just quoted a 6.5% mark up. An Amex cardholder pays a $3 fee instead of a $4 fee. €1000 for $1,639.66 total when the interbank rate is only $1.5393/€.

 

I will stay with my 0% mark up credit card. I will tolerate my 3% mark up ATM card until I spend enough overseas to make a cheaper ATM card worth it.

 

They get you coming and going. There is an ICE kiosk at LAX, but they are giving the rate of $1.71 for 1 EURO with a $4.95 flat fee. But the on-line rates are saying $1.54 per 1 EURO, so not a good deal either.

 

And just another bit of info, the cash cards from Visa and Mastercard aren't so good either. Sounds like a good idea because they aren't linked to your bank account. But not only do they charge you to purchase the card, but they charge you to reload money, to withdraw from the ATM, etc.

 

Good luck to all at finding an exchange rate you can live with.