Euros??

[Nanct]

We'll be spending a few days in Barcelona before boarding Regatta in November. Should we arrive with a couple hundred Euros for taxi and other expenses . . . or just wait until we get there? Are you able to get a better price using the "coin of the realm" rather than US dollars? Thanks for any suggestions.

[LAexNY]

We'll be spending a few days in Barcelona before boarding Regatta in November. Should we arrive with a couple hundred Euros for taxi and other expenses . . . or just wait until we get there? Are you able to get a better price using the "coin of the realm" rather than US dollars? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

There is an ATM at the BCN airport. You will do best using the ATM there.

[DrivesLikeMario]

You'll get a much better exchange rate if you get your Euros from ATMs in Europe. Just make sure you have a 4 digit PIN and your bank's ATM card works in Europe (most do).

 

We always arrive with some Euros to get us by just until we can stop at an ATM. Wells Fargo and AAA are two places you can get it from, but make sure you compare total rates including shipping if applicable.

[CintiPam]

Are you able to get a better price using the "coin of the realm" rather than US dollars?

 

Yes. Since the widespread adoption of the Euro throughout much of Europe in the past 10 years, the Euro has taken the place of primacy formerly held by the US dollar.

[hondorner]

I arrived in Barcelona intending to use the airport ATM's to get some Euros. The first debit card I tried was declined! I I later got an email from my son, saying that the small, local bank which had issued the ATM had forgotten to write down my message that I was traveling and had denied the transaction for security reasons.

 

So, I tried another debit card from a major bank, but the ATM could not read the magnetic strip -- it was pretty worn from being in my wallet, and the machine was probably dirty (it worked most of the time at home).

 

So, I tried another ATM, and yet another -- and none of them could read my card.

 

I ended up going to one of the bank outlets at the airport and used some of my US Dollars in cash to buy enough Euros to get me to town and through the first day.

 

Later, in the city, I had no trouble -- all the machines could read my worn card, and the first bank had reset the security to show that I was traveling.

 

Lessons learned -- Make sure I talk to the officer in charge at the local bank, not one of the clerks. Make sure my cards are renewed if they are worn. And, open a Schwab checking account with a debit card, where they refund any ATM fees (other than the currency fee) and do not charge the foreign transaction fees.

 

I would not consider using anything but a debit card in the ATM's -- use of a credit card will result in ATM fees, foreign transaction fees, currency conversion fees and cash advance fees. And now, my Schwab debit card eliminates all but the currency conversion fee. I just make sure I have enough money in the Schwab accounts to cover emergencies as well as regular purchases. That doesn't hurt me, because they are paying higher rates of interest than any of my other bank accounts.

 

I have no interest in Schwab -- I learned about their accounts here on CruiseCritic, and am just passing the information forward.

[StanandJim]

We'll be spending a few days in Barcelona before boarding Regatta in November. Should we arrive with a couple hundred Euros for taxi and other expenses . . . or just wait until we get there? Are you able to get a better price using the "coin of the realm" rather than US dollars? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

May we be frank?

 

For the amount of Euros that you're discussing, the savings vis a vis the exchange rate will be fairly insignificant.

 

We order our Euro's from a major U.S. Bank (although we do admit to buying when we think the rate is optomal), and pick them up in the branch in the lobby of our office building on the next business day. It is as easy as falling off a log.

 

We're on vacation, there are museums to visit, ruins to see, tours to coordinate, restaurants to eat in, etc. That is enough for anybody to have to worry about on vacation.

 

Who can be bothered looking for an ATM, hoping it works, hoping it "speaks english, hoping my pin is the right # of characters, hoping my magnetic strip is intact?

 

And on top of that , ATM's have those limits on the amount that you can withdraw........and the rules vary wildly, and seemingly without rhyme or reason.

 

No thank you. We'll buy the Euro's in bulk stateside and take them out of the safe in our room as we need them.

 

 

[Paulchili]

 

May we be frank?

 

No you may not - you are Stan and Jim (you are stuck with it, at least for now).

[LHT28]

No thank you. We'll buy the Euro's in bulk stateside and take them out of the safe in our room as we need them.

 

 

Now I know where to come for a loan!!:D

 

Lyn

[hondorner]

I should have added,"Buy currency in advance from the bank" to my "lessons learned" report. We did just that for our most recent cruise to Argentina and Chile. With careful planning, budgeting and juggling of cash and debit or credit card use (which goes counter to StanAndJim's philosophy of "on vacation", but we are confirmed misers), we managed to come home with just enough foreign coins to serve as souvenirs for the grandchildren.

 

If anyone is interest, here is a link to Bank of America's Frequently Asked Questions about purchasing foreign currency.

[digby]

"Who can be bothered looking for an ATM?"

 

Bothered? LOL! You practically have to crawl over them in any major European airport!

[DrivesLikeMario]

Who can be bothered looking for an ATM, hoping it works, hoping it "speaks english, hoping my pin is the right # of characters, hoping my magnetic strip is intact?

 

And on top of that , ATM's have those limits on the amount that you can withdraw........and the rules vary wildly, and seemingly without rhyme or reason.

 

Finding ATMs is incredibly easy in Europe - they are everywhere. Within 500m of our hotel in London, there were 5 of them and that's pretty typical.

 

There is no way I'd travel anywhere with a huge wad of cash. To me, using European ATMs is part of experiencing a small part of their every day culture, like going to their grocery stores. When in Rome...

 

Maybe it's an age thing - some older people are intimidated by ATMs and "new fangled" machines. (My DH for one and he's not that old!) :cool:

[StanandJim]

Maybe it's an age thing - some older people are intimidated by ATMs and "new fangled" machines. (My DH for one and he's not that old!) :cool:

 

We routinely use ATM's at home, you young thing (if we can shift our walkers close enough to it, that is). :rolleyes:

 

By the way, finding an "English speaking" ATM is not as "incredibly easy" outside of England......or hadn't you thought of that? :cool:

 

As far as the infamous "wad of cash" is concerned, we feel more secure having packed it in our money belts than withdrawing it at a public ATM. MANY of them in Europe are directly on the street.

 

It's all academic anyway because, for the volume of Euro's that we need (more than a few private guides are getting 500E per day, nowadays) an ATM just wont cut it.

 

Pertinent to Digbys comment, you're right about the airports, dear fellow, but we only pass through two airports in Europe outbound. Even if we are able to withdraw the daily limit in each airport, and that pesky 24 hour limit doesn't rear its' ugly head, we'd still be far short.

 

Lyn- Anything but Murder, Mister ;)

[LAexNY]

We routinely use ATM's at home, you young thing (if we can shift our walkers close enough to it, that is). :rolleyes:

 

By the way, finding an "English speaking" ATM is not as "incredibly easy" outside of England......or hadn't you thought of that? :cool:

 

As far as the infamous "wad of cash" is concerned, we feel more secure having packed it in our money belts than withdrawing it at a public ATM. MANY of them in Europe are directly on the street.

 

It's all academic anyway because, for the volume of Euro's that we need (more than a few private guides are getting 500E per day, nowadays) an ATM just wont cut it.

 

Pertinent to Digbys comment, you're right about the airports, dear fellow, but we only pass through two airports in Europe outbound. Even if we are able to withdraw the daily limit in each airport, and that pesky 24 hour limit doesn't rear its' ugly head, we'd still be far short.

 

Lyn- Anything but Murder, Mister ;)

 

In Germany [for example], every ATM we used was at least bilingual [German and English] and some offered other languages as well.

Here in LA [as another example], every ATM offers Spanish as an option.

[Paulchili]

By the way, finding an "English speaking" ATM is not as "incredibly easy" outside of England......or hadn't you thought of that? :cool:

 

I am not sure where you travel Stan (and Jim),

I just returned from a trip that included South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles, Maldives, Dubai, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, India, Nepal & Bhutan. I used an ATM in every one of these countries (maybe not Lesotho, I am no longer sure) as I collect money from places I travel to and every one of them had English as an option. In the past I used them in places like Albania, China and many others without any problems (as I do not speak either Albanian or Chinese or most of those other languages).

Where specifically do you remeber ATMs not having English as an option?

PS I just remembered that I got the Lesotho money from the hotel bartender; but I am sure if I had found an ATM there it would have had English as an option.

[DrivesLikeMario]

We routinely use ATM's at home, you young thing (if we can shift our walkers close enough to it, that is). :rolleyes:

 

By the way, finding an "English speaking" ATM is not as "incredibly easy" outside of England......or hadn't you thought of that? :cool:

 

As far as the infamous "wad of cash" is concerned, we feel more secure having packed it in our money belts than withdrawing it at a public ATM. MANY of them in Europe are directly on the street.

 

It's all academic anyway because, for the volume of Euro's that we need (more than a few private guides are getting 500E per day, nowadays) an ATM just wont cut it.

 

Pertinent to Digbys comment, you're right about the airports, dear fellow, but we only pass through two airports in Europe outbound. Even if we are able to withdraw the daily limit in each airport, and that pesky 24 hour limit doesn't rear its' ugly head, we'd still be far short.

 

Lyn- Anything but Murder, Mister ;)

 

Actually, you'll find that many ATMs in Europe are NOT on the street, but inside a door in a little ante-room of a bank or other building. Those that are on the street are usually under surveillance.

 

And, yes, English is almost always offered. If not, how hard is it to learn enough French, German, Spanish, or Italian (etc...) to understand very simple commands? All the screens are basically the same, so it's pretty easy to figure out even when you don't know the language.

 

It's a good opportunity to learn a little of the lnative anguage. ;)

[CintiPam]

 

Who can be bothered looking for an ATM, hoping it works, hoping it "speaks english, hoping my pin is the right # of characters, hoping my magnetic strip is intact?

 

And on top of that , ATM's have those limits on the amount that you can withdraw........and the rules vary wildly, and seemingly without rhyme or reason.

 

No thank you. We'll buy the Euro's in bulk stateside and take them out of the safe in our room as we need them.

 

 

Wow, no train travel, and now no ATM usage in Europe; I did not know that I would be traveling next month with dinosaurs!! :D

 

First stop after luggage pick-up and passport control at the Athens airport will be an ATM machine. No way am I sleeping on an overnight flight from the U.S. with thousands of Euros on me!

[greatwife]

No need to buy Euro's in advance.

Use your ATM card at the airport.