Euro

[Jancruz]

If you are off to Europe..you can do some shopping the Euro is at $1.22. I would be going crazy..LOL

Jancruz1

[sitraveler]

10 days before I go. Bet its back to $1.30 then.

[Mura]

Maybe not. It's been moving around $1.25 for some time now.

 

Mura

[spindrift]

Aren't I correct that right now they would like to have our dollar rather than their Euro? ;)

[Mura]

That hasn't been my experience. Maybe it's true of a kid selling postcards. But it probably isn't of your cab driver!

 

And it can also depend on where you are ... big city versus a very rural area.

 

But it hasn't been my experience that when you are paying cash they want dollars over euros.

 

Mura

[marilynfaye]

If you are off to Europe..you can do some shopping the Euro is at $1.22. I would be going crazy..LOL

Jancruz1

 

Honey. You are the shopping queen no matter what the currency. LOL.

[spindrift]

Mura, talk to the "people." If you are talking about the past--no, the Euro speaks, but when you consider what they get for the dollar right now, you will find that the citizens of the Euro countries would prefer to get your dollar so that they can get a better exchange. Sorry, I'm just a savy investor. ;)

[Mura]

Spindrift,

 

I'm not a savvy investor but my husband IS. Our experience hasn't been what you say. Our most recent trip was to France in April and we didn't talk or deal with anyone who wanted dollars over euros.

 

It may be different now as the euro crisis has accelerated, I grant you that!

 

I am always prepared to use whatever currency I need but for many, MANY years Americans have assumed that Europeans preferred dollars and it just wasn't true.

 

We're going to be in the Black Sea in August and I was just reviewing our tour info ... the non-Euro countries definitely want to be paid in dollars! But I'm much happier to bring dollars than have to get rubles or whatever...

 

I have a small business that has half U.S. customers, half foreign. For Europeans who don't want to use Paypal to pay the bill (which is always very modest) I offer the option of paying in cash with euros, pounds dollars.

 

They almost never send dollars. Of course, that is in the other direction, I grant you that. I just had two such sales: the German sent dollars, the Brit is going to send pounds.

 

We always take dollars with us just in case but it's been a long time since we've used them. Clearly it will be different on our August trip.

 

Mura

[ClaudiaF]

If you are off to Europe..you can do some shopping the Euro is at $1.22. I would be going crazy..LOL

Jancruz1

 

Wasn't anything that special to buy.. was even disappointed in the shoes ..

:eek:

[reposado]

If you are off to Europe..you can do some shopping the Euro is at $1.22. I would be going crazy..LOL

Jancruz1

 

 

My wife bought 3 Louis vutton purses recently in France. After the VAT you "saved" about $1000 each per purse.

 

Your daughter was a pleasure to work with btw. A professional.

 

Thanks

[potterhill]

 

And I, on the other hand, bought three pair in London. Wish I could have bought more. Will definitely go back. Of course that won't be difficult or painful as we were in Knightsbridge!

 

Funny how Americans always assume everyone wants their dollar. We Canadians know that nobody wants ours! We just finished a cruise with 6 different currencies and they all wanted their own currency. Would have been so much easier to just use The Universal Dollar. I have bits and pieces left in coins from all of them. Even when we were sure we had used them all, we kept finding more in pockets purses, totes. Just like rabbits!

 

Mo

[caribbeansun]

Why would someone want a non-domestic currency in place of a domestic currency? On conversion they are losing money regardless of what currency is being converted to another. I strongly suspect that you will be further ahead by leaving your US$'s at home.

 

 

 

Mura, talk to the "people." If you are talking about the past--no, the Euro speaks, but when you consider what they get for the dollar right now, you will find that the citizens of the Euro countries would prefer to get your dollar so that they can get a better exchange. Sorry, I'm just a savy investor. ;)

[Whiteowl]

Just bear in mind how much easier it is for touring Europe than it used to before the Euro. If you went to Greece, Italy, Spain and France, which is a fairly typical tour, you would have needed 4 separate currencies.

 

I get very frustrated with Americans assuming the whole world uses dollars.

 

I have heard people complaining to the Cruise Director that the shops ashore wouldn't take Dollars and they should have been warned in advance.

[kazu]

Spindrift,

 

I'm not a savvy investor but my husband IS. Our experience hasn't been what you say. Our most recent trip was to France in April and we didn't talk or deal with anyone who wanted dollars over euros.

 

It may be different now as the euro crisis has accelerated, I grant you that!

 

 

 

Mura

 

Our experience is the same as yours.

 

We just got back in November and back then the euro was around $1.33 (Canadian) so while the drop is nice - it hasn't dropped signficantly since then. Euros were the preferred currency by everyone - including the private tours:D

[Benita]

We usually pay by credit card in Europe - you get the best conversion rate and if you use a card like Capital One and more recently, the AMEX platinum card- no foreign fees. Most of the private tours we have arranged for our Riviera cruise require cash payment in Euros at the time of the tour. ATMs have a withdrawal limit each day - we usually pull out local currency from an ATM at the airport in Europe, but this time, I went to our local bank. They are charging $1.31 US per Euro now with no transaction fee - I got the money yesterday. A lot better than a couple of years ago, when it was pretty close to $2.00.

Our friends just got back from Stockholm and they said they had a little trouble using their credit cards as Europe has gone over to the chip technology on their cards. Has anybody else had a problem recently? Travelex sells preloaded chip cards in Euros and British pounds and you can reload more money over the internet, but it seams like a hassle and their conversion rates are not very good.

[Mura]

Wasn't anything that special to buy.. was even disappointed in the shoes ..

:eek:

 

Claudia,

 

I discovered a shoe store around the corner from our Paris hotel after the Viking cruise that had my very Mephisto shoes at about half price (and the euro was closer to $1.35 then than $1.25) ... my heart was broken when I realized the store was closed on May Day and we left very early the next morning ...

 

Not as sexy as YOUR shoes (!) but very comfy for walking.

 

Mura

[Mura]

I hope I'm not repeating myself here but I was checking our Black Sea tours last night and realized that the tour guides in the former Soviet Union -- Yalta, Socchi, Odessa, etc. -- DO want dollars. But guides outside of that area (like Greece and Turkey -- yes, even Greece) want euros.

 

So this time we'll need both.

 

Mura

[Kissing Seahorses]

A few years ago, on a cruise from Rome to London, I made the mistake of changing all my Euros to Pounds in Guernsey as it was the first UK port we stopped in and we would be extending our trip in London. In London, I had a hard time getting cabdrivers and even bellman to accept those Guernsey Pounds,they looked at them like I was handing them some quaint currency from the past. I had no idea that there were different pounds (I assumed they would be like dollars, the same everywhere) I have heard there is a similar reaction to pounds issued from Scottish banks in London, I still don't know why exactly....they all have Queen Elizabeth's face on them and should be all worth the same amount, correct?

[Paulchili]

I hope I'm not repeating myself here but I was checking our Black Sea tours last night and realized that the tour guides in the former Soviet Union -- Yalta, Socchi, Odessa, etc. -- DO want dollars. But guides outside of that area (like Greece and Turkey -- yes, even Greece) want euros.

 

So this time we'll need both.

 

Mura

 

It makes sense. Obviously, all Euro -zone countries would prefer Euros. Those outside Euro-zone may want US$ or Euros - no set rules for those, more of an individual need or preference.

[Jancruz]

Honey. You are the shopping queen no matter what the currency. LOL.

 

I may not know all the church's and sights to see BUT I can tell you every shoe store in any city..LOL

Jancruz1

[Jancruz]

My wife bought 3 Louis vutton purses recently in France. After the VAT you "saved" about $1000 each per purse.

 

Your daughter was a pleasure to work with btw. A professional.

 

Thanks

 

How nice, thank you for the compliment..

Jancruz1

[Benita]

How nice, thank you for the compliment..

Jancruz1

 

I will second that.

[writer100]

We usually pay by credit card in Europe - you get the best conversion rate and if you use a card like Capital One and more recently, the AMEX platinum card- no foreign fees. Most of the private tours we have arranged for our Riviera cruise require cash payment in Euros at the time of the tour. ATMs have a withdrawal limit each day - we usually pull out local currency from an ATM at the airport in Europe, but this time, I went to our local bank. They are charging $1.31 US per Euro now with no transaction fee - I got the money yesterday. A lot better than a couple of years ago, when it was pretty close to $2.00.

Our friends just got back from Stockholm and they said they had a little trouble using their credit cards as Europe has gone over to the chip technology on their cards. Has anybody else had a problem recently? Travelex sells preloaded chip cards in Euros and British pounds and you can reload more money over the internet, but it seams like a hassle and their conversion rates are not very good.

Benita-The Chase British Air card has a chip, and no transaction fees. I think Amex has one coming with a chip, also.

[orchestrapal]

Benita-The Chase British Air card has a chip, and no transaction fees. I think Amex has one coming with a chip, also.

 

Just got a Barclays Bank US Airways card with chip but which still charges 3% transaction fee but we only use the British Air card abroad and love their free business class flights.:)

[Paulchili]

Benita-The Chase British Air card has a chip, and no transaction fees. I think Amex has one coming with a chip, also.

 

You really do NOT need a chip card in Europe for anything but ticket machines. How often are going to use those? If you need to buy a subway/short train ticket, you can easily pay with cash.

Use the card that gives you most back in return (miles/points) or saves you most in fees - JMO