Best Place To Get Euros

[little britain]

€4000 in cash!!  Why not use credit cards? 

[lovemylab]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

€4000 in cash!!  Why not use credit cards? 

 

 The OP states in the original post that their tour companies require payment by cash.

Edited November 11, 2019 by lovemylab

[Clarea]

5 hours ago, SRF said:

If you get foreign currency from your bank or AAA, you are paying extra, sometimes a LOT extra to do so.

 

ATM is the way to go.  If you have two cards, you can get 600 Euro per day.  You want cards that have no foreign transaction fees.

 

And I am starting to see more and more, ATMs that offer to do the conversion for you, to your home currency.  DECLINE THIS.  The rate is HORRIBLE.

 

But in most cases, by buying from a bank or AAA, you could be paying more than 10% more than using an ATM.

 

I just checked AAA for their rate, and they are using TravelEx.  Today's rate is .8456 Euro to $1.  Bank rate is .9068.

 

So you change $1000 with AAA/TravelEx and you get 845.60 Euro.  Get it out of an ATM and you will get 906.80.

 

If you want to give away 51 Euro, go for it.

 

Excellent explanation.

[lovemylab]

5 hours ago, SRF said:

ATM is the way to go.  If you have two cards, you can get 600 Euro per day.  You want cards that have no foreign transaction fees.

 

ATM limits vary by bank and customer.  Just because you have a limit of 600 Euros a day doesn't mean everyone else has the same.  My daily limit, for example, is approx 1000 Euros a day.  One of my relatives travelled to Europe earlier this year and their limit was much lower (around 250 Euros a day).

 

When it comes to daily limits and bank fees, it's always best to check directly with your bank. 

[Drock20J]

When I had to buy Euro's, I went to chase and "ordered" the cash, whatever was left over, we could sell back to the back.

[SRF]

2 hours ago, lovemylab said:

 

ATM limits vary by bank and customer.  Just because you have a limit of 600 Euros a day doesn't mean everyone else has the same.  My daily limit, for example, is approx 1000 Euros a day.  One of my relatives travelled to Europe earlier this year and their limit was much lower (around 250 Euros a day).

 

When it comes to daily limits and bank fees, it's always best to check directly with your bank. 

 

I was basing it on a $400 per day limit per card.  So 300 Euro is within the $400 limit, and I stated TWO CARDS.

 

Yes, some have higher limits.  And you could also request a higher limit for your trip from your bank.

 

 

[SRF]

58 minutes ago, Drock20J said:

When I had to buy Euro's, I went to chase and "ordered" the cash, whatever was left over, we could sell back to the back.

 

And you took a hit each way.  That is how currency conversions make the people doing them money.

 

Say the official rate is $1 = 1 smoot.   The company sells smoots at $1.05 each.  So you pay $105 for 100 smoots, instead of $100.  Thus losing 5% of your money.

 

When you sell them back, they pay you $0.95 per smoot, giving you another 5% hit.

 

So you pay $105 for 100 smoots.  Take that 100 smoots and covert it back to dollars 2 seconds later, and you get $95.  So the double conversion cost you $10.  Or about 10% of your money.

 

Oh, and if they claim no conversion fee, their spread is even HIGHER.

 

This is also why you always tell hotels to charge in THEIR native currency.  Their exchange rates are HORRIBLE.  I have seen close to 20% hit on a ONE WAY conversion.

[BirdTravels]

On 11/10/2019 at 12:25 PM, RBKL said:

The RCI site says that they can provide foreighn currency. Is there a limit or high fees?

The exchange rate on the ship is horrible. AAA if you buy >$1000 is one of the best rates. Better than Your local bank. (Not the AAA little travel packs). While ATMs may provide the best rate, you need to check with your bank about foreign transaction fees. And you don’t want to be dependent on chasing around trying to get to an ATM in every port to get to your 4K goal. 

[island lady]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:22 PM, Host Clarea said:

 

I would not depend on the ship providing you with thousands of Euros. 

 

They won't...not one dollar.  I tried to get just a few for one port for taxi service.  The ironic thing is they will take Euros in to exchange for US dollars...but not the other way around.  Weird.  

[island lady]

Plus one more here for ordering foreign dollars ahead of time.  Have had no problems at all with doing that at my bank (BOA).  

[RBKL]

8 hours ago, lovemylab said:

 

 The OP states in the original post that their tour companies require payment by cash.

Thank you

[SRF]

Let's see, 4000 Euro at currency exchange rates will run about $4800 - $5000 dollars.

 

4000 Euro from ATMs would run about $4,404.

 

Nothing like adding $400 - $600 to your vacation cost.

[xpcdoojk]

On 11/10/2019 at 10:26 AM, Biker19 said:

Find tours that take credit cards. 

 

I agree, Biker.  4000 euros is a lot.  Are you booking for a group of people?  AAA or a large bank, would be good options.

 

jc

 

 

[xpcdoojk]

On 11/11/2019 at 9:39 AM, SRF said:

 

And you took a hit each way.  That is how currency conversions make the people doing them money.

 

Say the official rate is $1 = 1 smoot.   The company sells smoots at $1.05 each.  So you pay $105 for 100 smoots, instead of $100.  Thus losing 5% of your money.

 

When you sell them back, they pay you $0.95 per smoot, giving you another 5% hit.

 

So you pay $105 for 100 smoots.  Take that 100 smoots and covert it back to dollars 2 seconds later, and you get $95.  So the double conversion cost you $10.  Or about 10% of your money.

 

Oh, and if they claim no conversion fee, their spread is even HIGHER.

 

This is also why you always tell hotels to charge in THEIR native currency.  Their exchange rates are HORRIBLE.  I have seen close to 20% hit on a ONE WAY conversion.

 

Dead on

 

jc

[Wine-O]

Just departing Europe and purchased 100 Euro thru the ATM.  My bank did the conversion, and it charged me the Interbank rate of $110 and change.  The ATM asked me if I wanted to let them do the conversion into dollars.  It would have cost me $123 and change.  Always charge in Euro (or local currency) and let your bank do the conversion.  🍷

[CruisingNole]

If you are a frequent traveler, you really should open a free high yield checking account through Charles Schwabb. No bank-charged ATM fees, no foreign transaction fees, nothing, no matter where you are in the world. I always get euros through ATMs while travelling in Europe, as needed. During my last trip to Germany and France, I visited about a half dozen ATMs over the course of 10 days. No fees, you just pay whatever the exchange rate is that day. Just like America, there's at least one ATM within a stone's throw of civilization.

 

Exchanging currency in America and travelling overseas with it is really unnecessary. Not to mention the risk associated with carrying large amounts of cash on you. But alas, some people (many of them post on this forum) like to make life harder than it needs to be. 

[FlyerTalker]

On 11/10/2019 at 12:48 PM, DfDinLA said:

If you travel to Europe frequently, consider opening an account in a bank in the European Union.  Once the account is open you can wire transfer money from your US bank to the foreign bank and interbank exchange rates are the best you can find.

 

And I assume that you are doing all of the proper governmental filings for overseas accounts, including your IRS and Treasury filings.

 

[clo]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:38 PM, Host Clarea said:

 

I agree, we use a credit card with no foreign transaction fee whenever we can.

We have a USAA (former military) debit card that rebates us up to $15/mo in fees, foreign or domestic.

 

I'm also shocked that all those tours require cash.  Is that typical?

[ldubs]

6 minutes ago, clo said:

We have a USAA (former military) debit card that rebates us up to $15/mo in fees, foreign or domestic.

 

I'm also shocked that all those tours require cash.  Is that typical?

 

Me too (re the cash).  However, I've been given discounts for cash, so maybe that comes into play.   

 

Anyway, I've seen you mention USAA before.  I had the opportunity to do quite a bit of work with them.  They are a very good company.   

[clo]

3 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Anyway, I've seen you mention USAA before.  I had the opportunity to do quite a bit of work with them.  They are a very good company.   

Bob has been with them for over 50 years and it's been a great experience.  Any time we've called them the last thing they say is "what else can I help you with?"

[lenquixote66]

On 11/10/2019 at 11:17 AM, RBKL said:

We are booked on the Explorer in May out of Rome to Malta and Greece with a few days pre-cruise in Rome.

 

We're trying to determine the best place to get Euros for the trip.

 

Most of the tours we're booking require payment in cash Euros and over the two weeks it adds up to well over 4000 Euros.

 

Too much to try to rely on ATMs to purchase. Plus we'd prefer not to risk not having them in advance.

 

We read that the ship has some foreign currency. Not sure if they support the large amounts we need or if there are high fees. Plus

that doesn't help us for the pre-cruise time in Rome.

 

What have others done?  I found an national travel place that let's you order theme on line and they mail them to you. It seems odd to get

cash in the mail.

 

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.

My local bank.

[vacationut]

On 11/11/2019 at 6:34 AM, lovemylab said:

 

 The OP states in the original post that their tour companies require payment by cash.

 

This thread is giving me anxiety. Between carrying that much cash and no recourse if the tour goes south, it seems like the start of a future tale of caution. 

[chipmaster]

The thread brings back fond memories of my adventure planning for a large family group 11.  We ended up securing two vans and adding four more people for a total of 15 in multiple ports.  As organizer I got to handle payment, and yes some companies require/prefer cash to CC.    To bad they ain't like china going w/o cash or CC, LOL.

 

I'd figured out how much the tours were, sucked it up and did it all by exchanging many thousands of dollars to thousand and thousands of euros, what a stack, felt like a drug dealer.  

 

Time in port is valuable you really want to run around trying to stop and withdraw your and your family friends and others to the limit.  You are on vacation you spend thousands for your ship, thousands more for your airplane and then thousands more for your tours, yup run around from ATM to ATM to save a few euros.  yeah it costs a lot, but you know what you'd save more by not going at all!

 

On to reality, convenience is worth the cost, we got our euros, I think it was like 6 or 7K at BoA.  I wasn't going to waste my valuable port time ATM, using ship, or local exchanges.     Balanced with a few ATM stops to top off spending money, but all tour money was reserved and converted before leaving the USA.   Carried about 2/3 in a body wallet, I looked fat, and the other 1/3 carried by my wife.   Went into the safe once at hotel and on the ship.

 

Edited November 13, 2019 by chipmaster

[navybankerteacher]

ATM’s are the best idea for occasional small draws - you get a good exchange rate and locations every where.  For a large amount, or several of them, which exceed the ATM limits, talk with your bank (a small regional will probably not help) about getting a traveler’s letter of credit - which you can take to any of your bank’s correspondent banks anywhere in the world and make periodic withdrawals( at favorable exchange rates, in local currency) up to the max of that letter of credit.  JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Credit Suisse, etc will do this for you - your local 2nd National Bank of River City would probably not know what you were talking about.

[clo]

37 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

My local bank.

Where do you use Euros?