What's the best way to get Euro now days?

[whogo]

I recently talked to my bank concerning using the debit card overseas making sure it would work etc. and letting them know the dates we would be there.

 

The bank customer service rep recommended going into any bank that has the mastercard logo and getting a cash advance or withdrawal with the debit card. She said we would not be charged the exchange rate and would not be limited by the daily withdrawal amount. Has anyone done this as I never hear this mentioned in the forums?

 

I goofed. My last response quoted the wrong post. I meant to respond to this ORV post about BancorpSouth:

 

I contacted your bank and received this e-mail response (hi-lighting is mine):

 

"For any withdrawals done outside the U.S., your account is charged 1% of total withdrawn from ATM or 1% of purchase using the PIN number.

 

"Non PIN transactions do not receive the cross border fee.

 

"The foreign ATM fee of $1.50 still applies and is separate from the cross border fee. This fee is charged anytime a non BancorpSouth ATM is used.

 

"If a cash advance is done at a foreign bank, there are no fees on our end. The other bank will charge a fee.

 

"These fees are the same for all of our account types, with the exception of a Performance Checking in which you receive up to 5 non BancorpSouth ATM refunds during a statement cycle, for a maximum of $3.50 each.

 

"I hope this is helpful to you."

 

Since you have no idea what fees a foreign bank would charge, I suggest using your ATM card in a foreign ATM. European ATM's do not charge fees. Your bank's $1.50 plus 1% is a very reasonable fee. You will want to investigate Performance Checking. Follow the usual advice about notifying your bank of your travel plans. Check other advice here: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/moneytip.htm

 

BancorpSouth and Wells Fargo both use the worrisome term "cash advance" to describe an over-the-counter bank debit card withdrawal. It appears to be less onerous than than a cash advance with a credit card.

[skisteamboat]

I'm sorry, we seem to be playing a semantics game and I'm sure it's my fault we're not communicating very well. It is definitely a withdrawal against my balance but you obtain the money just like a cash advance on a CC.

 

From my previous post

 

"I was also told I was limited only by the balance in my account or $9,999 whichever one was lower. "

 

Maybe that will clear it up for you.

 

I definitely thought you were talking about a Cash Advance which is basically a loan against your credit line on your credit card that must be paid back. Sorry for the confusion. Some people treat a Cash Advance on a Credit Card as a straight withdrawal which is almost all cases it is not and I wanted to make sure the term was correct for what you were planning to do.;) The term Cash Advance was what caused my first reply.

 

A straight withdrawal may or may not incur additional fees from an ATM or over the counter from a teller. Glad you bank does not charge additional fees. My Credit Union does not charge any fees either no matter where the funds are withdrawn from the account, ATM, Bank, Foreign Exchange House, etc. My Bank, OTOH does charge an ATM fee, a Foreign exchange fee and also uses a less than favorable rate. Thus I only use the Credit Union card for ATM's in Europe and a Capital One card for charges. I never get a Cash Advance anywhere as the rate is punitive.

 

Cheers

[skisteamboat]

 

BancorpSouth and Wells Fargo both use the worrisome term "cash advance" to describe an over-the-counter bank debit card withdrawal. It appears to be less onerous than than a cash advance with a credit card.

 

AHA! I now understand the source of my confusion. Those two banks seem to be in the minority in that usage and thus the misunderstanding. Why they would use Cash Advance for getting your own money is a mystery.

 

Cheers

[ORV]

Thanks for the replies and advice. I plan on taking some money out both ways. I do plan on asking the bank I withdraw from what their fees are before I get a "cash advance" or "over the counter withdrawal". I'll report back in a month or so.

 

I do have a Capital One card I plan on using when it's convenient. Most of the cash I'm getting will be for tours that require cash. I'm taking a few Euros with me but with the stateside banks charging around 6 or 7 % to get Euros ahead of time you don't want to overdo it.

 

I also plan on having a pin # backup for one of my credit cards in case my debit card doesn't work. I'd rather pay a fee than not have any money

[ORV]

As promised I said I would report how this worked out. It didn't, the issue is that the banks would not even attempt to give you a cash advance, they didn't care if it was a debit or credit card. They just pointed at the ATM. Language wasn't a barrier as most of the banks I tried it at the teller spoke English.

 

On the plus side there was very little mark up when I used my card at a ATM. I was able to get 250 Euro at a time and did this 3 or 4 times and it was fine.

 

I plan on calling my bank and letting them know this is not a good idea to be telling people when they visit Spain, France, Italy & Greece.

[CruisingGoddess]

As promised I said I would report how this worked out. It didn't, the issue is that the banks would not even attempt to give you a cash advance, they didn't care if it was a debit or credit card. They just pointed at the ATM. Language wasn't a barrier as most of the banks I tried it at the teller spoke English.

 

On the plus side there was very little mark up when I used my card at a ATM. I was able to get 250 Euro at a time and did this 3 or 4 times and it was fine.

 

I plan on calling my bank and letting them know this is not a good idea to be telling people when they visit Spain, France, Italy & Greece.

 

Thanks for coming back to report your experience! I'm glad it worked out for you anyway.

 

How was your cruise? How was the weather? We'll be there in a month!! :D

[skisteamboat]

As promised I said I would report how this worked out. It didn't, the issue is that the banks would not even attempt to give you a cash advance, they didn't care if it was a debit or credit card. They just pointed at the ATM. Language wasn't a barrier as most of the banks I tried it at the teller spoke English.

 

On the plus side there was very little mark up when I used my card at a ATM. I was able to get 250 Euro at a time and did this 3 or 4 times and it was fine.

 

I plan on calling my bank and letting them know this is not a good idea to be telling people when they visit Spain, France, Italy & Greece.

 

Thanks for the report on your experiences. I know in the UK, it is very rare to get "Over the Counter" cash and as you noted, the standard practice is to use an ATM. A couple of weeks ago, I got very good rates in London at a number of ATM's.

 

Cheers

[ORV]

The cruise was fantastic, the weather in Florence was a little chilly but all the rest of the days the highs was close to 70 with sunshine. Malta has perfect weather much like San Diego. Santorini was great also. Our favorites was the Provence countryside and the Amalfi Coast area.

[cruisemom42]

As promised I said I would report how this worked out. It didn't, the issue is that the banks would not even attempt to give you a cash advance, they didn't care if it was a debit or credit card. They just pointed at the ATM. Language wasn't a barrier as most of the banks I tried it at the teller spoke English.

 

On the plus side there was very little mark up when I used my card at a ATM. I was able to get 250 Euro at a time and did this 3 or 4 times and it was fine.

 

I plan on calling my bank and letting them know this is not a good idea to be telling people when they visit Spain, France, Italy & Greece.

 

Thanks for reporting back. It sounded good in theory. Too bad in practice it was lacking!

 

Sounds like ATMs are still the way to go....