Best area to buy Euros

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I am going to Germany and Austria first. Where should I exchange my US currency? I then go to Greece will it be better to try to hold out for Greece and just get enough Euros to get me through Germany and Austria?

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

Frank, the exchange rate will likely be the same no matter where you are in EU countries. The only thing that changes is the amount of fees charged from one place to the next. Keep away from exchange kiosks in the airport or other tourist areas. We did best by just using our ATM card in France, Germany and Greece. Notify your bank you will be out of the country and likely to use your ATM card and you'll be fine. ATMs are all over Europe now and they seem to have good rates.

Joy

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

First of all, with euros, you need to use ATM's. Since the euro came in, exchange houses with decent rates and no commission vanished in the euro-using countries. ATM's are the only game in town now for decent exchange rates to the euro. Exchange rates do vary between exchange houses, and so do commissions. ATM's are at or close to the interbank rate, one of the best out there.

With ATM's, there are many of them in Austria and Germany that do not charge a fee on the receiving end. You only pay whatever fee your own bank charges. Usually it is a flat fee, so get a lot out in as few transactions as possible. In Greece, on the other hand, virtually all ATM's charge a fee at the receiving end. I used Lonely Planet to identify the Greek banks with the lowest receiving end fees and tried to use their ATM's. In short, get your euros in Germany and Austria.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Interesting. I always thought it was the same where ever you go. We exchange our money at home because then we can shop around and get it from our bank or another institution fee free and at the cheapest rate.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

The interbank rate between dollars and euros is the same in all countries. Exchange houses are private businesses that make money by 1) the difference between buying and selling rates, and 2) sometimes a commission, which is a percentage service fee. That can set the variance between buying and selling rates as well as commission anywhere they want. I have seen commissions as high as 11% and many with no commission at all. Some places in eastern Europe where the local people convert their savings routinely to hard currrency and thus there is a lot of volume in the exchange business, it is not uncommon to see many exchange houses with a 1% or even less variance between buying and selling rates and no commission. In many euro countries, expect a commission of 2-6% and a variance between buying and selling rates of 4-8%

Interesting. I always thought it was the same where ever you go. We exchange our money at home because then we can shop around and get it from our bank or another institution fee free and at the cheapest rate.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I believe that the best rate to buy foreign currency is right here in the USA because they offer the most for the dollar right here. This is what the bank told us. I hope it is true.

Do you have a Capital One credit card? I read about it on TUG that they do not charge a conversion fee so that is another alternative and you earn extra miles or points when you charge.

If you use your credit card in a restaurant in Europe, make sure that they bring the little machine to your table when they do the credit card transaction. This is what my girlfriend warned me about and they did this automatically when I was in France a few years ago. They may do it differently again today.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Steve you have been very helpful and started me doing a lot of credit card research.

Emmy I found out that I since I am a Citibank gold member. I get a 1% fee only on my debit card. I can also get my money with a better rate and pick up the Euros at my bank. I wil find out more in the morning

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

I believe that the best rate to buy foreign currency is right here in the USA because they offer the most for the dollar right here. This is what the bank told us. I hope it is true.

Do you have a Capital One credit card? I read about it on TUG that they do not charge a conversion fee so that is another alternative and you earn extra miles or points when you charge.

If you use your credit card in a restaurant in Europe, make sure that they bring the little machine to your table when they do the credit card transaction. This is what my girlfriend warned me about and they did this automatically when I was in France a few years ago. They may do it differently again today.

I would not say that you could not find a good deal from a bank here, perhaps in an area that had a lot of foreign exchange volume, but the rates I have priced at banks here have been uniformly very poor. The worst rates of all seem to be at airports and train stations, although there are some exceptions to that like the Zurich and Mexico City airports.

Credit cards have become less of a deal for use overseas because most banks charge a second conversion fee for which they do absolutely nothing on top of the conversion fee that is always charged by the entity that actually does the conversion, the card company such as Visa. A few banks have held out and not imposed this ripoff second fee, and if you have one of their cards you are ahead of the game. In countries that use the euro, a credit card, even with all of the conversion fees, may still be a better deal than using an exchange house.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Frank....Don't forget to call your credit card companies, and tell them that you will be traveling to Europe. Give them your travel dates. If you do not do this, there's a chance your cards will be declined.

This happened with one of my friend's credit cards. Could be a hassle.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Frank....Don't forget to call your credit card companies, and tell them that you will be traveling to Europe. Give them your travel dates. If you do not do this, there's a chance your cards will be declined.

This happened with one of my friend's credit cards. Could be a hassle.

I already called. I found out last year the hard way. My Master card was canceled while in Italy and they did it after the 2nd charge there. Whats funny is I let them know I was going there and they saw it on the notes but they still frozze the card, AS a courtsy they gave me a nice credit to my account on there foul up.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

There is now a link to a table of bank fees for overseas use of ATM/credit/debit cards on the Links Directory (under Website Navigation in the top left corner of the screen)

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I can't find the link. Could you please post the link? TIA.