Any advice on getting Euros for a late March / early April vacation in France/Spain?
I live in the New York City area. Wondering if there are "Euro bargains" or anyone has other advice in terms of waiting till the last minute and where the best conversion rates can be obtained.
Thanks
At an ATM once you've arrived. We found this link to Rick's "money tips" to be most helpful.
Research this thread through these forums since it's been dealt with before. What many people do is exchange a small amount (maybe $100) before they leave. Anywhere you exchange here in the states you will get a bad rate. After you get there you can take money out of the ATM.
My bad - I should've read through the site - thank you both!
Bk9net,
The best conversion rates will be obtained in France &/or Spain not in the US.
You may want to get a couple of hundred Euros prior to your trip just for convenience so you don't arrive empty handed.
You may call your bank & see if they sell Euros. Wells Fargo Bank does not charge 'extra fees', if you have an account with them.
Do not go to an exchange facility where you will get a poor exchange rate plus added fees.
RS has very helpful tips here: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/cash-tips
Safe travels!
I would contact the banks you deal with and find out if they sell Euro. If you have an account with a bank and buy a certain amount they may not charge you a fee. You can contact several banks and see what they are selling the Euro and what their policy is. Start with the banks that you have an account with first. I just bought my euro at the 1.22 from the Bank of America and my friend who lives in MN bought his this week at Wells Fargo for 1.25. Whatever the rate is on the internet is not always what a bank is selling it for. You need to shop around to find the best rate. Sometimes a bank will also order the Euros for you but not sure if they can sell it at the rate of the day, or the rate the euros come in on the day they get the euros. Check with the bank. Now is the time to buy euros as it is the lowest I have seen it in several years.
Please let me be clear, I bought my Euro at the rate 1 Euro = $1.22. The rates change every day, but at this time the Euro has been very low, but who knows how long that will be. There are no Euro bargains and waiting or not waiting, no one can predict what will happen with the conversion rates. It is like the stock market, it goes up, down and you take a chance. But as I said this is the lowest I have seen the Euro in several years and it appears to be a good time to buy. Plus you will need some Euro when you get off the plane. Have some so you can take transportation to your hotel and don't get the Euros at the airport or at the hotel. They offer the worst rates. Do check with your bank about what banks they deal with or if your bank is near where you will be in France and Spain. Do make sure you notify your bank ( if you use the ATM's any where, any bank ATM) and your credit card company and tell them what dates and countries you will be in so that they don't block your card and think it is fraud. Have a great time!
One last thing, if all else fails, you can go to American Express to see what their rates are and buy Euro from them, they do charge a fee ( $3.00 or $4.00) to buy currency. But if you have an american express card I believe they will not charge you a fee.
I can understand the appeal of the incredibly good rate right now. But I would be surprised if the euro goes through the roof again quite so soon. In any case, for years our routine is to wait until we get to the European airport. Then we go to an ATM. One withdraws money while the other one waits (and of course would notice if anyone was looking over our shoulder, etc.). Once the money is withdrawn we go to the nearest rest rooms (well, toilets as the Europeans call them since there is generally no snoozing in them) and put the cash in our money belts (of course keeping a bit a little more accessible for what we'd need in the very short term).
Of course I must admit that we generally also have some euros left over from previous trips. We never change back money in the hope that we'll be traveling again in the near future (hope springs eternal)
Yes the dollar is stronger against the euro than it has been in many years. That trend might get even better, or it might start falling again. There is no way for the average person to know or predict, and even veteran currency traders sometimes get burned. Lesson, don't try and play the currency markets. Get a little cash ahead to have in your pocket on arrival if you want, but get the rest as you need it from ATMs.
The other reason to avoid buying now is that you will most likely pay between 5-10% to buy currency in the US. That comes either or both in fees and poor exchange rates. When getting cash at an ATM, you pay the current interbank rate and any fees charged by your bank (some have a 1-3% foreign transaction fee and some have an out-of-network fee). Some banks don't have any fees using the ATM and it's easy to open an no-fee account (several get mentioned here a lot).
In Ann's example, she claimed to have just bought euro for 1.22. The current interbank rate (which you would get using an ATM) is 1.156. That's about a 5% difference. Not too bad really for buying here in the US, but a far cry from free or just a few percentage points. And it's been steadily dropping, which means any euro bought recently has lost its value.
I don't claim to have bought the Euro at 1.22 at the Bank of America. I did buy the Euro at 1.22. I am only giving you options on how to buy the Euro before your trip. The rate can go up or down and only saying if you need euro before your trip, on how to obtain the euro before the trip. You may have find a better rate than I did and that will be excellent. Many people feel that the rate will go down and that may be the case. I am no expert nor did I claim to be one. I am just pointing out how to obtain Euro before you leave home. Just wanting to make it clear to others on this site. Have a great trip as I know you will.
@ Ann...Even at 1.22 I would buy the Euro. Yes, I could chance it by waiting for it to drop lower still against the $ as it has (now at $1.179) but i don't have to be that greedy. The key is to know when to quit waiting, regardless. $1.22 was the right moment to buy. $1.22 is much better than when the rate stood at $1.33.
This question always confuses me but I admit I am not financially astute. I usually buy 500 Euro from AAA 3 weeks before my trip. It costs me about 700 US. That 500 lasted for my entire 4 nights/5 days in Paris and included taxi from CDG to the center of Paris, all meals and Velib biking around the city, metro tickets and tour of Roland Garros (site of the French Open) plus test driving a Ferrari from Champs-Elysees to the Eiffel Tower and back. My hotel and EF tickets along with the train to Switzerland were prepaid. Did I get a bum deal on the exchange?
Even at 1.22 I would buy the Euro. Yes, I could chance it by waiting for it to drop lower still against the $ as it has (now at $1.179) but i don't have to be that greedy. The key is to know when to quit waiting, regardless. $1.22 was the right moment to buy. $1.22 is much better than when the rate stood at $1.33.
Fred - This is a confusing post. The current interbank rate is 1.159 (not sure where you got 1.179). That's a 6 cent difference over 1.22 and about 5%. And it has been steadily improving since last August. People here go on and on about opening new checking and credit card accounts here to avoid the 3% fees many banks charge. 5% is pretty significant and most of us would claim highway robbery if we paid 5% in ATM fees. So how can you say buying at 1.22 was the right time to buy when it is 5% less now and getting better?
@Ann - I was just using your example to show the cost difference between buying euro in advance (especially those that get all their cash) and getting as you need at the ATM.
I go back to the point that almost everyone here makes: except for some cash on hand, get your money from the ATM as you need it. If you choose to buy all your euro ahead of time, that is your choice but know that it does cost you money.
@ Doug...It all depends on what you are comfortable with, 1.22 or lower. Of course, when the exchange rate stood at 1.22 I did not know it would get even better for Americans, esp now at ca 1.16. I am used to seeing the rate at 1,.30 and above. At that moment at 1.22 you could wait still longer for the Euro to continue dropping, as if there were a guarantee for that to take place. If anyone can guarantee me the rate will go to one to one with the dollar, then I'll know that I should have been more patient. In the old days when the $ would drop and drop against the rising DM, at a certain point the Central Banks intervened, such as in the 1980s.
Aren't we happy with the conversion rate at this point? I remember it being so much higher a year ago, when we first started planning our trip for this spring.
Just think at how much money we'll be saving. :)
@Fred - If the dollar were steadily falling over a period of months and most predictions and economic indicators show that it would continue to fall, then I could see your point about cutting losses and buying some euro in advance. Still a risk given the cost to buy euro (the rate would have to go up by at least 5% not to lose money), but a more reasonable one. Yet the dollar has been strengthening steadily since August and most indicators show it continuing to strengthen. So buying now has a huge risk of buying euro that is dropping in value on top of the upfront purchase fees. If planning to travel in the next few weeks, not a big deal. But if planning summer travel, the rate could reasonably drop another 5-10%.
"Aren't we happy with the conversion rate at this point?" I certainly am. Last spring (2014) the rate was ca $1.40. When I got over there in mid-May 2014, it had dropped a bit, say 1.35 give or take, still not good enough, and still bad. Now, the pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme. where rate is at 1.15 and this is projected to drop even more in the next three months, until sometime in April, if you believe in the accuracy of these projections. I might find myself with the rate somewhere between 1.10 to 1.15 by the time I get over in late May to begin my trip. Still, at 1,22 I was satisfied, it was good enough but anything lower in May/June I won't turn down, time to stock up (some) for the next trip.
