Any suggestions on purchasing euros.

After 8 trips to Europe, I have a stockpile of several hundred Euro that I take with me to have some cash on hand when I arrive, and I always bring back enough to start my next trip. So, the only place I ever get Euro is at ATMs over there. However, I think it is a wise idea to have some with you when you arrive. Borrow it from a friend who has it left over from his last trip. Or else, get it from Wells Fargo; they have the best rates I have found.

One of my banks charges me 1% for POS CC purchases and 1% plus a few dollars for ATM usage. The other bank give me free ATM withdrawals (0% over the Interbank rate), but charges 3% for CC use. Guess which bank I use for what? Tell your bank to print out their rates from their "Intranet site".

If you have any friends that work in the banking industry, they usually get a preferred, employee rate, when purchasing euros. Perhaps they would purchase some for you - it works for me...

I also tried Wells Fargo and they were going to charge a $5 flat fee, no big deal for ordering the currency for me. Plus they were going to add a delivery fee, when pressed for how much that would be they could not tell. that was crazy to me so I that is why I decided to go with another bank where I at least knew what it was going to cost me, a slightly marked up euro.

I got some at my bank, Chase.
They had no service charge, but I think that is because they jacked up the exchange rate a bit. It was about $1.40 to 1 Euro and when I checked the actually exchange rate (before I went to the bank) it was $1.34.
I just got a little to get us started and will use the atms in Europe while travelling to replenish funds.

The best rate is going to be from an ATM in Europe. Most banks charge you a 1-3% currency conversion fee but there are some banks such as Capital One that don't; you can find more with a google search. My preference is to bring $100 or so converted into Euros with me so I have money to get started, then get the rest from ATMs.

I second AM STEVE's post. In going to Europe every summer, I find no need to have any European currency before I hit the ATM in the first airport is land in.

I'll third the recommendation... airport ATM. The chances that you will need to use the euro before you encounter an ATM are... well, about as close to 0% as possible. Otherwise, you're just paying extra money for unnecessary peace of mind.

I guess I'll "4th" it. Never done any other way and never had a problem getting money. Once I couldn't get cash out of an atm, went to the next one and got what I needed. Not having to carry a large sum of cash is, to me, a really big plus.

And, Dennis, Steve, Charlie, Tom, and Teena will all give you their home phone numbers and vow that if you can't get cash at the airport, they will personally fly over there with some.

March, 2004, I arrived at FRA with three ATM cards. The first two didn't work, and would not have worked in any ATM that day. Fortunately I had a third that did work, and, of course, I had my €200 stash with me. I have also heard people say that they arrived in Italy when the ATM "loaders" were on strike and all the ATMs were out.

A lot of major banks charge 3% for ATM exchange rates, only 2% less than Wells Fargo charges at a main branch, without shipping. It's really cheap insurance.

I don't know what the fees, if any, are, or the exchange rate. But if you're an AAA member, they now offer "starter packs" (can't remember if that's what they are called) of US$100 worth of Euros in cash that you can buy at AAA stores. (They also offer these in GBP, pesos and Canadian $.)

I always prefer, if possible, to have a bit of the local currency in my pocket when I land in a foreign country. As mentioned, you may not be able to walk right to an ATM at the airport and get cash on the spot, for any number of reasons. A little "walking around" cash on hand can't hurt.

Dennis,
I also like to have the currency prior to leaving for a trip. Any major bank should be able to get it for you. People have suggested Wells Fargo, and I know Bank of America has euros for a 5-6% markup. Peace of mind is worth quite a bit to me at least.

Lee is right. It is rare but ATM cards sometimes do fail to work in Europe, just as in the U.S. That has happened only once to me, but it is a terrible feeling to be stranded without access to cash. For instance, try paying a bus driver or buying a cup of coffee with a credit card. Now I carry a bank ATM card AND one from my credit union, just in case. I now also bring home 100 euros from a trip, figuring if I don't return within a year, someone will want to buy them from me for their own trip.

My experiences with airport ATMs are a bit different. Because of my work schedule I have to start my vacation on Sundays, so I arrive in Europe on a Monday morning. Doesn't matter which airport I arrive at, 9 times out of ten all the ATMs will be out of money because of the weekend. They're typically not filled until later in the day. Thus, if I don't have some sort of cash on me be it USD or Euros, I'm screwed. I usually carry about $200 USD with me in case of emergency, so I change about $50 at the exchange to desk to get me started and wait to use ATMs in the city center.

I also like to have some local currency when we arrive. We live in a small town, and none of our banks deal in foreign money. I have used www.ezforex.com to purchase enough money to get started. I have done this 3 times. They do just what they say they will. They show you the exact exchange rate before you buy. The rate was not as good as waiting for a cash machine in Europe, but I didn't buy much. It is shipped directly to your home by fedex or UPS. Worked fine for me.

If you dont have an account with Capital one, do so before you go to the trip. If you use capital one debit card in ATMs in Europe, they dont put any service charge (if you get money from banks that are partnered with Capital one). If you were to get from an ATM which is not a partner with Capital one, they still wont charge you any fee if you have a minimum of certain dollar amount in your checking account.

Also apply for Capital one credit card. You can use internationally anywhere and there is no foreign transaction fee.