Are people taking cash to Europe

Are you suggesting taking US$ in cash to Europe and exchanging them there for Euro !

Yes.

I figured it's better to exchange it there than here in the states. If I get Euros here I'll probably have to pay some fee.

And where would you exchange it there, without incurring some kind of fee let alone finding some merchant who will accept it.

I guess I read the exchange rate wrong. I thought I was getting more with the dollar. It appears you still get less.

Do not take American cash to Europe to exchange for Euros! Instead use your Debit card to get euros from an ATM machine once you are there. This will involve less risk and probably give you the best deal.

Where are you headed? Asking that to see what you might need money-wise to get from the airport to your first location. I used to start with about 200E to start with but now you can usually use a CC for a taxi or train in to town. I do make sure I've got Euro left over from the end of a trip to give me seen money for the next time. I also find that with each trip I am using less and less cash and more and more card or Apple Pay.

If you are IN Europe, you will do better getting money from a bank-run ATM in your first location. Don't take a wad of dollars with you.

The exchange rate you see advertised is called the Interbank Rate, basically the rate used by banks when they move large amounts of money between countries. Consider it the Wholesale Price of cash.

That rate right now, to buy 1 euro, costs about $1.02, pretty good based on past years, at one time it stayed at about $1.20 plus/minus.

The bad news is, you do not get this rate. When people convert cash for you, they are retailers, they have to make a profit.

If you get euros in the US, you can plan on paying 5-8%, so $1.07 to 1.10, it is about the same if you find an exchange bureau in Europe.

If you do it at an airport, that can go up to $1.15.

The good news is, if you can use an ATM and avoid fees and something called DCC, then you get very near the $1.02 rate, maybe $1.03, sometimes you may not notice the markup since rates change constantly. You get the same rate using credit cards excepting any fees your card charges).

Don't take cash, unless you want a little in your pocket. Once there, don't get much. Use your credit card (hopefully no fees) and if it has contactless capability, tap to purchase, even for small amounts.

Friends who just spent two months in England said they used less than $100 cash. Some places no longer took case, so be sure you have debit cards from more than one bank (one as a backup) and a couple of different credit cards. Cash is out in many countries.

When we travel overseas I always take about $500 cash as a backup. We might come home with most of it, but still it is nice to have a backup.

Also, upon arrival we generally buy a modest amount in local currency to use when credit cards are not always accepted, like public toilets, taxis, etc.

We have found that exchanging dollars for foreign currency in the USA usually has terrible exchange rates. My wife does have a Bank of America account and they generally provide the best rates in the USA, but not as good as an ATM oversea.

tyler, on top of that, its not that easy to exchange cash these days. Many of not most banks in Europe will only do this for current customers, not anyone off the street. And then they dont have to give the official exchange rate, because there is no such thing. The money changers on the street will also charge a lot for the convenience of taking your dollars. Yes the dollar is getting you more these days, but to take advantage of it, you need to use debit cards to get euro at an ATM, and credit cards over there for all your purchases.

I know the temptation to go to your local bank and get them to sell you a wad of euro in anticipation of your next trip. I feel that too. But just know that there are extra costs involved.

Cash or credit card is a personal thing.

The Visa rate (what you will get if you use your credit card) is 1 USD = 1.005519 EUR. So check that against your bank then decide how much you may want to convert and bring. Figure a good exchange house in Europe will probably beat what your bank offers, but not by much.

I still like to have cash in my pocket so I generally bring Forints and Euros but only a few hundred dollars worth of each. Mostly leftovers from ATM draws on previous trips.

You can't do bad or wrong no matter what you choose. 2% lost in a bad exchange on a few hundred dollars might add up to a 0.005% increase in the cost of your trip.

We get free exchange from our credit union and I always take a couple of hundred euros with me. It's cheaper for me to get euros here than it is from an ATM there. For our upcoming trip, I'll be paying for our six car and driver trips with cash. Our drivers are in private business and our paying in cash is allows them to avoid credit card charges. We have also arranged day trips with drivers through our Airbnb hosts, and we're paying them cash, too. It's occurred to me that they may not declare the income, but that is none of my business! I'm in the minority here, I'm sure, but I prefer paying in cash as it limits my changes of card fraud and/or having it mangled by an ATM, which has happened to me.

I always take cash to Europe, about one hundred or so US dollars and a lot more Euro in 10, 20 and 50 denominations. The Euro are those left over from previous trip(s) or withdrawn from my BofA account, taking out $1,000 (no fee by BofA) when the exchange was $1.05 to the Euro. Obviously, prior to parity. No problem carrying the cash on me as I use the neck pouch and the hidden pocket, the wallet too.

I always take some Euros to Europe. It's one less thing to stop for as soon as I get off the plane, and then I use my debit card at ATMs there if I need more. I get my foreign currency at AAA. They have reasonable exchange rates and their small fee is nothing compared to how much I am spending for my vacation.

We fall in the category that takes a few hundred euros with us, generally saved from previous trips or bought from AAA. Before the pandemic we used to be able to get it from our local bank because Las Vegas got so many European travelers. We’ve run into enough situations, either taxi drivers or unplanned arrivals, where cash has made things run more smoothly that we make sure we have enough to our destination.

I plan to get £ and € before I leave. I missed the exchange low rate, but it really is only a few $s difference. BAC's current buy rate is £1 = $1.2821 and €1 = $1.0726, roughly 5%. Since I land at Heathrow I plan to have £50 in my purse. I know me; I'll be tired, a little cranky and won't want to deal with ATMs. My Venice B&B at the end of my trip wants to be paid in cash, so I am taking their €450. The worrier in me won't want to deal with potential ATM problems. My friend from Ireland is reimbursing me in Euros for some of our pre-paid expenses in London. Any more £ or € cash I may need I can get from an ATM. But from what y'all have posted, credit cards and Apple Pay work even better than cash. Any leftover €s will be used next June.

For my upcoming trip to Scandinavia, I expect to take exactly no cash with me. Sometimes it's nice to have a small amount of euros in your pocket to pay for a bus ride into town, or a snack at a street vendor. Lately, however, anything you can buy with cash can be purchased with a card. That's especially true up north. I'll enjoy the exchange rate when my credit card bill comes. I'm glad I didn't book, and pay, for my trip months in advance - this time, anyway.

Only reason to have US cash is for small purchases when you return . . and those are pretty rare these days

Well, I live here so the question doesn't really affect me, but am chiming in with the paying cash or CC for things. If you are coming to Germany or Spain, lots of places are cash only. Restaurants, tours, food stands, markets, and of course the things you need change for like WC or buskers. Honestly I find it weird to use a CC to pay for a bottle of water or other small items.
I would certainly get at least 100€ from a bank ATM, not those random ATMs you see on the streets or the ones connected with the money exchanges, like Reise Bank.

I take $100 U.S. cash with me. But I seldom have to exchange it. To get Euros, I use the ATM card from home. And I actually use very few Euros when traveling--using the Visa card most often.

The day or two before flying home, I estimate the amount of Euros I can spend and keep enough to buy breakfast at the airport McDonalds so I return with no Euros left.

Just returned from two weeks in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Had about 50€ left over from a prior trip. Used my credit card in most places and the left over cash in the few places that either required cash or it was simply convenient. I don’t carry US dollars around when traveling in Europe. If necessary using a bank affiliated ATM is convenient.

I’ve taken 12 trips to Europe and have never brought any US dollars with me, other than the small amount I might need at the domestic airports before arriving in Europe.

If I don’t have leftover Euros from the previous trip (I usually bring home around 100 Euro for the next trip), I order about 250-300 Euros from my local bank a month before my trip. It costs a little more than using a bank ATM when I arrive in Europe, but I don’t do bank transactions when I have jet lag. After that money is used, I just continue to obtain Euros from a bank in Europe. I have a Capital One preloaded ATM card that I prefer to use overseas, so I’m not using my normal bank ATM card.

When I used to use more cash I’d like to get something like 100 - 300 euros ahead of time at AAA. Often the ATM in the airport is that high fee travelex one. Sure, there might be a better one,m hiding in some corner but is it accessible to international arrivals and can a jet lagged me find it? Easier to bring enough to start with and later on find a bank ATM once I’m more rested.

Now, I hardly use any cash so don’t bother unless I know I’ll need cash to get out of the airport. Usually l’ll book a ride online through a service that you pay via credit card (Uber, local equivalent, or transfer company), or the local public transit takes credit cards. I’ll get cash at an ATM in the city, amount depends on the country. In both Greece and Portugal this year I used almost no cash. Using the 20s from the ATM so I’d have change for bathrooms was a minor challenge!

In Germany, the Deutsche Bank ATMs are everywhere! Not hidden at all. Not sure about other countries.

"...or having it mangled by an ATM"

More and more financial institutions are offering Contactless ATMs

https://www.google.com/search?q=contactless+atms&client=firefox-b-e&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSwa7Rj6P5AhVuK0QIHSVZC4sQ_AUoA3oECAEQBQ&biw=1445&bih=859&dpr=1

Many good points made here. My 2 cents will be worth less because they're Canadian (strictly a metaphor since our pennies disappeared.) Yes, bring euros (or pounds) left over from the last trip, and take some home for the same reason . Yes, use ATMs tied to banks. Yes, beware of Dynamic Conversion and the rare bank ATM that adds a fee to what your card-issuing bank charges. Carry two ATM cards drawn on different banks, but don't carry both in the same pocket.

The one area that concerns me is transaction fees. It is very hard to find any Canadian credit or debit card without a foreign currency fee. Some are a flat fee, others a percentage. At the end of the day the fees can really add up, especially for small transactions. Our cards all wear chips for efficiency, but we pay the price.

"At the end of the day the fees can really add up..."

At the end of the day it's peanuts actually ... 2.5% (the most favoured foreign transaction fee used by CDN banks) x $5,000 = $125.
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In Canada, there are a few offerings for no FTFs - check into cards issued by the likes of Brim or Home Trust and higher end bank credit cards with annual fees.

Mira, “ Using the 20s from the ATM so I’d have change for bathrooms was a minor challenge!”. There’s always gelato when you need to acquire some change for bathrooms. ; )

I’m one of those rarer people nowadays who just use Euros for everything that is an in-person transaction in Europe. Hotels, activity reservations and most train tickets are purchased on-line using a cc. So, I usually use my Euro coins for my daily gelato and keep a few coins for toilets or tram tickets. I have a Ziploc snack bag where I keep the exact change for the gelato-of-the-day.

Yes, bringing. I always come home with 300-1000 euro. Then the next year we're good to go without even hitting an ATM to start.

The euros that I'm taking from last year I've lost some value compared to converting now, but that amortizes out over many trips.

This trip I decided to play tourist a bit more than usual so I have been burning through cash paying day guides. Most are cash only. I've paid in the local currency, Euros and dollars. All were welcome. So bringing my stock of cas paid off.

I always take a couple hundred in Euro (small bills) which I order through my bank. If I need more while there I take cash from a bank ATM.