I need 1300 Euros in cash the day I arrive in Rome. My bank limits my ATM withdrawals to about 400 Euros per day.
The apartment will accept Euro-denominated travelers checks, but charges a 4% premium.
What is the best and least expensive way to obtain actual Euro currency before leaving the US? Would travelers checks be a better decision, even with the premium?
Four percent is only about seventy bucks. You'd need to figure out the cost of getting them (fee and rate).
Another option might be to open a couple more bank accounts and suck money from each.
Anything else might get fairly complicated and time-consuming.
I'd agree with Wells Fargo. Today, they were selling Euro for $1.3585, just 4.8% over the Interbank rate. If you are not uncomfortable with carrying that amount of cash, that's about the best you'll get. If you get Euro-denominated TC over here, you'll pay the exch. rate + 5% here, plus maybe 1% for the TC, plus 4% over there. That's 10%.
I think your big mistake was taking a place over there that requires that amount up front. In 10 years in Germany, I've never had to do that. If they don't trust you, how can you trust them?
I suggest that you open an account with XE Trade. Money will be taken from your checking account by electronic transfer and converted to euro. The exchange rate will be only slightly higher than the international rate on the day the transaction is initiated. There are no fees. Have XE issue a bank draft in euro made payable to the landlord but have the draft mailed to you. Take it with you and hand it over when you arrive in Rome.
FYI, other options include having the draft sent to the landlord by regular mail or having the draft deposited directly into the landlord's bank account. Again, there are no fees. XE Trade also does wire transfers, but there is a fee for those.
For security reasons it takes a little time and effort to set up an account, but everything goes swiftly and smoothly after that.
Thanks so much to all of you for your helpful advice. I think paying up front is safe, because we are booking through sleepinrome.com, which has gotten good reviews.
It turns out that our daughter's German boyfriend is coming to the US next month and will bring 1500 Euros in cash, and we will trade him dollars for them.
Hi John, Talk with someone at your bank. Start with customer service and explain your dilemma. Go higher up if you need to, in order to get your request approved. I work for a bank (although a local bank, it has a big footprint in our state), and if one is a good customer, that minimum withdrawal amount can be increased temporarily, sometimes even permanantly. If they do, try it out before leaving home. You don't have to spend the money, just put it back into your account :)
The problem is that in Europe some ATM's will only let you take 200 or
300 euros even though your US dollar amount is $600 daily. Different ATM's have different limits.
Then you just hit the ATM two or three times. The local limit applies just to the that ATM.
In Rome I just hit the same ATM a few times to get my limit.
