Buying Euro's in June for Europe in July

You should read Rick Steve's "Money 101" essay to get the full story.:

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/moneytip.htm

Generally, it can be cheaper to get your Euros from an ATM in Europe, as US banks will charge you four to six percent over the interbank exchange rate if you buy Euros from them here in the US. But, that's not the end of the story, because as you can see from reading Rick's essay, depending on what bank's ATM card you have, you may have to pay fees to withdraw from ATMs that will minimize any savings.

As to predicting whether the Euro is going to go up or down in the next month or two, well, that's impossible to predict, just like the stock market.

Another issue with getting all of your Euros before your trip is that you would be carrying around a lot of cash. I personally would be uncomfortable with that.

Just do a modicum of research on this site and you will find dozens of similar questions and hundreds of responses. If you buy Euro in the US you will pay a premium ranging from 5 to 10%. The current trend is downward so the probability of the Euro increasing more than 5% in the next 45 days is pretty low. You will always get the best exchange rate by using a debit at an ATM in Europe.

I have never pre-purchased foreign currency, but I decided to do so for our trip in June. Folks are right, the best rate that you will typically get is through the ATM with a card that doesn't charge feed.

However, this time I just felt like I wanted some cash in case the cards didn't work. My bank, Chase, charged me $1.30 on a day that the euro was at $1.26 but there was no additional fee since I am a customer. I thought that was reasonable, as you are never going to get the spot rate,

I bought Euros on Friday when it closed at approx 1.24. My bank charged me 1.29 with no extra fees. So from my bank 100 Euro would cost me $129. If a European ATM gave me a rate of 1.25, which would be generous, 100 Euro would cost me $125, but I would also have to pay a $5 fee plus a fee for not using a Wells Fargo ATM and maybe even a foreign transaction fee depending on the card. To me it's worth more to have the money ahead of time, especially if I can't find an ATM that would take my card like when I was in Edinbugh.

Marcie....if you took out 300 Euro, you would pay $387 at your bank. If you take it out at an ATM in Europe, the cost would be $372+$5....$377.
To minimize transaction fees, ask around. B of A, I believe, has agreements with several major banks in Britain, Germany, France, and Canada to eliminate the fees at each others's branches in their home countries.