Canadian to Euro Exchange

Your bestt net is to use an ATM card and to get withdrawals in Europe. You must tell your bank that you will be in Europe and advise your CC companies as well.
We see that you merely want to exchange a small amount- we guess for initial expenses. We cannot tell you which of the choices you suggest for changing money is the better. Suffice it to say that you will pay a fee no matter what you do-- YOU will always PAY!! Have a wonderful ( if money-draining) trip

Using ATMs in Europe will give you the best exchange rate. You will pay some fees at the ATM, but overall, it's still the cheapest way to get Euros.

Check out your Canadian Scotia Bank. If you have a checking account with them, you pay no fees at some European bank ATMs.

As to getting some cash Euros before you leave, you will find that exchanging at a bank will give you the best rate. Avoid exchange booth places, such as Travelex. They practically always have very poor exchange rates.

As to the Capital One credit card, it is true that they do not charge any foreign transaction fees of European purchaes, like most other cards do. The only negative thing I have heard about their card is that their customer service department is hard to deal with -- apparently, not very helpful if you have a problem, with long telephone hold times. But, I have never had any problem myself with the card.

Just wanted to pass along a tip... went to Italy at the end of June with another CDN friend. He had alot of trouble accessing his bank accounts through an ATM. No matter how many machines we tried in several different cities, the only option he had was to do a 'cash advance' on his credit card account (that was linked to his bank).
This often results in an extra 'cash advance' fee on your credit card that just stays on your bill until your entire balance is paid off.
My advice is to bring a bunch of Euros with you, then if you need more, change it at an American Express type money transfer office once you're in Europe.

Unfortunately, Capital One doesn't offer the same "no transaction fee" in Canada that it does in the U.S. By any stretch, ATMs are definitely the way to go, especially with you going for so long. And Scotiabank does have a deal with Barclays in the UK, BNP Paribas in France, and Deutsche Bank in Germany that eliminates the extra transaction fee when you use those banks in their home countries. For safety's sake, you should bring two ATM cards on two different accounts. Leave a couple of blank signed cheques with a trusted person. Then, if you have trouble with one ATM card (lost, stolen, damaged, etc), you can contact this trusted person, tell them the amount to fill in on the cheque, and move the money from one account to another.

Hi Isabella,

A few tips:

1) Get a couple hundred euro max before you leave, I totally understand your not wanting to arrive with nothing. From there, use ATM's as you go, you'll get a better rate. There's about a $5 fee per withdrawal though, on top of the exchange rate, so don't be getting 20 euro here and there, get a couple hundred each time as you need it.

2) Don't bother bringing (much) Canadian cash--I usually bring what I have on travel day in case but don't get more, and certainly there is no need to change to US and bring that--you'll only get hit twice.

3) Make sure your money here is in a chequing account, as it's extremely unlikely you'll have access to a savings account, even if it's linked to your card.

4) Not particularly advocating here, but I use BMO and have never had any problems (I'm sure the same can be said for all major Cdn banks though)

Happy Travels!

Also, I found that at some ATM's that I used in Spain, Italy and France, there was a limit on the amount that I could withdraw at one time, maybe because of the amount that could be taken out of ATM's here in Canada.

I deal with Royal Bank and there is a $5 charge for each withdrawal from my checking account. Also, my Royal Visa also charges 2 per cent on top of any charges in Euros.

I agree with calling your ATM bank and your credit card companies to let them know when and where you are traveling so that they don't freeze the cards.

One tip I have is to save 50 Euro from your current trip so that you already have a stash to start with in whatever European country your plane lands for your next trip- there will always be a next time once you get the travel bug :)

I wondered about how you would get a Capital One card in Canada. Sorry to hear they don't have the same no foreign transaction fees offer as they do in the U.S.

I was also going to recommend the Schwab Invest First VISA, which also has no foreign transaction fees, but I found they do not offer it in Canada.

It seems you Canadians are at somewhat of a disadvantage in terms of these credit card offers. Sorry to hear that. It's probably because the card companies have a smaller market in Canada than the US and figure it's not worth it to offer extra perks to attract Canadian customers.

Not very fair, but that's the credit card business.

Isabella,

I'd suggest taking about €100 or so to get started and then use ATM's after that. Do NOT take US dollars as you'll be paying two conversions (along with a fee for each one). Most financial institutions in Canada will be able to provide Euros, and you'll pay the prevailing exchange rate on the day you obtain these.

A few other tips:

• Make sure your travel funds are in a chequing account with a four number PIN.

• It's HIGHLY ADVISABLE to take at least two ATM cards on separate chequing accounts in case one malfunctions or is "digeted" by the machine. That happened to me about a month ago in France but fortunately I had a backup.

• Review your daily withdrawal limit with your Bank - you might need to increase it.

• Be sure to notify your Bank and all credit card issuers that you'll be travelling, as they may "freeze" your card if they see transactions showing up from Europe.

• As someone else suggested, have a means to top-up your travel funds if necessary. I deal with a Credit Union that has a call centre, so it's very easy to simply call them during business hours to make a transfer or whatever (I always travel with a Cell Phone). You can also pre-program transfers into your chequing account, if that option is available at your financial institution.

Happy travels!