Euro to dollar just changed in traveler favor

Just saying, you will save about 5%, or more, getting euros from an ATM there. But you should do what is comfortable for you.

Note: No Fee does not mean the exchange rate is favorable.

It's been bouncing between a $ buying .86 or .87 since early March.

Ordering euro currency before traveling the to eurozone? Never have done. I just use a no fees to use, fees rebated debit/ATM card at the first bank affiliated ATM machine encountered....almost always such have been at arrival airports. Simple. Economical. But, if you are nervous, do as you plan. Enjoy your trip.

Everyone says use your credit card in Europe. Visa today at 17:56 Central European Time 1 EUR = 1.178201 USD before any fees your card may have.

Buying Euro at my bank in the US today. 1 EUR = 1.19109 USD

$1,191.09 - $1178.20 = $12.89 extra for buying 1,000 euro in the US. (1.3% more). If your peace of mind is worth $13 then do it. Wont make the slightest dent in your holiday budget.

Everyone has their own needs and priorities when it comes to foreign currency. For some, pre-ordering currency fits their needs. The OP was just trying to share what he/she felt was a good opportunity for those folks. Thanks for sharing.

Watch out Mr. E! I just saw a TV add for Visit Budapest on CNBC.

Thanks for the info. Good to know! I'm with you - I like to bring a few euros along. I like to not add "look for the right type of ATM and successfully operate it" to my jet lagged arrival process. I laughed when reading Cameron Hewitt's ode to jet lag, including where he left his card in an ATM machine one time.

I see the Euro /$ exchange has dropped a bit in favour of the $. Officially it's $1.15 to the Euro, whereas before it stood at $1.19 to the Euro.

If the current $ 1.15 is the official rate, then I can expect BofA to charge me $1.20 when I withdraw over one thousand grand from the checking....fair enough.

Plan now is to take out at least 1,800 dollars to be converted to Euros. No transaction fee charged by BofA

I don't worry about these small changes in the exchange rate USD to euro.

But here is something that might be of interest: I have probably about 1000 euro in cash at home. I've had this amount for probably 6 or 7 years. A few times a year, I bring a few hundred euro with me to Europe and, inevitably, I return with those exact same bills, maybe minus 100 euro at most but usually much, much less. So the same bills have made it back and forth over the Atlantic about 10 times or more...

I seem to use credit cards for everything nowadays...taxis, hotels, tolls, petrol, museum entries, restaurants, clothing purchases, groceries, bakeries, ice cream shops.....

.I was away for the month of March, in Spain, and as far as I remember, the only cash I spent was 100 euro on tips at my B&B.

Sam, I am biting my tongue so many things I coukd say about that. So far a quiet year for tourism. Very nice.

Officially it's $1.15 to the Euro

Fred, there is no "official rate". No one will get that rate Fred listed and no one should budget their tri based on what the internet says.

If you take whats listed and adjust it 4% against you in both the buy and sell price you will come close to real world situations. But ou close, as tge price changes continuously all day.

I was surprised by the add. I do not recall any European city ever having a TV add campaign.

Yes, surprising. Also the choice of venues is surprising. I guess dont see where its crazy to try. But US tourists dont mske 10% of the tourists here. But they do tip almost as well as the Germans.

@ Mr E....Official rate or not, I use the rate provided by Bloomberg or that I see in the WSJ. From the rate I can guess pretty accurately what rate BofA will charge me for my withdraw. I have kept all the receipts of these BofA transactions, obviously. They all show exactly that , say $1.11 as seen on Bloomberg, BofA charges $1.17.

Note: I didn't say that one would get $1.15 but something a bit worse. I know what I would get at BofA with the "official "rate , $1.15.

The rate today , 6 April was $1.15, BofA will give me the rate of $1.21 at its worst. Maybe $1.20XX , depending on the 3rd and 4th digit after the decimal. You can bet on that.

Fred, you can go to BoA account website and they will tell you exactly the number. Yesterday, at the time I checked, the rate i listed above would have been the exact rate i would have gotten from BoA. And I dont see a thing wrong with getting some or all of your travel cash in advance.

I go to the Bof A branch located near Union Square, the well-known spot where the cable cars are boarded to inquire about foreign currency , ie Euro, exchange. The other branches in the cities no longer handle that sort of transaction. If the Euro rate according to WSJ and Bloomberg stood at $1.20 , I can guess that Bof A's rate would be $1.26...fair enough , just it was $1.16 when the "official" rate was $1.10. I have the receipt for that free transaction since I pulled out over 1,000 dollars.

Fred, you can also order it online and they will deliver it to any branch for you to pick up.

I had some great Euro Karma last week. I do gig work for a neighbor who keeps of stash of Euros and GBPs on hand - they travel a lot. In the past, I have bought currency from them using the BofA exchange rate. But last week they just paid me in Euros!

$1.11, $1.15, $1.19...You should all count yourselves fortunate that you are not paying $1.61 CDN to the Euro which I'm paying along with my fellow Canadians, as I sit in my Pitigliano, Italy tourist apartment (sipping limoncello and watching Mrs Peter cook dinner!).

I do have sympathy for Canadians, I have met many nice Canadians when I spend my January in Oaxaca .
The responses to my post has been interesting .
Yes a relatively small expense for a trip is not significant except when small expenses add up, like ATM fees in Europe or a small difference in Euro to dollar when I use my credit cards (always pay in local currency not USD.
However I am extremely fortunate to be able to travel to Europe as often as I have been doing for the past 3 years.
Last year 4 trips , Three trips of 22 days and I trips of 16 days.

On track for 3 upcoming trips this year.
I have a Vodafone account that charges me $28 per month, so as soon as I land I have 5gz, and roaming is no charge all over Europe. Works for me,not saying it would work for others.
I have a trenitalia account in the app that allows me to add euros to my trenitalia wallet. Works for me, not saying it would work for others.

Comparing exchange rates between countries really is not an accurate method of determining value, as in if $1.62 CAD is worse than $1.16 USD, for example is 185 Japanese Yen to the euro better or worse than either? Maybe, but not because 185 is more than 1.62.

However, yes, I do feel for the Canadians as the $1.60 CAD range is the worst rate since early 2009, whereas the $1.16 USD is pretty typical of the last 10 or 11 years, where the rate has bounced between $1.10 and $1.20, with a few dips lower here and there, better than the previous 10 years though, where the norm bounced between $1.20 and $1.40. going as high as $1.50.

The last few years the exchange rate was very favourable to the $.

Checking my file of the exchange receipts , I see that 24 Dec 2024 the "official" rate was $1.03., as good as it gets / got. The year prior to the pandemic on 24 April 2019 the rate stood at $ 1.O6 . On 11 Nov 2012 the rate was $1.O6.

Bottom line: Yes, there is movement but as it gets better for the $ , say at $1.O6 I go to the bank and do the exchange transaction, ie no more waiting to see if the rates moves to $1.04 or 1.03....odds?

Currently, at $1.16 or 1.15 time to exchange, no use waiting for 1.13 ....odds?

@ Peter....Your point is well taken in regards to the $ rate to the Euro vis-a-vis CDN , I am indeed fortunate.

In June of 2024 you got 1.03 dollars got you a euro. Today it's 1.17. The US Dollar has been devalued almost 15%, and that's on top of the inflation our President says we don't have. It's very noticeable when you live in the EU and get paid in $.

Well, it reversed today now that there is a 2 week hold on ending civilization Iran.

The Dollar is tumbling as I forecast in my posts predicting a
ceasefire. USD will now unwind all its rise from the past month, which
was entirely due to short-term safe haven flows that'll now reverse.
We're back to Dollar weakness for the rest of 2026... --Robin J
Brooks, Former Chief Economist at IIF and Chief FX Strategist at
Goldman Sachs.

I dunno myself.

I only know one thing is for sure and that is travel to Ireland is priceless.

Happy travels.