Euros'

There is no "exact difference". If you buy Euros at a bank in the US, the exchange rate varies depending on the bank, plus any service charges they may assess.

In general, at a US bank you will pay around 5 to 6 percent more for your Euros than you would at an ATM in Europe. For example, say the Euro is worth 1.25 if you withdrew from an ATM in Europe. At a US bank you will pay maybe 1.30 or more. Exchange bureaus, such as TravelEx at an airport, are even more expensive.

Mike, your question cannot be answered. Think of the Euro as a stock. The price changes minute to minute. See graph at

http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/graph120.html

Looks just like a stock performance doesn't it? Roughly today $1.24. In Europe at an ATM you mostly likely would have paid between 1.25 to 1.26. Two hours from now it might be a little more or a little less. But the point is -- ATMs always gives the interbank rate plus a 1% or less network fee buried in the exchange rate. There is no better exchange rate available anywhere !!!!

"ATMs always gives the interbank rate plus a 1% or less network fee buried in the exchange rate"

ATM don't "give" you anything. It's your bank that charges you exchange rates and fees. The "Network" charges your bank 1% over the Interbank rate, half for doing the transaction and half for converting the currency.

Some banks and credit unions absorb the Networks 1% fee, some for only a few transactions per period, some for only their best customers.

Small banks, like 1st Bank here in Colorado don't have foreign currency operations and just pass on to you the 1% they pay plus charge you $2 for an out of system ATM, just like they would if you used another bank's ATM here in Denver.

Major banks, like Chase, pay the Network in Euro, so they can save half of the 1%, then charge you 3% for converting the currency (integrity, apparently, is not a requirement in banking).

So, using ATMs in Europe will cost you 0% to 3% of the amount withdrawn. Getting Euro from Wells Fargo will cost you about 5% over, which is 2% to 5% more than ATMs in Euro, depending on your bank here.

That's either a heck of a deal, or there's a misplaced decimal point.

For those who, for whatever reason, wish to buy some euros in the US to have in hand on arrival, I just paid $1.28 at my own bank (Chase), with no added fees. That was figured on last Friday's rate (which was around 1.24, I believe). They might be cheaper if ordered today, as the euro seems to be heading downward again.

The euro closed at $1.22 today, the lowest in 4 years, and it looks to be going lower short term.

Now if we could just get there (volcano cooperating), so we can make our connections and not miss the first night of our hotel reservations (and have them canceled).

Steve: You're on vacation, have a glass of French wine and go to sleep. We'll keep things going here, somehow, until you get back.

Does anyone know if I can pay for a Eurail pass that I order from RailEurope or Eurail (I'm in the USA) in Euros? The prices are fixed and do not change with the fluctuating exchange rates. So, right now I can save about $240 on a pair of Month long Saver passes if I can pay the advertised Euro price, instead of the advertised Dollar price.

On the Eurail site, it lets you select currency, and shows me the price in Euros, but I'm worried they'll convert it to the advertised Dollar price (rather than convert based on exchange rate) since they are shipping it to me in the US.

What I want is for the transaction to be in Euros and let my credit card company perform the exchange conversion

Mike
you can check BofA online conversion for 1000 and no fee for handling - came out to about 1.30 (even though the EU was at 1.22)

2 weeks ago in Italy at an ATM I got 150Euros for $195 - also about 1.30

Schwab Checking ATM has no fees except the 1% for visa.

MARSHAL: a note for paying in Euros - your US Credit Card Bank will still likley charge the 3% foreign transaction fee unless you have a card like CapOne that doesnt do that. Usually the Card companies give you the best rate for conversion (or that used to be the case in the past anyways!) Maybe open an ING or Swiss account - but their fees are often higher than ours!

If you order your passes from Rail Europe, you pay the Dollar price advertised on their website, plus a shipping and handling fee.

If you order from Eurail, you pay the advertised Euro price on their website. There is no price connection between Rail Europe and Eurail. The Euro price will be converted to Dollars by VISA. This exchange rate is only about one percent over the interbank rate, so it's the best exchange rate you can get. But, as other have told you, your credit card company may also charge a foreign currency conversion fee, which can vary from zero to three percent, depending on the bank. Capital One cards are the best, with no transaction fee.

Mike, Allow me to correct some misinformation you have been given. I will use Visa as an example.
Exchange rates are set by Visa foer the day.
See http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/exchange_rates_faq.html
:Every day—except weekends, Memorial Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day—Visa calculates the rate for the next day's transactions. The Visa rate is selected from a range of rates available in wholesale currency markets or the government-mandated rate in effect one day prior to the applicable central processing date"

Visa does not charge cardholders

"Visa Inc. does not assess any fees to cardholders or merchants. Visa applies International Service Assessment (ISA) fees ranging from 0.15 to 1 percent to its financial institution partners for their use of the global payment system.

The fees are paid by financial institutions on transactions that require the use of our global infrastructure. Since Visa does not assess any fees to cardholders or merchants, we have no involvement in financial institution pricing to cardholders or merchants. If financial institutions or merchants decide to assess a foreign transaction fee to their customers, they are required to provide details to their cardholders and consumers."

Visa does not bury their fee in the exchange rate. A lawsuit brought about the following court order. http://www.ccfsettlement.com/documents/mdl_1409_settlement_agreement_1384141.pdf page 28 m
"MasterCard and Visa each agrees that it will not engage in
Embedding with respect to issuing Members in the United States."
page 11 s
"“Embed,” “Embedding” or “Embedded” means, in connection with a
Foreign Transaction, to include without separate identification or itemization any Foreign
Transaction Fee in the U.S. dollar transaction amount sent by MasterCard or Visa to issuing
Members, or by Diners Club or any of the Bank Defendants to cardholders"
page 10 o
"Defendants” means the Bank Defendants and the Network Defendants"