Going to Europe in July.... Should I get Euro's now?? Does the dollar typically weaken v. the euro over summer or not? Furthermore, should I get euro's before leaving, or while in Europe... (im landing in Brussels)... any advice would be great
Posted by
Ballwin
833 posts
While you are there, the easiest way to get euros is to use your debit card and an ATM. Bring some euro with you to start out your trip (pay for the taxi or buy your train ticket to the hotel) but you don't need to carry a lot of cash with you. As far as buying them now: no one really knows. The dollar:euro is 1.48 right now which is pretty high. Could it increase buy July? Yes it could, especially considering the problems in the Middle East, etc. Could it decrease? Definitely. With Greece's bad economy, and Portugal needing a bailout, if either of those sink too much (or any big decisions about them are made) the euro will sink. If you were to buy euro now, how much would you get? Let's pretend at max you'd bring $500 worth over. Currently that'd be around 337 euro. If it rises to 1.7, $500 would be worth 294 euro. 43 euro is a decent change, but in my opinion not that huge. If it's a long trip, you will be spending thousands, so in total it won't make a huge difference whether you have the 43 euro or not. Basically, the euro could rise more, it could fall. Buy some if you would like, but it won't make too much of a difference--it may help, it may backfire. Last summer the euro did weaken due to Greece, but that's not usual circumstances (and we won't have usual circumstances this summer either, so usual summer trends won't necessarily matter).
Posted by
Gettysburg, PA
1589 posts
Andrew, there are 508 entries in the search feature for this topic. From that list, you will become an expert. IMO: No Maybe Use ATM as needed. I landed in Brussels 3 weeks ago. There were over 20 machines between the airpport & the train station.
Have a great trip!