Money vs Euro

I think too that the downfall of the EURO will end soon. Last night and today it went a bit above 1.41 already.
You can buy EUROS now.

My guess is that gas prices will go up and the value of the dollar will go down starting Nov. 5.

Money vs. Euro! LOL.

I recently read a parody of useful phrases translated into German, French and Spanish. It was essentially every phrase an ugly American would use. One of them was, "How much is that in real money?"

I enjoy those comments about real money. Funny how we think ours is the real money. Ask any German and Brit or Frenchman and they will tell you theirs is the real money.

When you remember that ours was the standard a few years ago and now it is far below standard you realize that ours is Not the real money.

I still have a double take when I see the newer US bills with color. When I left the US it was only the 20s that had any color now it is the 5s!

My heart hit the floor the first time I withdrew the new £20 notes. I had no idea they were changing! The first thing I did was remind myself what country I was in and yep they were still purple anyway!

Gee, and I thought Euros were money!

Oh the endless speculation on exchange rates. I have taught myself not to worry about it, what will be, will be. The first Euros I bought were for just under $0.80 and the last nearing $1.50. On all my trips, I found that I have more control over what I spend for hotels, meals, and incidentals than the effect of any fluctuation of the currency. Any time I did consider hedging and "Stockpiling" Euros, the math doesn't work out, especially if you buy them here in the US (at todays rate, it would take about a $0.07 swing to just break even) Go, enjoy yourself, be a little frugal and you can offset any currency changes.

Buying a lot of Euros in the U.S. before you go is not a good idea because you get a better exchange rate from ATMs in Europe. Even after paying ATM and exchange commissions, it's still cheaper. And, if you bank with Bank of America, you can use some European bank ATMs for free, in some countries -- such as Barclay's in the UK and Deutsche Bank in Germany.

The only way I have found to "stockpile" Euros before your trip, to take advantage of the exchange rate having gone down, is to open a European bank account in Euros. Citibank in London is the easiest, and you can apply by mail. www.citibank.co.uk.
They will give you an ATM card that allows you to withdraw your Euros for free at any Citibank location in the Euro Zone. Citibank will take your personal check in Dollars as a deposit, too, although their Euro exchange rate isn't quite as good as what you would get at an ATM.

There is another way to get Euros at a cheap rate, but it will cost you a $2,500 minimum opening deposit at EverBank in St. Louis. www.everbank.com. EverBank has Euro accounts, and they will sell you Euros at a very favorable rate, pretty much equivalent to what you would get from a European ATM. And, they will wire your Euros for free to a Citibank account in London.

Most travelers are not going to bother with this sort of thing, but if you travel to Europe frequently, it could ultimately save you some money and hassles.

"Money vs Euro"? Char, is that a serious post? You might want to change the title to "US Dollar vs. Euro".

Char's post of last week hit the dollar at it's high point: $1.39, a week later it has weakened to $1.43, that's the interbank rate--typical ATM rate is now back to about $1.46 (interbank rate + 2%).

don't laugh - in Alaska one of the (sadly) common questions from lower-48 tourists is "can I pay in Dollars?"

I know money vs Euro..I posted this to a reply under that. I know Euros are money...sorry you misunderstood.

Chani,
I had to laugh! I plan to go to Alaska in 2009. I guess some people still don't know Alaska became our 49th state on January 3,1959! It's been such a long time, and it amazes me some people still don't know that. I should think today everyone should know Alaska is an USA state because of Sarah Palin! I guess that's one good thing that's come of that! LOL!

Well, when folks who lived in the US state of New Mexico called to get tickets for the last Olympics that were held in the US, many were told that since they were Mexican citizens, they couldn't get tickets via the US ticket sales office, and they needed to contact the ticket sales office in Mexico City. Seriously.

I'm gonna have to go with the ATM crowd on this one, since I am a budget flier and figure my expenses as close as I can always.

I used to buy Deutsch Marks at the Thomas Cook bank outlets at the airport, but that was then-this is now and although I also hope the Euro continues to decline, I won't expect it.

B~

The euro price just jumped 10 cents today as the market reacts again to the turmoil, now at $1.48....

I no longer worry about exchanging US dollars prior to the trip, or bringing US dollars to exchange in Europe. Its strictly credit cards wherever they're accepted, and debit cards in ATMs to fill in the gaps. Too easy!

We all know it's been weird out there in the financial market lately, for this week the dollar settled down, after it's weakening last week, into a range this past week of about €1.00 = $1.45 to $1.47 interbank rate, that's about $1.48 to $1.50 at a typical ATM in Europe.