buying euros before going to europe

cryer,

You should be able to buy Euro at your local financial institutions or perhaps at AAA. I always have various currencies left over from previous trips, so haven't had to buy any locally for quite awhile. It would help to know where you're located, as one of the forum members may have information on the best places in your area.

No, the Euro is not used in Hungary. They used the Hungarian forint.

You might want to delete your duplicate thread on this topic, so that you keep all replies i the same place.

1) Your local bank. But that is not the best place to get Euros. The best place and cheapest to get Euros is from a cash machine (ATM) after you arrive. But some people feel more comfortable having Euros in their pockets before they arrive; so in that case get some from your local bank, and use cash machines thereafter.
2) No, the Euro is not used in Hungary. They use the Hungarian forint.

And why are you asking about Hungarian currency under the topic "Italy"?

Use an ATM - don't buy anything ahead of time. Google Hungarian currency so you know the exchange rate beforehand.

There are many, many places in the US where you cannot just "get them from your local bank" unless you order them ahead of time (which includes a pretty hefty fee). The ATM is the best answer. If you really must have a little on hand before your trip, you can order some online through Wells Fargo or other places (and no, we don't have actual Wells Fargo banks anywhere near me).

I just checked Wells Fargo / AAA they taking off another 9.00 $ as a fee besides the exchange rate.. BUT I don't want to go without some euros so will buy some. Most after I arrive.

We always prefer to have a hundred or so of the local currency in pocket when we land. If not left over from a prior trip, we will order from our local bank paying a fee around 10% or so. But it is only a hundred dollars so a $10 fee is fine. After that is a debit card at a bank owned ATM in the country we are visit - cheapest and best way to obtain local currency. Why Hungary in the Italy section?

The best place to buy Euros is not any where prior to arrival but at your destination. I have always been able to find and use an ATM cash machine at my arrival airport be it Euros, GB Pounds or the various Krone. That said, some folks are very insecure in not landing with local currency in pocket. Major banks will deliver or sell Euros at a generous to the bank mark-up.

See Rick Steve' advice:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/cash-tips

Don’t buy foreign currency in advance. Some tourists just have to have euros or pounds in their pockets when they step off the airplane, but smart travelers don’t bother and know better than to get lousy stateside exchange rates. Wait until you arrive at your destination; I’ve never been to an airport in Europe that didn’t have plenty of ATMs.

I haven't been to Hungary, but here is what XE.com says:
http://www.xe.com/currency/huf-hungarian-forint
The Hungarian Forint is the currency of Hungary. Our currency rankings show that the most popular Hungary Forint exchange rate is the HUF to EUR rate. The currency code for Forint is HUF, and the currency symbol is Ft.
Interbank rate is currently about 280 HUF to the USD.

Edgar,

"That said, some folks are very insecure in not landing with local currency in pocket."

This is not a question of being "insecure" but rather a personal preference based on convenience and individual travel style. I like to have some currency at hand when I arrive in a new country to pay for meals, taxi fare or whatever. When I disembark from a long international flight I'm tired, grouchy and not in the mood to stop at ATM's. I want to get my luggage and get out of there and to my hotel as quickly as possible.

Rick can use whatever travel methods he wishes, and I intend to do the same.

Honestly, I see absolutely no reason whatsoever to go to the trouble and expense of getting Euros in the US before leaving. Unless you are going to arrive at some tiny backwater airport at 3 am, I am very confident that virtually every casual tourist is going to walk straight past a dozen convenient, low-cost, easy-to-use, reliable ATMs before they will step outside their arrival hall. Sure, do what makes you feel good. But if you jump through hoops and spend money needlessly, you're probably going to feel less good about that as you see everyone else coming off your flight stopping for less than a minute at an ATM and walking away with a wallet full of Euros.

With all due respect, in my experience the notion of "buying Euros" before a trip is an anachronism as much as travelers checks and steamer trunks are. Do what makes you feel good, but...if you're arriving at a major airport, worrying about showing up without some Euros in your pocket does not rational to me.

David,

"the notion of "buying Euros" before a trip is an anachronism as much as travelers checks and steamer trunks are"

With all due respect, I don't agree! For me this is a matter of expediency and convenience.

"as you see everyone else coming off your flight stopping for less than a minute at an ATM and walking away with a wallet full of Euros"

Stand in a queue at the ATM behind a horde from my flight - not going to happen!

Sure, you can buy Euros or whatever currency you want from various large banks and other currency exchange places (even that booth at the airport) if you want. But none of them are very good if you think about the cost. They all use a marked up (in their favor) rate and many charge fees. My bank charges 10% over the posted interbank rate you see on Google and up to $25 in fees depending on how quickly you need the currency. And they don't deal in all currencies, just the major ones. Don't know if Hungarian qualifies as major enough for them to even have it.

I have been to Europe multiple times a year over the past 10 years. Only the very first time I went did I get currency before leaving home. There are plenty of ATM cash machines in the major airports in Europe that charge no fees and you get the posted interbank rate on the currency you get from them (your bank may charge fees, but in all likelihood will be less than what is charged if you get currency before leaving). I may have had to look for one that was a bank operated one vs. the exchange booth ones and I wait until after clearing passport control to start looking, but it has never taken more than a couple minutes and there have never been more than 1 or two people queued up.

But do what makes you happy. This topic seems to be as polarized as an election. :-)

cryer37 the original question you asked was not whether to buy euro ahead of time, but where. The answer might be your financial institution,, AAA, or even an airport kiosk, depending on how much you are willing to pay for the cost of the convenience. Fees and the buy/sell rates are different whatever choices you have, and all those places have to make money on the transaction or they wouldn't be doing it.

I'm with Ken. After a 9-hour flight with 7-year-old twins, I don't want to have to hunt down an ATM -- no matter how prevalent they are. This is my first trip abroad, so call me a newbie perhaps, but to me, it's sheer convenience. We have a driver picking us up, and it will be nice to just find him and get down to business of getting on with our vacation! Maybe I'll realize how simple it is to visit theATM, but we got Euros at Wells Fargo, our bank, and are happy to be "good to go" from the get-go. I thought their exchange rate was reasonable.

P.S. We got them going in the bank and so saved the ship fee. The exchange rate was as posted anywhere, as of yesterday -- I have several accounts there so there was no other fee.

RE: ...we got Euros at Wells Fargo....

It would be interesting to see what kind of exchange rate Wells applied in selling you Euro currency.

USFOEX Interbank historical rate is reported as follows for the cost in USD of 1 EUR for the past few days:
http://www.usforex.com/forex-tools/historical-rate-tools/historical-exchange-rates

Day/Mo/Yr vs Cost of 1 EUR in USD:
15/03/2016 1.110300
16/03/2016 1.109650
17/03/2016 1.106700
18/03/2016 1.132900
19/03/2016 1.127100
20/03/2016 1.126995
21/03/2016 1.126995
22/03/2016 1.124000
23/03/2016 1.120800
24/03/2016 1.116500
25/03/2016 1.117100
26/03/2016 1.116645
27/03/2016 1.116495
28/03/2016 1.116495
29/03/2016 1.119445

In our area Wells Fargo is the best source if you are a customer. The fee is roughly 5% and they bury it in the exchange rate. It is service, involves some work, so the bank will make a little on the transaction. AAA tends to be closer to 10% and American Express can range between 8 and 12%.

The best domestic source of Euros or other foreign currency are friends/relatives who returned from foreign travel bringing back excess currency. Good friends will sell you all or some of their surplus currency at ATM rates of exchange.

I don't mind returning home with some extra Euros or currency of other countries that I would like to revisit. Having a surplus of currency that isn't USD, EUR or GBP is more expensive to exchange. When I departed the Czech Republic heading for Norway, I had over bought CZK. The airport currency exchange kiosk would only exchange CZK for NOK by first converting the CZK to USD or GBP then converting again to NOK. (I exchanged the surplus CZK back to USD and obtained NOK from the Oslo airport ATM).

I don't see the exchange rates and minor fees as being much of an issue. If I were making my first trip and needed €50-75, I'm not going to whine and nit-pick about a few bucks on a trip that is costing me $5-10K overall. The exchange rates on that pittance really aren't a big deal. Basically this situation comes down to "each to their own", and others are free to use ATM's at arrival as they wish, and I'll continue to use my preferred method.

I agree with Edgar. We had a friend going to Ireland for Spring Break, so we asked her to get 200€ from an ATM and bring it back and then we just wrote her a check.

Thanks everyone for your input. I am in Colorado and will probably wait for the ATM's in Europe to purchase afte seeing the many varying opinions. Again thanks so much.

thanks for the advice in Co at Wells Fargo in Denver.