Euros

I am staying at Pensioni B&B and they require euros so I am going to need more than 100 BUT I have decided not to get Euros before I go and just get them when I get there. Just was hoping for a better rate.

Agree. Banks and exchange bureaus in the US charge a lot for foreign currency. It's no doubt partially because they need to offset the cost of employees to staff their exchange bureaus and stock all that foreing currency.

You can get it much cheaper in Europe by withdrawals from your checking account using your ATM card. There is usually some fee involved for using the ATM, and your bank might also charge a "foreign transaction fee," usually about one percent, but even with these fees, it turns out a lot cheaper than buying Euros in the US.

Some banks, such as Bank of America, have agreements with some foreign banks not to charge you an ATM fee. For example, Bank of America customers can use Deutsche Bank ATMs in Germany for free.

Linda,

Here is one way to avoid having to make frequent large withdrawals to pay for your lodging. Open an account with www.xe.com/fx. I use mine to send gift money to relatives in the UK and to pay the deposit at B&Bs that don't accept credit cards. Money is taken from my checking account by electronic transfer and a bank draft in the currency of my choice is sent by US mail directly to the recipient of my choice. The exchange rate is only slightly higher than the international rate on the day the transaction is initated. There are no other fees. For security reasons it takes some time and effort to set up an account, but everything goes swiftly and smoothly after that.

If you need to pay a deposit in advance, have the draft sent to the owner of the pensioni. To pay the balance--or the entire amount if no deposit is required--have the draft made payable to the owner but mailed to your home. Take it with you and hand it over.

Actually, that's not a bad rate, about $1.40 to the Euro. The rate right now is about 1.355, but only huge corporations and banks get that rate. But why would you want to carry around 3000 Euro with you? Best bet is to get 100 Euro locally, then take the rest out via your ATM card. That's the best rate that you're going to get....and much safer!

I am also a customer of XeTrade. Don't use it very often, but their exchange rates are close to the interbank rate -- usually about 2 to three cents higher, e.g., if the Euro is at 1.35, they will charge maybe 1.38 at the most. And, they do not charge for mailing their bank drafts to you or a third party.

XeTrade has announced that they are working on an upgrade version of their online currency trading system, which will include the ability to make free EFT transfers to some bank accounts in Europe. That might prove to be a nice, useful additional feature, because at the moment, the only ways to put money into a European bank account are by bank draft, which you mail to the bank, or by wire tranfer, which costs about $20 per transfer.

Thank you all. You've been a huge help!

I'm in Florence, Italy right now and the rip-off money changers have a rate of $1.47!! I got 100E before I left (at my bank) and it was $1.37 with no other fees. That gave me a little something to have on arrival just in case I needed it. I've used the ATM's twice now to get more money. One time it would only let me have 200E, but the other time I could get 400E. There are ATM's everywhere in big cities.

I have to pay in Euros at my B&B and need to get enough money out to pay for it. Anyone heard of exorbitant fees attached to your credit cards as a processing fee???

linda,
You have to check with your bank to see what fees using a credit card for a cash advance are. I checked one credit card from BOA and they charge 3%, minimum $10, plus 19.99% interest starting while you are still counting the money.

Your ATM card will get you the money if your daily limit, set by your bank, is high enough. If the bancomat has a lower transaction limit just do multiple transactions.

I regularly get 500 euro from the bancomats. Sometimes in one transaction and sometimes it takes two transactions.