money

Here's a way to solve your problem without having to carry wads of cash. If the places you will be staying will accept bank drafts in euro, open an account with www.xe.com/fx. Money will be taken from your checking account by electronic transfer and a bank draft in the currency of your choice will be made payable to the recipient of your choice. The rate of exchange will be only slightly higher than the international rate on the day the transaction is initiated. There are no other fees.

This should be cheaper than ordering euro through your bank.

Normally XE Trade sends the draft by US mail directly to the payee. However, if you don't want the B&Bs to have the money in advance, you can have the drafts made payable to the B&Bs but mailed to you at home. Then you can hand them over when you arrive in Italy.

For security reasons it takes a little time and effort to set up an account, but everything goes swiftly and smoothly after that.

While I agree with Steve that raising one's daily ATM withdrawal limit and getting cash for lodging usually works just fine, I disagree with his comment about XE.

I am not a currency trader and I do not try to time the market when I use my XE account. I use it to send gift money to relatives in Europe and to pay the deposit at B&Bs that don't take credit cards and require cash in advance. Using XE for "vacation money" works well for me--and it costs me very little.

Agree, have your ATM daily withdrawal limit raised and get Euros at the airport. Never failed for me.

It is VERY important that you notify your bank of your departure and return date AND each country where you will using the ATM.

Okay, Steve. It looks like we agree after all!

Also the dollar is in the tank against the euro and has been trending down for quite some time. The last week or two has seen some stabilization, but there really haven't been many wild swings up or down in months. Meaning - I don't think there is really going to be any "good" time in the near future - but I wouldn't convert all your money at once - just in case!

Here is a 1 year chart:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=USDEUR=X&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

You can see that since March the general direction is DOWN!

You can drive yourself crazy trying to maximize the best exchange rate. Use an ATM card and go from there. Using the ATM on a regular basis is something like dollar-cost-averaging where you will be taking money as the exchange rises and falls. I suggest raising the limit to $500 daily, notify your bank where you are going, and the dates you will be there. Relax and have a good time. Remember, you spend either time or money.

Buon viaggio,

RB

Or you could open a second basic checking account, obtain a debit card which works in Europe, deposit the necessary funds, and then you'll have access to this when you arrive. It also gives you the "backup" account just in case.

All great ideas...some I haven't heard before. The only problrm I see with the ATM's is that they are sometimes difficult to find, or they don't work, (like when we were in Italy when 9/11 happened here)but increasing the max before we leave should help. Thanks!!

Joyce,

I took my youngest son and his buddy to Italy in 2000. His friend had an ATM card which worked no where in italy or Switzerland. I used traveler's checks and had no prblem cashing them, but it was time consuming. Now, keep in mind that was nine years ago. Since 2005 I go to Italy every summer for at least a month and use the ATM card exclusively. It is not hard finding AtM's anywhere I've traveled and I'm frequently off of the beaten track.

Before I leave the USA I exchange about $150 into euro so I have some currency once I land. From then on I use the bankcard.

Buon viaggio,

RB

Exchanging all your money before you go is a collossal waste. You will get the "retail" rate with a bank or at XE.com not the "wholesale" rate that banks charge each other. The wholesale rate is usually the rate that is posted on exchange websites and by commodities markets and is misleading to the public. It is not the rate that the public is charged to exchange money. You will get a much better exchange rate using your ATM card while abroad. Call your bank to get your limit raised (there will also be a limit at whatever bank's ATM you use). Let them know (their security department) that you will be using your card overseas. Make sure your card uses a 4 digit PIN. I only take about 250 Euro cash and replenish as needed. I also have a secondary account at my bank where I can transfer money back and forth electronically (online) between accounts if necessary. Use the ATM card for the secondary account as your backup. If your primary card is lost, stolen, or just stops working, you can transfer funds to the secondary account and work out of that one.

Two trips ago I decided not to get euro's here before leaving and just get them at the airport when we landed. I called my bank a week before the trip and told them all the info they needed about my trip and to raise the limit. The day before my trip, I called my bank (BofA) a second time, just to make sure. We landed at the Naples airport, our driver to Sorrento was there waiting, I went to the ATM to get euro's...and it denied me! I tried over and over and it kept denying me. I cannot tell you how upset I was. Luckily, we'd used the private driver company twice before, so they drove us to our hotel and trusted me to pay them the next day. Since this happened on a Sunday, I had to wait until Monday, borrow money from our hotel to buy an International calling card, walk to town to buy it, then use a pay phone to call my bank. It did get straightened out after an hour of trying to get connected to the right dept (lots of maddening prompts and several disconnections) and when we went to the ATM we were, finally, able to get money. But it was an incredibly stressful 20 hrs and a really bad start to the trip. Our trip after that one, I went back to getting euros here and taking them with me. Just a cautionary tale!

Joyce, if you can stand one more reply, regarding having euros on hand for the hotels in cash: We purchased a couple hundred euros from the auto club (trust me, no discount there) and then both hit ATM's on arrival in Italy, so we could pay our 1st 3 nights in cash on arrival to get the 10% discount offered by the hotel.

Then we just each hit the ATM every day or so, keeping the majority of euros in the hotel safe/money belts so as to have cash for the hotel in the next city.

Buon viaggio.

To avoid having your ATM card denied, you must contact the security department of your bank. You shouldn't trust that this information will filter down to them by talking to some random customer service agent.

John, I've been to Europe over 10 times and never had a problem before the trip I mentioned above. I call the # I'm told to call on my cc's and ATM card, and they transfer me to the dept that handles this particular issue, don't remember it being called the security dept. I always call twice before I leave, and still someone at BofA dropped the ball. And there's no way to know if someone has dropped the ball until you get to your destination.