ATM charges

The other bank will not charge you anything. With a flat fee like that, you are best to withdraw your daily limit each time you use the ATM. That way the total percentage in fees in minimized.

Or shop for a bank or credit union that charges nothing. I would never use a bank that charged a flat fee. I carry two debit cards, one from my local credit union which charges nothing additional. The other is from an online bank that charges me a 1% currency conversion fee. I would be surprised if you also were not charged a currency conversion percentage by Chase, in addition to the $5.00. A bank-associated ATM in Europe will not charge you anything. All fees will come from Chase.

I use to have an account with Chase but in going to Europe every summer I found much cheaper places to do business.
I now have a credit union debit card that only charges a 1% exchange rate mark up. No more Chase account.

Ask Chase what the foreign transaction fee is. This site states it is 3% plus $5 per transaction. http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange If you are leaving in 10 days, there is not much you can do ...

Thanks for all the tips. So, will I be better off taking more cash with me?
$5.00 plus 3 percent will add up to more than exchange fees in U.S.

Most banks have very poor exchange rates for cash, often 5% or more over the interbank rate. When you get money from an ATM the rate will be close to the interbank rate. Even with the added fees, you still generally get a better deal from an ATM than you do exchanging cash. As an example, my bank is charging $1.3481 for one EUR today with no other fees if I wanted to buy Euro currency. Today's interbank rate is $1.2668. That is a 6% markup. At $5 plus 3%, it will still likely be less than exchanging cash in the U.S. assuming that you take out the max amount that you can with each withdrawal. For example, if you took out 300 EUR today from an ATM, it would cost about $380.04 + $11.40 + $5 for a total of $396.44. If I bought 300 EUR from my bank here in the States, it would cost me $404.43. So as you see, even using an ATM with high fees is usually a better deal than exchanging cash. You can shop for a new account in the next 10 days, but keep in mind the fees will be small when you compare to the total cost of your trip.

One good thing about Chase though, is that they will sell you Euros before you go with no commission, no fees, and a decent exchange rate (since you are a current customer). Since I needed cash to pay the remainder on a rental villa, I got enough Euros before leaving home to cover the rental and most of my needs while traveling, so only needed to access the ATM once while there. I know most folks on this site go ATM only, but this worked well for me.

Ginny, it's that "decent exchange rate" that no one ever seems to divulge. Most of the time, when a bank or exchange says "no fees, no commission" they make up the difference in the exchange rate they charge you.

Yes, Nancy, I do understand that. In fact, there was a time in my life, many years ago, when I earned a living as a foreign exchange trader for a large multinational corporation. I was simply sharing with the original poster what worked well for me, since I also bank at Chase. Many, many travelers who post inquiries on this and other websites don't seem to understand that currencies are a commodity that are bought and sold, and somewhere along that chain, whether buying or selling, the "agent" is going to make a small profit on each transaction.

Ginny: would you be so kind as to divulge the cost to purchase euros in advance of a trip to Europe from Chase?

My point was that it is rarely a good deal when you buy currency in the US, and that advertising "no fee, no commission" is usually a smokescreen for a bad rate.

I honestly don't recall the exact amount of euros I got for my $998.42 (closest to 1000) withdrawal from my checking account with Chase. That was just over 2 months ago; I recall thinking about what it cost us in terms of exchange rate but not the specifics. When I took 200 euros at an ATM in Spain, my final cost was $1.38 per Euro including the $5.00 flat fee for a non-Chase European bank. I think that was very competitive for the rates at that particular date in April. I understand that the interbank rate is the "best" and that there are banks/cards that give better deals than others. But there is also an intangible "comfort level," and for me on this particular trip, I didn't want to be caught without cash to complete the payment for our rental villa in Jimena de la Frontera. I was happy - comfortable - to head off to Europe with euros in hand. I am at a point in life where $25 difference in a $6000 trip is not something to agonize over. Your mileage may vary. My point in my reply previous to this one is that many people don't understand that there is an inherent cost to exchanging currencies - it isn't free. Figure out what you can live with and move on! Either you pay at the exchange rate level, or you pay at the fees and add-ons level. Do whatever is best for your finances and your style.

I recently received my Andrews Federal Visa card. There is no charge to draw money out of ATMs and Visa charges a flat one percent transaction fee. It's cheaper to use this and then pay it off with what's in my bank account.

I kind of agree with Ginny on this. It seems to me that while posters here are very good giving factual advice on the relative costs for getting cash, some give the impression that you're insane not to take their advice. A simple chart on the relative costs for obtaining local currency would go like this: Exchange office > US bank > typical ATM card > certain credit unions and online banking ATM cards The cost difference between the first and last option is significant. The difference between each option is somewhat minor and worth no more than $50 for a 2 week trip. Not everyone wants to or has the time to open new checking accounts. Some people need larger amounts of cash right away. Some people feel more comfy with cash on hand on arrival. Our role here is to inform people of the relative costs for their options so that THEY can make a decision, not push for one over the other.

Convenience is surely worth much to us as well. For example, there are times upon arrival in Europe we've taken a cab from the airport to our accommodation rather than public transportation, the significant cost difference be hanged. Using a Chase ATM card for one transaction (assuming the daily limit of the account and bank are not breached) in the amount of $1500 is $50 (($5.00 + 3%). Not a massive amount of money, but not insignificant either. I do not suffer those fees and my ATM card/account is very convenient. Finding such ATM cards is easy as noted in the many Helpline posts.

If you decide to try the option of buying euros from Chase bank, be sure to ask if your branch offers the service or if you will need to visit another branch office, and how many days it takes to get them.

Hi. We visited Europe last year and used BNP Paribas/Bank of America ATMs. Also got our Euros from BofA. Came home with about 35 euros in coins and found out that BofA will not take coins back. Luckily we're going back next year.

Capital One does not charge anything for foreign ATM use and will even reimburse you up to a certain amount if the foreign bank charges you any fees. When taking out money they give you the bank exchange rate. We have used them the last two years we went to Europe and generally have had no problems. This allowed us to only take out small amounts of cash so that we did not have a large amount of cash on us at any one time AND we got the best exchange rates. We actually have never had a foreign bank even charge us any fees. The only time we had an issue is that a certain Italian bank would not allow us to take out money (can't remember which one). We just went to another bank instead and had no problems.

Oh I forgot to mention. Capital One allows you to electronically transfer funds from your current bank at no charge. This allows you to keep on using your current bank if you do not want to completely switch over to Capital One. The only downside to this is that it does take 2-4 buiness days for the transfer to complete, so you need to make sure you do it well in advance of needing the cash. Also, it takes about two weeks to actually open the account with Capital One and receive the ATM cards so you want to make sure you open the account well before your trip to Europe.

I agree with the credit union cards are the most reasonable, also I get Euros at a ATM in the airport upon arrival, also good idea to have some coins, buy a Bottle of water or some other little idea in the airport so you can have some change. I don't buy euros in US too expensive.

Thanks everyone for the information.

Capital One will start charging a 3% fee beginning in August of this year. We were just there a month ago and were informed of the new charge. We opened an account at Cap One two years ago because they were the only ones not charging a fee. Sorry, but they have joined the rest of the crowd. Guess they no longer are hurting for customers.