Currency Exchange

1,874 Views | 21 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by RAB83
mtngoat3006
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Howdy Ags,

It's been a while since visiting here and not sure if this has been mentioned lately but does anyone have any recommendations for currency exchange? U.S. Dollars to Euros? The Rib and I are headed to Europe in the Fall and we need a place to exchange some good ol' U.S. greenbacks for some overvalued Euros. Oh, forgot to mention we live near the liberal tu swamp commonly referred to as Austin...

On our first trip across the big pond we purchased Euros here in Austin. The second trip we purchased Euros over there. I'm thinking the exchange rate might be better here in Austin/Dallas but maybe someone with more current travel experience has some better suggestions/recommendations.

Thanks, y'all, in advance!!!
Kurt Gowdy
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AG
Your exchange rate will be best at the ATM around the corner from your hotel.

Grab enough Euro at the airport to get you into town or use your credit card to Uber.
Jethro95
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We keep a Charles Schwab High Yield Investor Checking account for travel purposes. Key features include: unlimited worldwide ATM fee rebates, no foreign transaction fees, no monthly fees, and no minimum balance requirement. We transfer money in before we leave and use ATMs as needed. No worrying about which bank ATM because of the fee rebate. I even tried one of those really expensive ones in Vegas once and the fee was credited back to my account.
jammer262
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As mentioned use your atm card when you get there. Make sure you let you bank know you are going. If you don't, the machine will take you card and you won't see it again, ever. Go to any branch before you go and pick up some walking around money before you go. Most large banks will have Euros on hand, otherwise, they will have them the next day.

I generally put everything on a card that doesn't charge a fee, because of all the stupid heavy coins they use, it gets to be a pita trying to spend them all before I come home.
mtngoat3006
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Thanks everyone for the suggestions/recommendations! Great advice on using a credit card for most purchases and acquiring a few Euros before our departure. Thanks Ags for helping out!
Austintm
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mtngoat3006 said:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions/recommendations! Great advice on using a credit card for most purchases and acquiring a few Euros before our departure. Thanks Ags for helping out!
We were over in April/May. I grabbed 100 euros at Travelex at the mall in mixed denominations before I left to have some cash ready. Everything else I did at ATMs in France and Italy

Oh call your bank and let them know you will be there so they won't suspect fraud and cut off your card. We also called AMEX, and they told us "don't worry we'll know you are there and won't cut off your card." I resisted asking how because I wasn't sure I really wanted to know the answer...
texasaggie04
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AG
Agree with the first two replies.

Get a Charles Schwab debit account for travel (no additional ATM fees besides what the machine charges).
Remove money from the ATM upon arrival in the country.
That's it.
SwissAgg
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Kurt Gowdy said:

Your exchange rate will be best at the ATM around the corner from your hotel.

Grab enough Euro at the airport to get you into town or use your credit card to Uber.
This is correct. Always get money from your ATM. They give the proper exchange rates.

It is true. The airport ATM's often charge more, but it depends on the country.

Also, be sure to see if your bank charges a percentage transaction fee on credit card transactions.
An Ag in CO
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I've been going to Europe at least twice a year for the last three years and not once did I bring any currency. And I haven't had to use currency once I'm there. Not sure exactly what I'm missing out on, but I've never needed to pull cash from an ATM.
SwissAgg
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An Ag in CO said:

I've been going to Europe at least twice a year for the last three years and not once did I bring any currency. And I haven't had to use currency once I'm there. Not sure exactly what I'm missing out on, but I've never needed to pull cash from an ATM.
The OP did not mention where he is traveling to. Most restaurants in Germany, for example, only take

cash. Other countries, may take credit cards most places. Where are you traveling in Europe Schlaumeier?
An Ag in CO
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Germany, France, Scandinavia, Great Britain, BeNeLux, Spain. Haven't needed cash where I've been. There was one parking lot in Heidelberg that required cash, but the one right next to it did not. That's the only time I remember being without cash caused me to change plans. Pretty minor, though. None of the restaurants or beer gardens or anywhere else in Germany that we've visited did not take credit cards. Even the small family restaurants were happy to pull out the credit card reader. Guess we were lucky in our choices.
SwissAgg
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An Ag in CO said:

Germany, France, Scandinavia, Great Britain, BeNeLux, Spain. Haven't needed cash where I've been. There was one parking lot in Heidelberg that required cash, but the one right next to it did not. That's the only time I remember being without cash caused me to change plans. Pretty minor, though. None of the restaurants or beer gardens or anywhere else in Germany that we've visited did not take credit cards. Even the small family restaurants were happy to pull out the credit card reader. Guess we were lucky in our choices.

Then you are going to the really touristy areas in Germany. I haven't been to a single Biergarten in Munich that takes credit cards. UK takes credit cards pretty much everywhere. I haven't been to Scandinavia in a while. Generally, it is not a good idea to use credit cards.
HollywoodBQ
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Also, if you're relying on credit cards, be sure that you know your PIN.

Last month in Spain, I had to use my Australian credit card because I know the PIN to it while my American credit cards don't have PINs as far as I know. Not a problem in a restaurant but if you try to use a vending machine (like to buy a train ticket) you might run into this.
HollywoodBQ
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SwissAgg said:

An Ag in CO said:

Germany, France, Scandinavia, Great Britain, BeNeLux, Spain. Haven't needed cash where I've been. There was one parking lot in Heidelberg that required cash, but the one right next to it did not. That's the only time I remember being without cash caused me to change plans. Pretty minor, though. None of the restaurants or beer gardens or anywhere else in Germany that we've visited did not take credit cards. Even the small family restaurants were happy to pull out the credit card reader. Guess we were lucky in our choices.

Then you are going to the really touristy areas in Germany. I haven't been to a single Biergarten in Munich that takes credit cards. UK takes credit cards pretty much everywhere. I haven't been to Scandinavia in a while. Generally, it is not a good idea to use credit cards.
Yeah, I was going to say... reminds me of my trip to India 3 weeks ago. If you never leave the hotel, you don't need cash

Of course, if you get off the beaten path and mix with the locals, eat the food they eat, drink their beer, etc. Good Luck doing that without cash.

In Central Europe, you'll need cash if you're going to shop at any of the dodgy corner shop convenience stores run by folks who aren't of traditional European appearance.
mtngoat3006
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I guess I forgot and left out a vital piece of information. We will be traveling to Italy. Flying into Rome and staying there for 4 days, then off to the Amalfi Coast (Positano, Amalfi, Sorrento, Pompei, Salerno) for 5 days. If all goes well in my planning, we will then head to Sicily (Taormina, Catania, Syracuse, Palermo) for 7 days and then fly back home. Any other recommendations for Sicily or Amalfi Coast that I didn't mention???

FYI, in the meantime I've been researching alot about Italian travel and Rick Steves Tours website has some great information and traveler/tourist forum. Great place for information but none like Texags!!! Y'all are great and thanks again for helping an old Ag out w/ vacation plans!!!

Ciao!
SwissAgg
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mtngoat3006 said:

I guess I forgot and left out a vital piece of information. We will be traveling to Italy. Flying into Rome and staying there for 4 days, then off to the Amalfi Coast (Positano, Amalfi, Sorrento, Pompei, Salerno) for 5 days. If all goes well in my planning, we will then head to Sicily (Taormina, Catania, Syracuse, Palermo) for 7 days and then fly back home. Any other recommendations for Sicily or Amalfi Coast that I didn't mention???

FYI, in the meantime I've been researching alot about Italian travel and Rick Steves Tours website has some great information and traveler/tourist forum. Great place for information but none like Texags!!! Y'all are great and thanks again for helping an old Ag out w/ vacation plans!!!

Ciao!
Pompeii is really cool and surprisingly large. Also, Herculaneum is interesting. It is a town that was also buried in

the lava that hit Pompeii. The National Museum of Archeology in Naples is really interesting although Naples

itself is a dump.


My Italian colleague said that most places take credit cards in Italy except for perhaps small

mom and pop places.
BenFiasco14
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One funny thing to note about using your cards overseas... a lot of the time, depending on the country, credit cards from that respective country simply swipe and that's pretty much it, you might put in your pin on the machine and you're done.

But if its an American card... uh oh, they gotta print out a receipt and you have to sign it, which is a dead giveaway you're American.

That is, of course, if the cargo shorts and A&M visor didn't tip them off to begin with.
CNN is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such.
Jethro95
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The cashier at the British Museum told us the only people that have signature instead of PIN are Americans and people with a mental handicap. My wife loved that one. I later joined the State Department credit union specifically to get their card that you can have them set for PIN priority so we don't have to deal with that any more. When I first got it I tested it in the US and the cashier was pretty surprised when it asked for my PIN even though it was credit.
HollywoodBQ
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Quote:

That is, of course, if the cargo shorts and A&M visor didn't tip them off to begin with.
On my trip to Madrid last month, I got off the train by the Opera House and needed to get some breakfast and needed to pay for it with my credit card since I was down to less than 5 Euro in cash. I saw a Starbucks and while it wasn't ideal, it met my needs.

In the Starbucks, I ordered in Spanish and then waited. Since I was traveling to Sydney via Dubai that afternoon, I was dressed like an American - Nike shoes, cargo shorts, American t-shirt, Baseball cap, etc. Waiting for my order, there were two conspicuously American tourists drinking their coffee and gossiping about me (pointing and what not). It was hilarious watching them look down on me as if I was a rookie traveler. Kind of the - oh, look at this guy, he didn't get the memo about trying to not look like an American when you're overseas.

Meanwhile, I'm looking back at them and thinking - don't judge me, you're the idiots who went to Europe and are in a Starbucks (pretty much the most American signalling move you can make).
wessimo
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More and more places in Europe accept contactless payments. If your phone has NFC, set up a Google pay account and you are good to go... that will keep you from having to sign a receipt.

We spent a week in Denmark without even withdrawing any cash. Could have easily done without cash in Norway and Sweden as well.

Germany is definitely a different story. It is suprising how many places only take cash, some only take cash or debit. Even some grocery stores don't accept credit cards (found that out the hard way).
An Ag in CO
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So I checked the areas where I've been to recently in Germany and it turns out those two states are at the top of the rankings for lowest preference for cash as payment method (Hessen and Baden-Wurttemberg). I'm fairly certain most of my spend is decidedly non-tourist. It's very different in Germany now compared to 5 years ago, but for that I can only really compare to Hessen since I've traveled to that state off and on since the early 90s.
Potcake
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If anyone in Austin heading to Croatia, we ended up with almost 3000 Kuna (~$440), would give a preferential exchange rate.
RAB83
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Get some cash from a bank ATM near your hotel for those few times you need it. Otherwise, use a credit card with no foreign exchange fees. You'll get the best exchange rate from the CC company. If you buy something and are given the option of dollars or Euros, take Euros. The CC exchange rate will be better.

Right now, the dollar is strong against the Euro. Take advantage of it. This is the time to go.
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