Heading to Europe (Spain and France) in a few weeks. First time. Where should I purchase Euros? Local bank e
Here? Airport over there? Bank over there? Thx.
Moved to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
The best option in my experience is to use your ATM card at an ATM at the airport on arrival. You’ll get by far the best exchange rate, even taking into account any charges for using a foreign ATM. To guard against the possibility of a card not working, you might want to take more than one. However, I have never had any problems using any of my cards, whether from the US or Panama, in European ATMs (or actually ATMs anywhere).
Exchange rates are atrocious at airports and not so great at banks. If it makes you feel more secure, you could pick up a small amount before leaving. Here in Panama, I go to one of the currency exchange places in town.
Two pieces of advice for exchanging money, based on my one trip abroad:
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Don’t exchange any more than you absolutely have to at the airport. When I got to the bank later in the week, I was stunned at how badly I’d been screwed.
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Get some small bills. I found myself in a men’s room with an attendant and nothing in my wallet smaller than a 20 pound note. Granted, this was Egypt 15 years ago, where 20 EGP was something like 0.80 USD at the time, but it was the principle of the thing. He’d have been glad to have a 5-spot, but I got to really make his day.
I agree that your best bet is to just rely on ATMs once you touch down. That’s how I’ve been doing it the past few years.
It’s worthwhile to check out each card you might use and see which ones give the friendliest charges. I have a credit union ATM card that has always been good to me and I know there are some credit/debit cards that position themselves as travel-friendly. Also, many banks will have an online notification that you can use to let them know you will be traveling and where.
Don’t “buy” euros at any airport- that’s the worst.
I recently needed to show up at my destination with about 1,000 euros in cash (it was a little institute that wouldn’t take checks, cards, or any online payment beyond a bank transfer). I found it pays to shop around for the best place to buy euros directly, as the effective exchange rates vary a lot. I found a place in the South Bay (Torrance) that was pretty fair (just under 5% fee on top of the days exchange rate).
Right. If you don’t it’s possible they could block your card if they see charges coming from a strange country.
Right. Here in Panama I have found significantly different rates on Euros at exchange places even on the same block.
As everyone has said, ATM in the destination country is generally the best option. It can’t be emphasised enough that you need to let your card issuer know that you will be travelling to France and Spain, particularly if it is your first time. The anti-fraud routines that banks use these days are really quite vigilant - don’t surprise them with unexpected transactions thousands of miles from home.
Assuming that you don’t know in advance that you will need a lot of cash, I suggest that you buy 100 Euros or so before you leave. Get small bills; as many fives (they are the smallest) as you can. Europe is very much a cashless society these days; I go weeks without spending any cash at all. What you will, as a tourist, mainly need cash for is tips. (Note that we are not big tippers either). Even coffee or a beer can be paid for with a card.
Try to get a card that doesn’t charge for foreign transactions, and it’s best if it is chip and pin (although not a disaster if not). Use the notes that you arrive with to make some small purchases and get some coins as change. Remember that a one Euro coin is roughly a Dollar.
Thanks much. What about returning to the States? Best place to convert Eoros back to dollars?
I try to keep the total in my wallet small (get small amounts and replenish is a good strategy) and no longer bother to exchange on return. I just stick my foreign currency in a box and pull it out when it’s time for my next trip (I currently have ~60 euros from my last trip).
If you don’t anticipate future travel, then I would advise getting to the airport a little early, heading to duty free, and seeing how close to zero you can take your supply of euros, with the remaining few dollars worth viewed as souvenirs.
This is what we do.
Don’t. Just spend them before you leave unless you’re positive you’re going back to the Eurozone soon.
As has been said, it’s best to avoid it by keeping your cash to the minimum and spending whatever you have before leaving. Exchange fees make it not worth it to change small amounts vs buying something. If you absolutely must, I would suggest a currency exchange place in San Diego (assuming that’s where you are returning to) over a bank (and definitely not the airport currency places) unless getting there makes it more trouble than it’s worth.
You’re not going to need as much as you think. You can just use your credit card (preferably one with no foreign transaction fees) for almost all of your purchases. There isn’t much need for cash besides steet food, bathrooms, and gratuities.
For the cash you do need, just use an ATM. Plan to spend all your cash; don’t exchange it.
As an example, I recently spent 45 days traveling through France, Spain, and Portugal. I used less tha 400 Euro in cash. Everything else was credit card.
And one bit of advice: Do not plan to buy tickets to places at the entrance. Go online and buy your tickets beforehand. Some places are booked solid, so you may need to get tickets well in advance. Find the websites of the places you want to visit and check the availability.
For some places, online prepurchasing is a must. For others, its just super convenient. You just pick the time you want to go, and you show up without waiting in a line.
I have a VISA card and am travelling soon to the USA from my home in the UK.
My credit card company said I don’t need to notify them that I’m going abroad.
(I’m surprised by that!)
Yeah, they say that.
Then you use your card in the foreign country and they freeze it because it’s an “unusual transaction”.
Don’t trust their trade puffery. Call anyway.
I speak from experience.
That’s becoming more common in the USA as well. Capitol One is a card company that is often used by international travellers as they issue contactless cards (rare in the USA) as well as don’t charge foreign transaction fees. So, I imagine they just don’t want to devote the employee time required to maintain all the travel alerts with so many of their customers traveling internationally. I don’t notify them for trips to Europe, I might if I was going someplace remote.
My US Visa cards have a way to provide notification of travel online. (Annoyingly, for one of them my credit card can be done online, but I have to call for the debit card because the website doesn’t allow me to accurately enter my Panama phone number to receive a verification code.) However, my Panama Visa debit card and my US American Express do not apparently have any way or requirement to provide notification. I have not had any trouble using them overseas despite the lack of notification.
If you’ve called them and they’ve told you that you’re probably OK. But per Nothern Pipers experience it’s always good to have a backup card and take note of the contact numbers on the back of the card.