Where to get Euros??
 

Last time I got euros at Citizens, they charged a fee. Anyone know where I can get euros for simple dollar exchange?

How many do you need?

AAA has a travel packet of Euros. I'm not sure how much they charge.

Rollie

Too much !

Skip

I don't know what you need them for but I have always found the easiest way to get them is to go to the ATM at the first European airport that you land.

We do that too, but a couple of caveats... don't use a cc to get $ from the atm as they will start charging you interest from the point of sale. Use a debit card. Second, you will be assessed a surcharge over and above the exchange rate if you are using a debit card tied to a bank account that doesn't forgive foreign transaction fees. (Same thing with cc purchases unless you have a cc that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee--Amex is the worst, BTW).

We do a fair amount of foreign travel and so opened a Schwab bank account, which issues a debit card with no foreign transaction fees and which reimburses us any atm fees. You have to open a brokerage account too, though. We put a small amount into brokerage as the bank account bennies made it worthwhile. I think there are other banks that will do the same.

OP didn't answer how many euros he needs. I have a few.

We bought some at Suntrust Bank before traveling to Europe. Just buy enough to start your vacation, because you can get them at any bank or ATM in Europe.

There are fees involved no matter what.

AAA has no charge if you are a member. We were referred there by a teller at Citizens Bank.

Just get a small amount to tide you over. Using ATM in Europa gets better rate than in US, but always a charge. Shop around for best rates, watch out, some banks charge big fee if you don't have an account, so ask. European ATMs different then US in that many will swallow your card if you don't get you PIN right. You should be able to go into the Bank and get it back, if it is open.

We go to Eastern Europe for River cruise on the Donau, not sure if Romania on the Euro. We start in Bucharest, end in Nuremberg. Then stay in our Condo in Bavaria for a month.

Since you own a condo in Europe, you might check into checking accounts that have debit cards that charge no foreign transaction fees and reimburse any banks' charge for using their atm.

But perhaps you have a foreign bank account. We don't. The only one available to us was HSBC, and they wanted you to invest many thousands of dollars with them to qualify for an account.

We've been doing this with our Schwab checking account since 2006 and have saved a lot of money down through the years.

We do save euros from the previous trip to tide us over, but maybe the OP doesn't travel to Europe frequently.

It was bad when the Euro came out and we had to turn in our DM before we left last time since they would be unchangeable before we returned. Kept coins as collectors items, relatives, gave us some to start, since banks were closed on the weekend. If you want a foreign account, try a Sparkasse over there, Check when you are there and leave some money there when you leave, can always transfer more from here over there once account started.

Thanks, I'll check that out.

I am traveling to Spain in April. A poster on TOV has offered to sell us $350 worth so that should get us off to a good start. Thanks for all your advice.

Unless you need them before you get off the plane or ship, in which case you would use the ATM, try Forex on line.