spachick

When I arrive in Europe, it's going to be rather late.
I just want to get into a cab and GO!
So I want to get some Euro's here in the US.
I refuse to go to the exchange places at the airport.
I thought of the bank, AAA or American Express Travel Centers.
Am I missing any other choices?

daumueller

You fly 8-10 hours but stopping at an ATM for 2 mins is too long?

Palal

BofA once upon a time let you order foreign currency. Not sure about anywhere else.

Why not just stop by the ATM at the airport where you arrive and take out what you will need?

The only other option stateside I can think of is having someone who has Euros in cash exchange them for you.

Where are you travelling to and from?

Twodawgs

I thought most banks will order euros for you. I know TD Bank will. AAA in my area will also, but that is thru a bank also.

MSPeconomist

OP also posted this in an existing thread in the DL forum.

DeltaWings

I use a foreign ATM. That tends to work out at a slightly better exchange rate than Bank of America offers here in the states. Most major banks exchange foreign currency for you and will either mail it to you or you can pick it up at a branch a few days after ordering.

sfx

Which airport do you arrive at?

Airports tend to have bank operated ATMs and offer same exchange rate as other ATMs (which is far better than in the USA). Some larger airports have bank branches.

Suzietime

Wells Fargo. Free of charge if you have an account. Some branches have them right there.

Romelle

I hope you'll reconsider and use an ATM at the airport. I've been to a lot of the European airports, and don't recall a line of more than a person or two. It really is usually a matter of just a few minutes.

Especially if you are like most FTers - you've somehow wangled a seat way up front, you've grabbed your carry-on, and are out way ahead of the deluge waiting for their checked luggage.

And you will get a better exchange rate.

Romelle

emcampbe

Foreign ATMs will get you a better rate, though your bank will likely charge fees - sometimes a lot. In Indonesia, I got levied a $5 and $2 fee for a single transaction using my BOA card for about $100 withdrawal. Of course I have a nothing account with them, they wouldn't take my Chase card, where my fee would have been much less. Which is another reason why one might not want to use a foreign ATM - while Europe is better than many other places, not all ATMs will work. And if you have more than a 4 digit PIN, they usually won't work at all as many foreign banks/ATMs only accept that, and if transmitted as such, will not match.

I do know that you can order any foreign currency with Chase. I think usually if you order before noon, it's guaranteed to arrive at the branch next day - it's as much as 2 days if you do it later in the day. I needed to do that last time, though I recall the rate I got was pretty bad. Bigger/business branches may even have Euros on site to exchange, though id check with them first.

jeff191

I was just on their website today and it is still allowed. Weighing the pros/cons of this vs. airport ATM since I'll be landing in Prague rather late w/ family and don't know how receptive a 6 year old will be to looking for an ATM at that hour. BOA charges $7.50 for delivery, not sure if fee is waived for bank customers, but it's waived for transactions over $1k.

Romelle

CLICK HERE for info on PRG ATMs.

I just looked it up. Can't speak from personal experience, but I would hope it is reliable.

Romelle

EmailKid

Should not be a problem, but what I did last year was to go to FOREX and exchange a very small amount of money, just enough to pay for bus/Metro.

Suspect that is not an option with 6 year old, but as pragueairport.co.uk (see bottom of this post) states, for a small hit you can easily exchange just enough money.

Interesting web site, though wonder why Prague Airport would have a UK domain

Bolding mine.

84fiero

In my experience currency orders through the banks (AAA, Travelex, etc) carry pretty similarly poor rates and fees as the airport exchanges. So, I'm not sure why you'd necessarily rule that out. I've seen a few major US airports (though I can't recall where offhand) with ATMs that dispense Euros and other currencies.

Seriously though, stopping at the ATM on arrival will take you no more time than going to the restroom. Not sure why a few minutes is worth probably paying more in fees when it takes 1/3 of a day just to get there.

You don't say what airport you're arriving at. Some have ATMs in arrivals prior to customs, such that you can withdraw cash while waiting for your luggage.

MojaveFlyer

BoA charges their customers, even their "important" ones, the $7.50 fee.

If you are a BoA customer, in some countries there are banks with which they have some sort of arrangement (ScotiaBank in CA, Barcley's in UK, for example) and then you don't get charged ATM fees. But you do get charged 3% for the transaction.