CG

I'm traveling to Greece from the U.S. next week, without the chance to hit ATMs elsewhere in Europe before I arrive. I've always just used in-country ATMs when traveling, but it's looking like there will be a bunch of empty ATMs, long lines, and possibly 30 or 50 Euro/day restrictions on those that have cash when I get there. I'm going to be traveling by boat around a bunch of remote islands where no-one takes credit cards, so I have to have cash. As a result, I'm looking to get a couple thousand worth of Euros in cash before I go. My bank, BofA, has a pretty bad exchange rate, about 7% off the real rate. I'm sure the airport options are even worse. Anyone have any suggestions for any other way to get cash euros at something approaching the interbank rate here in the U.S.? Thanks in advance.

David-A

If you want to get them in the USA, you are posting in the wrong section. This is the Europe section, while that is where you are heading, many people here will not know anything about the USA, certainly not what money exchange options may be avaiable and what are cost effective.

If you don't connect anywhere else in Europe, I really suggest you post this again in the USA section, as the eyeballs you will get there will know about banking / money exchange possibilities in the USA.

arlflyer

Honestly, I'd be more concerned about walking into a broke country in the middle of a run on the banks with thousands of Euros in my pockets then I would be about where to get said Euros. I'd imagine that anything resembling a criminal element in that region is going to put 1 + 1 together and realize that country with no cash + foreign tourists still coming = lots of cash being carried on the person. And depending on just how desperate things get over there, that might include people who aren't usually engaging in illegal behavior.

satman40

Greece, now is a good time to have some Gold Coins, bet the exchange rate is going to be great...

Julian

This morning, the Greek Embassy in London made a statement:

“The Greek government informs those visiting or about to visit Greece, that the announced measures restricting the movement of capital do not affect in any way those who wish to make transactions or ATM withdrawals using debit or credit cards issued abroad.”

lhrsfo

That's all very well, but you still have to find an ATM which has cash in it. Remember, no one is putting cash into banks there at the moment, only taking it out. That's why they are all closed because otherwise there would be a run on them.

My guess is that it will be very difficult to find a stocked ATM (unless they have some airside at the airports). I would imagine everyone will still take credit cards and I should also imagine that $cash will be in demand amongst the more enterprising. If it's anything like Argentina, a parallel market will develop quite quickly - although as a tourist you need it now, and you want it fairly well established to know where to go to find your cash.

KathyWdrf

Have you tried Googling "foreign exchange" <name of your city> yet? I mean, if you are in or near a city of any size, there are probably some places where you can exchange currency. Then you should be able to phone them and find out what exchange rate they will sell you Euros at.

David-A

Disagree.

Julian

The amount of cash that would be withdrawn via ATMs is miniscule compared to overall deposits. The problem is more likely to be whether the banks are capable of keeping ATMs topped up with notes (that is, is anyone actually working in the banks this week to physically load the ATMs).

Julian

Disagree too.

Helsinki Flyer

How about you take your dollars in cash and exchange them in Greece? Trust me, it will be cheaper there. Greeks are used to tourists coming from Scandinavia, Russia, US etc needing euros. There are exchange booths in every town and island.

Do not count on them accepting Visa or MC, even if the sign on the door says so. They all want cash money as banks are closed for at least a week. All greeks have plenty of cash money, so change isn´t a problem. Trust for banks and credit card payments arriving later than right this second in merchants´ hands are problems.

CG

I'll take the risk that cutlass wielding pirates board my sailboat and steal my money, I'm not going to be using gold coins to pay for my moussaka at a taverna in Spetses, and its safe to assume that not only am I an experienced traveler but I'm also a pretty good Googler as well. I can tell you that the ATMs in Hawaii regularly ran out of money on the weekends while I lived there even when there wasn't a bank run going on. So while I know a foreign account theoretically can withdraw as much as they want, reality on the ground may be much different and I don't want to waste my trip driving around to 20 ATMs to find one with cash.
That said to return to my original question, does anyone know a place in the U.S. to get Euro currency for less than the 7% haircut BofA is offering? Thanks.

arlflyer

Reasoning? You are saying that there will be zero increase in theft and related crimes once paper currency becomes effectively unobtainable?

KathyWdrf

I offered an answer above but you ignored it.

In case it wasn't clear, I live in San Francisco. I sometimes use foreign exchange companies in San Francisco. Do you live in a city that has foreign exchange companies? Have you tried locating them and calling them?

arlflyer

Seems like OP is looking for some sort of back-alley/black market connection since apparently the major financial institutions are not sufficient...