I need 1000e to pay a months rent upon arrival in Barcelona. What's my most economical way to convert from dollars? Cash at a Spanish bank, debit card withdrawl, travelers checks.

ATMs could be the cheapest, but not if your bank (like many US based banks) charges hefty fees for foreign currency withdrawls and/or use of some other bank's ATM. Also, �1000 is likely to be larger than the default ATM withdrawl limit for many ATM / debit cards (so you may need multiple cards attached to different accounts if you go this route).

If you know someone who recently came back from a � using country, ask if s/he has any excess to sell to you.

See if your bank here in the US has any agreements with foreign banks to allow customers to use their atms free of charge.

For example, Bank of America has agreements with the following banks in Europe:

Traveling Internationally?
Use your ATM card or check card within our Global ATM Alliance in the countries shown with no fees.
Barclays (United Kingdom)
BNP Paribas (France)
Deutsche Bank (Germany)

If you have a layover in one of those countries and have Bank of America, withdraw the money while you wait at the airport. If you're worried about your withdraw limit not being enough, call BofA and have them increase it. I did that when I went to China and they agreed to do it.

Deutsche Bank also has quite a few branches in Spain. I have an account there and i usually manage to find an ATM in almost any region of Europe (there is even one in Shanghai :-)) So, you should have no trouble to find a branch in Barcelona - you can use the branch locator on their website

http://www.deutsche-bank.de/pbc/jump...ge_To_ffi.html
(it's german, but you should be able to navigate it with google translate)

I was going to say something about Bank of America reciprocity, but I realized that wasn't what this post was discussing, so I'll say instead...

Google Translate SUCKS with German. I'm using it right now and you have to know some German to use it or else you won't understand a thing.

I would exchange it with money changer in North America before departing just to know you have it for accommodations. No my idea of fun going around a strange city looking for an ATM that would take your card and has high enough limit to withdraw 1000Euros.

presuming you speak spanish, call a couple of banks and ask the rate to buy and to sell dollars to euro in us$ cash, and in tc(if you can get them free somewhere). also ask them if they accept $100 bills.

ask them if they have an internet site that posts the exchange rate.

the other places that may have a good exchange is the post office and the department store. you can call the department store and ask. do not know about the spanish post.

i spite of what others say, this is usually the least expensive way. just remember, you will probably save 2% over an atm machine. 2% of 1000 is 20 bucks. not worth much running around.

i do not know if spanish airports have bank cash windows and the rates they give.

I'd be very reluctant to fork over Eur 1000 cash to a stranger as soon as I stepped off an airplane in a foreign country under any circumstances.

They could take your money, excuse themselves to go to the bathroom, and then disappear. It's happened. It's happened with so called "apartments" advertised on well-designed web sites and giving a local street address (phoney) and phone number (disposable cell.)

They could take your money, show you to an apartment, and shake your hand and walk away, leaving you soon to discover that they didn't own that apartment. It's happened (case reported from London just recently.)

They could take your money, show you to an apartment that is wildly less attractive than was advertised, and tell you "Stay here or not, as you like, but no changes and no refunds." That's happened a lot.

My own policy is that if a lodging won't accept deposits or advance payment by credit card, I don't do business with them.

No doubt some people will respond that they've done this without any problems, a claim that won't have the slightest effect on my own choice.

A lot of the advice in this thread is good if you want currency that you will actually spend in the country you are visiting, and not change back to dollars. But is this for a short-term rental? Will you be getting the 1000 euros back at the end of the month?

If so, this is what you should do. Get US cash before leaving. Then exchange it upon arrival in Europe, at the airport, with one of the major currency exchange businesses that offer "guaranteed buyback." This means that they will buy back your euros at exactly the rate at which they sold them to you, with no commission. So if you gave them $1500 for your 1000 euros, that's what you get back. No loss on the two-way exchange.

I have done this at American Express at CDG and at Travelex at LHR. AmEx charged nothing for the service; Travelex charged a service fee of a flat 4 pounds. Either way, this is absolutely the way to go if you need a large amount of foreign currency but will be changing it back at the end of your trip.

P.S. I don't doubt that in the history of the world some people who've made cash deposits for vacation rentals have been ripped off. But it's never happened to me, and if the property is listed with a service (as opposed to just Craigslist or something), I wouldn't worry about it.