USD to Euros
 

I am pretty much a novice to international travel. Have done little. I am going to Italy in May/June 2012. Right now the euro seems to keep going down. My question is does it make sene to purchase the euros now and hold on to them in case they go up again? I realize they can also go down, so in a quandry. I would appreciate any suggestions.

How many Euros will you need-will u pay a fee to get the Euros? you get very good rates on Some CC with no transaction fee, such as Chase Sapphire-

I travel to Europe every summer and the euro seems to be getting stronger during summertime.

Having stated that, Europe is struggling right now so you never know ....

You could hedge with half of your money in Euro linked CDs for 6 months. I typically try to avoid buying euros in the US beacuse exchange rates are not that competitve

jyou gonna buy a hundered thousand euro? worry. you going to buy a couple thousand, get them ou t of an atm. etrade is another good source for card for machines. if you want to speculate in euro, buy futures, otherwise just buy what you need. if you plan on going back, save a couple hundred for next trip so you do not have to chase around upon arrival.

Currency traders everywhere would like to know the answer to your question, which is frankly unanswerable. If the European debt crisis is fixed in the next six months the value of the Euro will rise obviously. If you want to hedge your bets, do a dollar-cost-averaging trick, as if you were buying a mutual fund -- buy $200 worth of Euros every month for six months, no matter what the exchange rate is, and you'll get the average cost over time. But in all seriousness I'd just use the ATM at the airport when you arrive and stop worrying about trying to save $10 here or $15 there.

I am going to Europe next week. I echo the sentiment of just using ATMs while you are there, it is so much easier. I wouldn't worry about a few dollars due to varying exchange rates.

yeah...just get them out of an ATM...unless u plan on spending a lot of money...which might seem to indicate that u have a lot...so why worry over a "trifle" sum in exchange over a "Few cents" up/down.

And since Greece/Italy may exit Eurozone this year, and depreciate considerably.....keep ur dollars and see how the wind blows!

And congrats for finally escaping the orbit of ur home country!!

Unless you are paying for everything in cash including a weeks rental of a villa, the difference won't be huge enough (hopefully) to make a real difference. Buy what you need and don't worry about a few dollars difference based on the rate.

I also second everybody saying to just get them at an ATM when you get there, it's much easier. You can exchange some so you have money when you land, but after that just hit the ATM's.

What if Euro collapses by then? :eek:

As I see it, Euro and the US$ are competing with each other in a down hill race, kicking up a lot of dust.

Unfortunately if you buy small amounts frequently the fees will eat into you savings. I would purchase half of my Euros in Jan/Feb when Europe is slow or when there is a dip (in my book under 1.3,1.25).

If the Euro goes up you at least bought half your stash at a cheaper price. If the Euro goes down everything's going to be cheaper in dollars so you will be happy since you budgeted according to today's rates.

Best of luck!

Get a Schwab debit card and withdraw some Euros from the ATM when you get there. No fees.

No one knows, and frankly it's not going to make much difference unless you spend a fortune while you're there. Just go there and withdraw money from the ATMs as you need it, using a no-fee debit card if you can get one.

I asked my bank (citibank) if there was a fee for purchasing euros and they said no. I am planning on taking about 2000 euros. My hotel gives a discount for cash and figured food, sightseeing and a few trinkets for the granddaughter who is traveling with me.
I get the hint though :) and will take a few and use the local atm for the rest. Thanks for the advice.

Downsides to currency speculation
 

This issue constantly comes up for both our travel and consulting practices. For most travelers, we recommend just buying the currency overseas from an ATM when you need it.

The potential savings from any currency fluctuation can be lost by (1) the currency going the other direction, and (2) the potential to have the money either lost or stolen.

What most people are concerned with is knowing how much something will cost when they take the trip: i.e., will the hotel be $200 a night, or $240? You can prepay many things before you leave (hotels, some local transportation).

Most of the time, in most places, you won't actually need that much cash: a few hundred in "sidewalk money" for taxis, beers, small purchases, public transport, etc. The bigger issue is making sure your ATM card and two or three credit cards will work while you're over there and not shut down unexpectedly. Before I go overseas I always call Amex and two Visa / MC issuers to say, more or less, I'll be in these countries on these dates, I plan to use this card to pay a hotel bill of approximately X, please make sure that's going to be OK.

A bunch of cash may not help you pay a big hotel bill, but a working credit card can do that and get you a bunch of cash.