Euro Exchange rate - exchange now or wait?
 

I am traveling to Italy in mid-May. Should I exchange money now (given the exchange rate) or wait until May? Is it better to do this before leaving or in-country?

Euro Exchange rate - exchange now or wait?
 

Take it out at an arm on arrival. The rate is likely to get better by May.

Euro Exchange rate - exchange now or wait?
 

In country using a ATM

Ok, thanks very much.

+1

Even if the dollar weakens somewhat it is not likely that the exchange rate you will get at an ATM in country will be anywhere as bad as the exchange rate you will get from a moneychanger in the US.

Does anyone know if you can pull cash out of Amex Platinum card using a pin? Trying to avoid the exchange fee which is waived for plat members...

Call Amex

Euro Exchange rate - exchange now or wait?
 

Agree, just wait - a.) cheaper/easier to withdrawal there in general & b.) all economic indicators show the Euro has a lot more room to fall against the dollar.

Have you been watching CNN a bit too much?

The market has already priced in the macro indicators. If the feds statement is loose USD will loose some of its gains.

The USD is at its strongest against the euro in over a decade, it does not have 'a lot more room' at all.

Euro Exchange rate - exchange now or wait?
 

Sure it does, many think the dollar will be stronger than the euro by year end. And it's lose, not loose :)

Euro Exchange rate - exchange now or wait?
 

Will the Fed "make money loose" by lowering short-term rates, or tighten.

Airport exchange booths are terrible, but many banks sell euros for five percent over the spot rate. So with the euro trading at 1.05 they would sell them at 1.105, or thereabouts.

Many people do not have a no-fee ATM card and don't have a servant available to spend the time to open such an account and manage it. So they have to just use their regular ATM card, which often will have a three percent foreign transaction fee plus a $5 ATM fee.

So for many people there will be no savings from waiting until they get to Europe to get euros. Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be any compensation scheme to reimburse people for time spent waiting for an ATM, since getting money already in your hand is instantaneous. Who is to pay the person who has their card eaten by an ATM? Everyone talks about how wonderful it is to take risks without acknowledging the risks involved with relying solely on an ATM card.

Certainly one should carry an ATM card, but one should never be without a few hundred dollars or more worth of the local currency prior to arrival.

Based on your posts in other threads on this topic, I'm convinced that you actually believe in your own advice. But, it's simply not good advice for people who travel to other countries more than once a decade.

so today, a euro costs a buck five. a big change would be to a buck three. how many euro you buying? one million, and you save $200, or is it 2000?

BUYING 10,000, AND YOU SAVE $20, or is it $200?

Hmmm, took me maybe 20 minutes to apply for an online checking account with Capital One. A couple weeks later I had an ATM card with no ATM fees, no forex fees and which reimbursed me for some of the fees the ATM operator might charge. It takes less than 5 minutes to transfer money into the account when I need to refresh it, which I do maybe twice a year.

The advantages of using the ATM card are more than just getting a better deal on the exchange rate. It allows you to walk around with less cash to begin with and you are better able to judge just how much you will need for the trip.

Now, we do go to the Eurozone, UK and Canada enough that I just hang on to the leftovers between trips, so we always have some cash in pocket when arriving. But, for other countries I have not had any problem with hitting an ATM at the airport. I have to admit that we do not travel much to what are referred to as third world countries, so maybe they are different. But, this is still my advice to anyone traveling to Europe.

Everyone is going to echo the same thought. Withdraw from ATM in the EU or Switzerland; because you pay an on the spot exchange rate with no mark-up.

For you to buy euro's at any place - there will be a markup. Unless your bank is that cool to you.

With the euro at 1.04 tho, it does get us all anxious :)

To each his own. I just get annoyed when people claim that it's virtually impossible to buy euros in the U.S. without paying a huge markup. Five percent isn't a lot, and in fact comes out the same as many people pay with their standard ATM card.

I do plan to take an ATM card on my next trip to Europe, but I will still arrive with 500 to 1,000 euros pre-exchanged. I like having the cash, and don't want to worry about searching for an ATM or having my card eaten while I have zero money in my pocket.

Agreed. Peace, Brother/Sister.

This is how the board should work. Everyone calmly states their position and the advice seekers get to decide which advice they find fits them better.

Thanks.

I have a pretty decent checking account, and by that I mean - no fees on virtually everything. I have not tested out exchanging USD to EUR, but I do know that I can go to Europe and withdraw X euro and just pay the on the spot exchange rate, and have my ATM fee refunded. So there is no markup for me (I believe) if I go to an ATM.

Do you have any suggestions on how to avoid paying a decent mark-up? I am sure there are better financial services companies here to work with..

You can do better by buying euros in Europe instead of the US, but running an fx operation entails fixed costs that get passed on to customers, so it's almost never possible to get within 50 basis points of spot unless you are doing very large transactions. Countries where there is high demand for USD (think controlled and/or volatile currencies) are an exception to this rule.

Moondog, I had a terrible time trying to exchange U.S. currency for euros last summer. In fact, after a couple of days of trying in Colmar and Strasbourg I had to pay my hotel bill us USD, which they accepted as a courtesy.

For future trips I still plan to have a good bit of euros when I arrive, but I certainly won't both with carrying any American currency, as I have in the past. So I'm going to use an ATM card, but I still play to arrive with enough euros to get me started.