Cirrus does not charge any fees. The only fees I USED to pay were tacked on by my local bank. I've since
switched banks and now get the funds with no fees whatsoever!

I never got something for nothing from a bank.

With currency to go you get miles for the check purchases if charged to a mileage cc. The charge is also treated as a purchase rather than a cash advance.

This is what makes currency to go appealing.

Slawecki--You must be using the wrong bank! There are a lot of fee-less banks out there right now.

The beauty of currency to go (if you don't do it too frequently) is that you can get travelers checks charged to a credit card, so your cash purchases are actually getting miles. I order TC and a small amount of currency for the country I am going to. I usually use the ATM's because the exchange rate seems to be the best, European ATM's do not charge fees, and neither does my Citibank ATM card. I also use my starwoods AMEX card - even though I might be "paying" a little more, I get those miles and a record of my expenses. What I don't use in those Travelers checks I can deposit to pay off the credit card charges. I do not know of any other bank that lets you buy US travelers checks by charging to a credit card. Chase does not charge for delivery - it is a slight inconvenience for me for what they are giving you.

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DtG

How do you know if it is good deal? On Currency to Go an exchange of $509.93 buys 3500 French Francs at an exchange rate of 0.145693. on the Universal Currency Converter the exchange rate is listed as 1 FRF = 0.137738 USD and 3,500.00 FRF = 482.082 USD .
That means it could cost me $27 more to buy the 3500 FRF. Granted I have never gotten the rates that are shown on the site, but they are usually close to what shows up on my ATM or Amex. the qustion is how do you know and is Chase charging too much. Of course there is a cost to deliver to your door, but is it worth it?





[This message has been edited by GM99 (edited 04-08-2001).]

I purchase $950 in US Travelers Checks, and a very small amount of foreign currency because I think they do not give a good exchange rate - so I buy maybe $20 worth. I know I am overpaying for my British pounds, Belgiun francs or Italian lira, but I get those US travelers checks(no, charged to a credit card)and some local money just in case I can't find an ATM machine at the airport or I don't want to stop to change money when I arrive. I would NOT buy a lot of local currency outside the country by way of currency to go and even from your bank. I do think the best rate is using an ATM machine in the country.

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DtG

I too usually use ATM's when travelling overseas, but in February there were many currency exchange places in London offering some incredible rates for US 100 dollar bills. Had to be Hundred dollar bills, not 2 fifties or 5 twenties. I didn't have any with me, but next time I will certainly bring some. I don't want to know why they needed 100 bills so badly, but the exchange was way above the regular rate and what the ATM was giving.

By the way, I don't pay a fee for ATM transactions out of the US either, which in a way pisses me off since I have to down the street (should I choose to use that ATM). Makes no sense to me.