Best Place To Get Euros

[clo]

30 minutes ago, chipmaster said:

a daily limit

One time we needed a chunk of cash pretty quickly and would have exceeded our daily limit.  So Bob would take from one ATM and I would take from another.

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, chipmaster said:

 

You do realize that I was needing in excess of 1K  or more per tour,  I do have a daily limit even though I have plenty of money in my account.       An alternative would be to have 3 different bank accounts and then doing the limits on each in every port.  FWIW we had a wonderful experience with RIL in two vans in three ports, they were waiting for us at each port and to be honest I'm not sure I'd have really had time to do a 3x stop, I guess I could have done it around the Vatican,  Trevi, etc. etc.,  Same on the busy naples day, I can remember all the ATMs around Pompei as well as Amalfi coast stops, I'm sure there were some.  I guess for me saving a couple % wasn't that important for me.   I fully appreciate for some time is money and for some money is time.   This much I know, when I'm in the ground it won't matter how much money I have, but I do know when I don't have any more time all the money won't buy more time.

 

As you noted we can wish and say more tour companies accept CC or whatever, but if the one you are using wants cash, that is a "choice"   Good luck telling them accept a CC or I go somewhere else, maybe next tour they change, but for you, you are SOL. 

 

Seems like you were traveling with a large group of 10 or 11; were you the only adult? Couldn't you have tried to "divide and conquer" regarding the task of getting cash?  (Thinking of the Pantheon, for example, I can think of at least 6 ATMs within less than two blocks from that iconic building....) 

 

I can see not wanting to bother if we're talking $50 or so, but for $500 -- it just seems kind of wasteful. I guess I don't make enough to roll that way, lol.

 

As for companies, there is usually more than one choice. 

 

 

[cruisemom42]

8 hours ago, clo said:

Not related to Euros but we're going to be in Buenos Aires at the end of a cruise and will be spending a few days. I read here and have continued to verify that, due to their fluctuating economy, getting money at ATMs can be limited to something like US$65/day.  Which ought to be fine.  But 'they' are recommending carrying a couple of 'crisp, new 100s or 50s' and using a cambio.  We put everything possible on CC but I've tucked away a couple of the aforementioned.

 

I should've been more specific that I was talking about Europe (as that's where the OP is going). I have no claim to any expertise in Argentina. 

[chipmaster]

16 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Seems like you were traveling with a large group of 10 or 11; were you the only adult? Couldn't you have tried to "divide and conquer" regarding the task of getting cash?  (Thinking of the Pantheon, for example, I can think of at least 6 ATMs within less than two blocks from that iconic building....) 

 

I can see not wanting to bother if we're talking $50 or so, but for $500 -- it just seems kind of wasteful. I guess I don't make enough to roll that way, lol.

 

As for companies, there is usually more than one choice. 

 

 

 

As noted I did my research on companies and had my preference, they took cash only at the time.  Kind of like choosing where you want to eat, you have choices, and then you have "your" choice.  

 

I was the owner, it was my responsibility to take care of it.  I could have burdened my father/mother, and mother inlaw and brother in law.  As I said I took ownership, if I distributed it would now be their burden and expectation.  Cash, or maybe they should also look at tour guides and tours too, where does it stop, stops with the owner.  To often in life we don't take ownership.

Worked out just fine with me owning it, tour and guides were great, as was the vacation for my parents and inlaws.

 

[clo]

16 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I should've been more specific that I was talking about Europe (as that's where the OP is going). I have no claim to any expertise in Argentina. 

Oh I just didn't want to start a new thread for that one piece of info.

[clo]

3 minutes ago, chipmaster said:

I was the owner,

Oh.  I see now.

[SRF]

16 hours ago, clo said:

Not related to Euros but we're going to be in Buenos Aires at the end of a cruise and will be spending a few days. I read here and have continued to verify that, due to their fluctuating economy, getting money at ATMs can be limited to something like US$65/day.  Which ought to be fine.  But 'they' are recommending carrying a couple of 'crisp, new 100s or 50s' and using a cambio.  We put everything possible on CC but I've tucked away a couple of the aforementioned.

 

Last time I was in BA, a couple of years ago, the official exchange rate was NOT the real rate.  You wanted to get the "blue" rate of exchange.

 

It was one place I did NOT use my credit card, except for the hotel bill.  You could get enough of a better exchange rate to make it worthwhile to pay cash for everything.

 

On Ave Florida, about every third person was asking if you wanted to change money.  Ask their rate, and if good, go with them.  They are honest, but will take you out of sight to the actual money changer.  The person who brought you will get a commission.  Next time, just go on back to the money changer.

 

I forget, but the difference was quite large.  And it is a bit negotiable. From one article online "Since Argentines rely heavily on dollars, a parallel, unofficial dollar market has emerged with a separate rate called the “blue dollar”. To give you an idea of the difference, the official exchange rate at the time of the last edit this article was 8.47 pesos to the dollar, while the blue rate was 12.75 pesos to one dollar."

 

 

Here is the rate for today - "Yesterday, for example, the price closed with the blue dollar at $ 63.75 for the purchase and $ 66.75 for the sale, showing a rise of almost $ 1 compared to the morning price; while the official dollar, on average, was trading at $ 58 for the purchase and $ 63 for the sale."

 

It is posted in the local paper - https://www.lanacion.com.ar/dolar-hoy  If you open it in Chrome, you can right click and Translate to English

 

So not as good as before, but still about 10% more.

 

When I was there, you could not get USD.  So take plenty with you.

 

You may also be able to pay in USD cash at a good rate in shops and restaurants.

[SRF]

15 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

No fees is great, but it isn't the whole story, as there are lots of places that charge no fees, but will massively screw you on the exchange rate spread.

 

This is the normal thing.

 

They are BUSINESSES, they WILL make their money.

[SRF]

14 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

 

Not all of Europe. In Germany, for example, cash remains king. I imagine the same applies elsewhere in some parts of Europe as well. It is very common for restaurants and bars (even those frequented by tourists) to accept cash only. Why? I'm not 100% sure. Maybe they don't want to pay the transaction fees or maybe they don't want to deal with charge backs. Perhaps a combo of both. Either way, without euros, you're going to find yourself out of luck in a lot of situations. 

 

Strange, I just spent the past 3 weekends in Western Europe and had NO trouble using my card.  And I did watch someone buy a single scoop ice cream cone with a card in Paris.

 

You get to the north (Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) you will see people buying a cup of coffee or a pack of gum on a card.

 

Even in Eastern Europe, card use is very common. You see older people using cash, and the younger ones using a card for most things.

 

 

[SRF]

15 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

 

I guess...maybe if you're trying to withdraw at a casino or somewhere that would screw you the same as in the USA? 

 

In all of my European travels I have only encountered one place that charged anything more than the usual daily exchange rate. It was an ATM inside one of the tents at Oktoberfest. I actually didn't even use said ATM as I was really just curious how much of a rip off it was. Because of course, ATMs in situations like this will screw you, no different than USA.

 

Look at the currency exchange places. Check the prices (buy/sell) for the commission and the non-commission places.

 

You will see that the exchange rates at the non-commission are much more (greater buy/sell spread) than the commission places.  More so than the commission.

 

Many ATMs in Europe now offer to make the exchange for you, and a horrible rate, plus a fee.  You just decline their exchange and they charge your card in the currency dispensed.

[SRF]

10 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

In Eastern Europe I encountered lots of exchange places, mostly with a Western Union logo that charged no fees but had unconscionable spreads that were "disclosed" in a very deceptive way.  And once ran into the same thing traveling with a friend who got taken by one of these in Bordeaux.

 

This is why you use ATMs. 😄

 

[SRF]

10 hours ago, chipmaster said:

 

You do realize that I was needing in excess of 1K  or more per tour,  I do have a daily limit even though I have plenty of money in my account.       An alternative would be to have 3 different bank accounts and then doing the limits on each in every port.  FWIW we had a wonderful experience with RIL in two vans in three ports, they were waiting for us at each port and to be honest I'm not sure I'd have really had time to do a 3x stop, I guess I could have done it around the Vatican,  Trevi, etc. etc., 

 

If you have 3 accounts, you only need ONE ATM.  Use one card, draw the max.  Then repeat for cards 2 and 3.  Maybe 5 minutes?

[clo]

6 hours ago, SRF said:

You may also be able to pay in USD cash at a good rate in shops and restaurants.

Thanks for ALL of this.  I've forwarded it to Bob.  Now we do have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and get 3x for dining.  Something to consider?

PS to OP: I didn't intend to hijack this thread. Apologies.

[chipmaster]

6 hours ago, SRF said:

 

If you have 3 accounts, you only need ONE ATM.  Use one card, draw the max.  Then repeat for cards 2 and 3.  Maybe 5 minutes?

Thanks for the suggestion, I've noodled that and at the time sad cash baby!  There are always multiple solutions and what one picks is very personal, if you can defended it and the choice of risk versus risk/work then it works for you.

 

BTW I travel a lot and fully appreciate backup.   I have two ATM cards and 3 CC, never carry all of them together, nor my passport ( now ain't that another fun topic with many positions. )   When actually traveling point to point passport/cc/atm usually in my backpack with 2x laptop, and of course wallet with cash/atm/cc.  

 

Do you want to know my data backup for photos and computer, LOL

[whogo]

Today's quotes:

5.2% markup from Wells Fargo without logging in.

3.1% markup from Wells Fargo by logging in.

8.1% markup from my AAA club, currency sold by the Travelex website. (US$12 delivery for small purchases.)

22.4% markup from Travelex Atlanta Hartsfield.

19% markup from Travelex Atlanta Hartsfield by asking for a reduced rate for a €4,000 purchase.

 

Details:

Wells Fargo currently quotes US$1.1576/€, a 5.2% markup over the interbank rate of US$1.10081 as shown by Oanda.

When logged in, Wells Fargo currently quotes US$1.1345/€, a 3.1% markup over the interbank rate of US$1.10081 as shown by Oanda.

Travelex Atlanta Hartfield quoted US$1.3475/€, a 22.4% markup over the interbank rate of US$1.10081 as shown by Oanda.

Travelex Atlanta Hartfield was pressed to discount to US$1.31025/€ a 19% markup over the interbank rate of US$1.10081 as shown by Oanda.

My AAA club quoted US$1.19/€, an 8.1% markup over the interbank rate of US$1.10081 as shown by Oanda. I was redirected to a Travelex site, cheaper than I thought, no delivery fee for a large order, US$12 for smaller purchases. This would add 4.8% to a minimum order worth US$250. If paid for by credit card, the card issuer may treat a purchase as a cash advance.

[FlyerTalker]

7 minutes ago, whogo said:

My AAA club quoted US$1.19/€, an 8.1% markup over the interbank rate of US$1.10081 as shown by Oanda.

 

You might want to do some more checking.  In my experience, the rates shown by Oanda have been significantly different from rates obtained through XE and other services.  And from what my bank actually charged for exchange on a CC (supposedly at interbank rates).

 

Personally, I put a number of different currency apps on my phone.  I check them all in sequence and they pretty much all line up.  That is, except for Oanda, which is a frequent outlier.  Give it a test yourself, for as always, YMMV.

[SRF]

13 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

You might want to do some more checking.  In my experience, the rates shown by Oanda have been significantly different from rates obtained through XE and other services.  And from what my bank actually charged for exchange on a CC (supposedly at interbank rates).

 

Personally, I put a number of different currency apps on my phone.  I check them all in sequence and they pretty much all line up.  That is, except for Oanda, which is a frequent outlier.  Give it a test yourself, for as always, YMMV.

 

I use XE and find it to be very accurate.

 

But as of RIGHT NOW, the rate is $1.1016 per Euro.

 

So the quoted $1.10081 is not that far off.  About 0.1% difference.

[whogo]

Current:

US$1.10016/€ at Yahoo finance

US$1.100163/€ at XE

US$1.10015/€ bid, 1.1016 asked at Oanda

 

Anyone think that a tourist should be concerned about the difference?

 

[RBKL]

2 hours ago, clo said:

Thanks for ALL of this.  I've forwarded it to Bob.  Now we do have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and get 3x for dining.  Something to consider?

PS to OP: I didn't intend to hijack this thread. Apologies.

 

2 hours ago, clo said:

Thanks for ALL of this.  I've forwarded it to Bob.  Now we do have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and get 3x for dining.  Something to consider?

PS to OP: I didn't intend to hijack this thread. Apologies.

No apologies necessary. We’re all in this together. Sharing is caring.

[LocoLoco1]

I am headed  to Argentina soon, early 2020. Some currency exchange rates are so-oo volatile sometimes that NO moneychangers handle them, Euro's are very stable. US Greenbacks are still $King$. So much so that local Argentinians 'horde' US$100's and later have a size able nest egg to live on locally. Crisp US 20's, 50's, $100's can be better than Gold, IMHO. 

[ShawninFL]

I too usually rely on using ATMs in Europe to obtain Euros.  I understand also, that you'll never be able to get that much money out of an ATM.  We went to Asia last month and for the first time if a very long time, we obtained the currencies we would need on the trip before we left.  We have a bank account with Bank of America and while doing some research online found out that I could order the currencies I need right on their website.  I was originally only getting about $700.00, but found out if I exchanged over $1000.00 there were no fees so that's what I did.  I also got a very favorable exchange rate.  Only downside, is if you go over a $1000.00 to exchange, you can 't get home delivery of your currency.  You have to go into your local branch.  I placed my order on a Sunday night and received a call that my currency was ready for pick late Tuesday morning.