best place (in USA) to exchange USD for foreign currency?

[ZippyDan]

it sucks to go overseas and get raped by exchange rates at airports where u HAVE to exchange cuz u need $ for train, bus, cab, etc.

i want to find a place locally with good rates where i can exchange my money BEFORE i get on the plane. any ideas?

euros especially

~Zippy!

 

[guyver01]

try a foreign commodities exhange place...

 

[ZippyDan]

thx. and i find one these how...? in phone book? under... commodities, exchange, foreign?

thx

~Zippy!

 

[ZippyDan]

..

 

[ZippyDan]

k?

 

[SilentZero]

With Euros your gonna get screwed no matter what most likely. Most banks, etc have poor euro rates. I know from alot of personal experience getting shafted by them.

 

[ZippyDan]

well lets put it this way. when in Europe, i find a wide variance in exchange rates, all within the same city. last time i was there, the 'official' rate was about 1.15 dollars for 1 euro. at the airport i was raped with a 1.26 exchange rate. but in EVERY city i went to (6 or 7) i was always able to find rates as low as 1.17 or 1.18. i realize rates will vary here too from location to location: my problem is i dont even know where to look to find exchange locations here in the US

~Zippy!

 

[Adul]

http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

for current rates

http://www.ordercurrency.com/

 

[Trevelyan]

You will always get the best exchange rates for money by using your ATM card overseas or your credit card, because banks will do huge daily exchanges, passing on to you the best exchange rate. Check with your bank how much they charge for a transaction. I was only charged $1.50 for using foreign ATMS, and I got the official exchange rate almost exactly for each transation. My credit card charged $1 I believe per transaction.

 

[ZippyDan]

im well aware of the atm/visa card advantage for exchange rates, but im also well aware that its simply not feasible to do everything i want to do (or perhaps even half of everything) with only a visa card

~Zippy!

 

[Balt]

Well, Trevelyan hit the nail on the head. If you want any kind of decent exchange rate (ie, not get hammered on comms) I think you're going to have to use an ATM. I guess you could take over a bunch of American Express Travelers' Checks, but they are an even greater hassle. If there's any way you can possibly use an ATM over there, by God, do it.

The exchange rate in general sucks right now. Last year the dollar was worth about 20% more compared to the Euro than it is now.

 

[tk149]

My bank (where I work) uses this place. I have no idea how competitive their rates are, but we charge a $35 fee to get foreign currency for a client.

 

[Goosemaster]

transylvannia's return rate is surprisingly high.

 

[Shelly21]

In some bank, if you're exchanging rare currencies they even add extra fees in addition of the sucky rate they offer you.

When I went to Asia, I just exchange my dollars with the local people for the best rate. I took out 1k of spending money for the trip, the highest expense was for the $200 hotel bill at the end when I returned to Detroit snowed in.

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: Balt
Well, Trevelyan hit the nail on the head. If you want any kind of decent exchange rate (ie, not get hammered on comms) I think you're going to have to use an ATM. I guess you could take over a bunch of American Express Travelers' Checks, but they are an even greater hassle. If there's any way you can possibly use an ATM over there, by God, do it.

The exchange rate in general sucks right now. Last year the dollar was worth about 20% more compared to the Euro than it is now.

Yes, ATM all the way. I haven't exchanged cash or traveller's checks in a long time (with exceptions for where ATMs are not available / not working). I imagine that anywhere in the EU you will have no trouble finding ATMs (except the stupid train station at CDG airport in Paris, where it was broken this summer, dang it).

 

[RossMAN]

Work for a bank which has a foreign exchange operations office and get an employee discount

 

[MaxDepth]

Large cities should have banks that do it for you (NY, LA for example). If you currently have an account with them, then there should be little or no fee. (depending on the size of your account, too, I believe.)

 

[dullard]

EDIT: WTF was this on the first page of the forum today? I didn't search for an old thread. It may be the first necro that I created, and I didn't even know. Sorry guys.



1) Try to avoid using that foreign cash and focus on using credit cards. Better exchange rates, rewards, and in some cases, no fees. Finally getting chip cards here goes a long way in making the credit cards actually be usable internationally.
2) Use the ATM at the airport for your cash needs there. Preferably use a no-fee debit card (I use Scottrade which is free and easy to obtain) when getting your cash.
3) If you can haggle with locals they will sometimes take dollars.
4) As a last resort, you should do what you are asking: get the foreign cash before you go. Your bank will way overcharge you with a bad exchange rate, with fees, and with postage.
...
100) Airport currency exchange places.

 

[bigrash]

I went to Chase bank last year when I needed to get Euros

 

[ponyo]

This is necro from 2003. I think most people now use credit cards whenever possible. It's good to carry multiple no foreign transaction credit cards on international travel because banks love to block charges on large foreign purchases even if you give them travel advisory before you leave. I've had Amex, Chase, and Capital One card purchases declined because of potential fraud alert while traveling internationally. Chase and Capital One were easy to resolve but American Express was a nightmare. Amex will treat you like a criminal and refuse to talk with you if you're not calling from your US number they have on file. So if you travel and swap out sim cards on your phone, Amex fraud department will not converse with you to unblock your own card. Once you experience that kind of no customer service from American Express, it will open your eyes and really question whether American Express cards you're paying annual fees for are worth it.

I don't use debit card because of the ATM fees. I carry $100 bills to change at banks or currency exchange places. But I use cash as last resort. I prefer charging everything if possible since I get reward points and most favorable exchange rates.

 

[purbeast0]

I was in Europe last month and just used the ATM's when I needed to get cash out. I have heard that is the cheapest way to do it, depending on your bank. My bank took like a 3% conversion fee, which on 250 euros was not that much in the grand scheme of things. My bank refunds the ATM fees too.

 

[Anubis]

just spend 2 weeks in Iceland

I needed zero cash. every place under the sun takes chipped CCs, even rando roadside stands

 

[JoeBleed]

Nice old, necro here. i figure i'll post anyway for the hell of it. Was in Belgium in 2014 and i used my CC everywhere with the exception of a tram/bus thing that no planning was done. Fortunately i was with local friends so they paid for it. Probably could have found a place to buy an access card somewhere. And a rest room in a train station was a payed restroom. I was surprised by that. I think we were in Denmark somewhere for that one. I may could have got them to take a couple of USD, but not sure. I will say it was very clean. Much better than places in the US i've seen when travelling.

One important note is, in Belgium at least, you can't buy subway tickets/cards at the self serve stations due to our US cards not having the PIN with them. You have to go to the manned booths and stand in line if it's really busy. But, you buy a card for X number of rides and you don't have to do it again until you run out or are close to running out.

So when ever i go gain, i may try and change out $10-$20 max for some coins. maybe.

 

[dullard]

This is necro from 2003.

My bad, it was on the forum at the top just like any other fresh thread. I have no idea why it was there. I didn't search for old threads and didn't bother to check the dates. It was just there on the first page.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Even though this is old, ATM all the way. Never exchange at the airport unless you're in a bad bind.