[NA] buying euros (won't be using ATMs)

[X3 Skier]

Getting several grand via an ATM probably wouldn’t work anyway.

Back in the day on a trip to Germany, my wife caught Pneumonia and she was admitted to a hospital. Three days later she was discharged in good condition. Excellent treatment BTW. The Hospital wanted 500 Euros Cash before she could be discharged (easily reimbursed when we got back).

I went to an ATM and tried to withdraw the cash and was rejected. Told the wife and as a banker, she "educated" me on single daily withdrawal limits. Back to the ATM for 250 Euros. Success! I walked 3-4 blocks to another ATM from the same bank and withdrew another 250 Euros. Took the cash and ransomed the wife. So much for daily limits in Germany.

 

[TCABM]

Back in the day on a trip to Germany, my wife caught Pneumonia and she was admitted to a hospital. Three days later she was discharged in good condition. Excellent treatment BTW. The Hospital wanted 500 Euros Cash before she could be discharged (easily reimbursed when we got back).

I went to an ATM and tried to withdraw the cash and was rejected. Told the wife and as a banker, she "educated" me on single daily withdrawal limits. Back to the ATM for 250 Euros. Success! I walked 3-4 blocks to another ATM from the same bank and withdrew another 250 Euros. Took the cash and ransomed the wife. So much for daily limits in Germany.

There several limits that can be in place. There’s a machine limit per transaction and per day to a card. There’s also account limits (usually daily). A call/online transaction can usually have those limits raised on the spot.

My particular bank runs a standard $600 daily limit, but I can raise that to $3000/day and pre-auth that increased limit for multiple days, but not permanently.

 

[Bob Noel]

Before ATMs were online live it was possible to withdraw more cash than the account actually had and it was possible to go to multiple ATMs.

Now it's a bit more to do that.

 

[Pinecone]

I traveled internationally for work a lot. I just did the ATM thing. Out of the US, for many years, the ATMs did not charge any fee and the exchange rate was nearly identical to the bank to bank rate. The past maybe 10 years some have popped up that try to get you to accept them doing the exchange. DO NOT do that, let your bank do the conversion at a better rate.

Hotels will do the same, even big US chains outside the US. They will ask if you want to be charged in dollars or local currency. Pick local.

One trick for having leftover cash is use it against your hotel bill when you check out. Keep a bit for tips, but once you get into the airport, most vendors are set up to take US dollars or credit cards.

 

[tspear]

Germany is oddly not great to travel through without cash. Plenty of places won't take cards. Learned that one the hard way

When?

Tim

 

[tspear]

I travel to Europe usually once a year (wife is French), and we often stay in small towns I cannot pronounce. Recently locations are the France, Spanish Canary Islands, Portugal, and England. Always going off the beaten path to visit friends and family. We now carry about $50 Euros for a two week trip; handy for buying baguettes Compare this to ten years ago, when we would travel with a close to a grand in cash for such trips.

Point being, I would hazard a guess that the need cash has likely changed a lot over the last decade.

It has also been over a decade, but the cheapest option outside of an ATM back then, was always ordering traveler checks in the local currency and exchanging them for cash in a bank.

Tim

 

[GaryM]

Duty free shops usually accept any semi-local currency. We just came back from a trip to Wales and Ireland with two nice bottles of Irish whisky/whiskey (each used a different spelling, which I found interesting)

I paid with my remaining Euros plus my remaining Pounds Sterling with the balance in USD. No transaction or conversion fee of any kind, though I don’t recall the exchange rates they used.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

. We now carry about $50 Euros for a two week trip; handy for buying baguettes Compare this to ten years ago, when we would travel with a close to a grand in cash for such trips.

Wow so the bottom has fallen out of the baguette market, who knew?!

 

[TCABM]

When?

Tim

Our son lived/lives in rural Bavaria for the past two years; we were there last summer. While most places will take a card, it’s not a given, especially when food or transportation is involved.

Comparatively Scotland and the Czech Republic was very tap to pay friendly. So much so we never used cash in those countries.

Also, a 1EUR coin is useful for shopping carts.

 

[AV8R_87]

A loong time ago (couple decades +) I saw a Dutch ad, showing two friends riding in a streetcar. A beggar is walking around, asking passengers if they could spare some cash.
One of the friends pulls out a credit card, asking the beggar if he takes them. He pulls out a card reader and swipes the card, completing the transaction.
End title card: "VISA - Accepted Everywhere".

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Ok, ok! Damn y’all, I went to the biggest local bank (which has a multi-decades, 6-figure account of mine ie Im not a walkin) and asked for an international atm card.
‘You can’t get just an atm card, only a debit card with atm capabilities. But, you can go onto the website to turn the card on, go get your cash, then return & shut it off.’
I figure that will work, as I’m concerned about security - and I had them link it to a new, ‘travel’ checking account with no minimum, no fees, which I will maintain an adequate but small amount in, so that I’m not risking the bulk of my active cash when traveling.

CSR notes that overdraft protection is available ie no fee to automatically top up the account should the card result in an overdraft. What? Im doing it this way so that when the account is depleted, the main account is protected. Not sure I explained this successfully.

Did not even get into atm fees, foreign transaction fees, what exchange rate they use, etc. I’m not sure if the CSR even gathered what I meant by Europe, so I didn’t press it.

 

[Ghery]

That makes sense on needing the cash. I'm curious to hear where you're going now. When we were in Salzburg, we ate at a small Italian restaurant where the old guy running it spoke only Italian or German - no English. Luckily me and my two boys knew just enough Spanish to roughly translate Italian to get some AMAZING food. My dad talks being in Germany a few years ago for work. He took the rental car and drove through the country side (as he usually did when he had to stay over the weekend) and ended up stopping at a small mom-and-pop restaurant where NOBODY spoke English. Eventually, a lady came out from the kitchen and took him back to the kitchen so he could point to what he wanted. Those are my kinds of places - sounds like what you're looking for, too. ha

RE: Apprehension about using your local bank. I'm pretty sure I have had it handled two ways - once where I had it delivered to my door and once where I went to the local branch to pick it up (can't remember if it was my choice or if maybe the dollar amount was high enough they wanted to verify my ID or something). All that to say - you can probably have it wait for you at a local branch if you are worried about porch (or delivery driver) pirates.

As Rick Steves has said about Italian, may the farce be with you!

I remember once in Germany decades ago (1971 to be precise) my (now) wife and I were the last people in the band to order dinner. Everyone, except us, ordered in English, we ordered in German. Guess who got served first? They really do like it when you (attempt) to order in the local language. Carry the local currency, sometimes plastic doesn't work.

 

[tspear]

I’m not sure if the CSR even gathered what I meant by Europe, so I didn’t press it.

Lmao, that is funny. And sad, but still funny.

Have a good trip.

Oh, one thing to be aware of, I had an account at a tiny rural bank. They blocked all access outside the USA using GEO IP. I got around it by using a US VPN (NordVPN in my case, there are plenty of them). So if you need to "manually" transfer funds via the website, you can do so.

Tim

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Oh, one thing to be aware of, I had an account at a tiny rural bank. They blocked all access outside the USA using GEO IP. I got around it by using a US VPN (NordVPN in my case, there are plenty of them). So if you need to "manually" transfer funds via the website, you can do so.

Oh that is a good tip, thanks. I'll check with them.

 

[schmookeeg]

When?

Tim

2019. Maybe it's improved.

I had to leave my wife as collateral while I wandered the streets in search of an ATM, so I'll be better prepared next time, which will ensure a POS terminal at every doner stand.

 

[Ventucky Red]

What is the best way to buy some cash? Landing in Munich, need a couple grand USD converted (not a big atm user).

As a prelude to actual investigation I asked our fave AI bot, what u think about this advice?

Munich... most places will take USA currency; however, watch them as they can sometime screw up the exchange rate... there are a few APPS you can download that will do the conversion to that days exchange rate.

Most hotels will also offer an exchange service, however, they charge a fee.. I have Marriott and Hilton uber privileges, so I don't see this, and if I do, it is minimal - your milage may vary

In the future, hit your local bank and order the currency a few weeks in advance of your trip.. I deal with Wells Fargo, and this has not been a problem in the past 25 years I have been doing it.

And, you smart for having cash (in the case Euros). The merchants like this and always ask them if there is a discount for paying in currency - yes even on Germany... there is one thing we all have in common world wide and that we hate the revenuers and blood sucking bank fees.

 

[Pinecone]

Most hotels will also offer an exchange service, however, they charge a fee.. I have Marriott and Hilton uber privileges, so I don't see this, and if I do, it is minimal - your milage may vary

They may not charge a fee, but their exchange rate is horrible. Much worse than the bank rate you get by charging in local currency.

And it makes little sense to carry a lot of US currency and have to deal with all the hassle of exchanging and trying to get a reasonable rate.

 

[Van Johnston]

IF you are a AAA member AND IF you are close to one of their storefronts OR travelling to metro area where they have a storefront, you can get Euros there. Not sure what their limit is. Definitely limited to whatever they have on hand at that location that day.

It's been over 10 years since the one time I did this for my son when he was going on a high school trip. I don't recall any extra fees, and can't speak to how good the exchange rate was. But it was convenient.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend joining AAA just for that though.

 

[Ventucky Red]

They may not charge a fee, but their exchange rate is horrible. Much worse than the bank rate you get by charging in local currency.

And it makes little sense to carry a lot of US currency and have to deal with all the hassle of exchanging and trying to get a reasonable rate.

Like I said, your milage may vary. Recently in Amsterdam, the Hilton did an even exchange with me, but then again, I am a diamond member. May be different for others... With my business travel between them and Marriott... I have about on month's worth of free stays with each.

Munich... most places will take USA currency; however, watch them as they can sometime screw up the exchange rate... there are a few APPS you can download that will do the conversion to that days exchange rate.

Making sense to you now? Like I said, don't leave the math up to them..


Like your avatar... my cousin flew them with the PA ANG