anyone have any thoughts/ideas on what the best way to convert $ to euros is? i read that visa and mastercard are now charging 3% for foreign purchases. ripoff  you get screwed no matter what, but i am curious if anyone has an ideas on this. how much to get clipped for example if you simply withdraw euros from local atms over in europe, as opposed to bringing travelers checks, or cash and converting at money changers? |
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Quote: | anyone have any thoughts/ideas on what the best way to convert $ to euros is? i read that visa and mastercard are now charging 3% for foreign purchases. ripoff you get screwed no matter what, but i am curious if anyone has an ideas on this. how much to get clipped for example if you simply withdraw euros from local atms over in europe, as opposed to bringing travelers checks, or cash and converting at money changers? | Some cards are still not charging. Capital One is not. Also, I know MBNA is supposed to start but, I applied for the their Visa Platinum at the beginning of the month and the cardmember agreement says that they still only charge 1 percent. Some U.S. ATM/debit cards (depending on the bank) do not charge currency conversion fees either, but the ATMs in Europe most likely will.
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my credit union only charges a $1.00 fee! 
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Citibank America does not charge any fees other than the usual 1% off the wholesale currency exchange rate when you use one of their cards in a German Citibank ATM. At least that was true a couple weeks ago. I will check and see if that has changed.
I can use my German Deutsche Bank card in Bank of America machines without charge so I assume that is also true the other way around.
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We're just leaving Germany after our ED. We've used our Bank of America Check Card at Deutsche Bank ATM's on 2 occasions with no fees. Smooth as silk. There's even a Deutsche Bank ATM at Baggage Claim in Munich.
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Regardless of fees, the best aproach is a mix of credit cards and ATM use. Use credit cards wherever you can. Amex is 2%, Capital One is 1% (the Visa or MC fee), others are 1%+x where X is what the issuing bank wants to charge. But that percent is on top of the wholesale rate, which is a lot better than you'd get at teh Cambio or money-changing place.
For cash, go to an ATM--you'll get the wholesale rate there too, and pay a flat fee for ATM use, unless your bank has a relationship with a european bank, in which case there's almost no cost (some are now charging 1% too for the conversion). But still a pretty good deal.
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cost effective euro exchanges