Where to get Euros before trip
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Anonymous
| If you use an atm in Europe use an actual bank atm. There are a bunch of atms at airport that are run primarily to fleece tourists with lousy exhange rates |
Anonymous
| As others have said you wont need Euros from the airport to the hotel. Just get them when you get settled. |
Anonymous
|
Bank - any bank will convert your money before and after a trip
or ATM in country - they are everywhere |
Anonymous
| I think that banks can order them |
Anonymous
|
I just returned from Spain a month ago. I never bother to get euros until I get to Europe. I just got euros from an ATM around the corner from my hotel. I never needed them except for some taxi rides. Most taxis took card and you can also use cabify so that you can always pay by card, but some taxis that I hailed from the street said they only took cash. Even farmers market stalls took cc.
Get a card with no transaction fees like Charles Schwab. |
Anonymous
| Montgomery Mall has a kiosk that sells foreign currency. |
Anonymous
| What is this the first time you ever left the country? You just get your cash from an ATM at the airport in Europe. Don’t be a novice. |
Anonymous
| I second getting cash in europe from an ATM. I travel there every year and never ever get euros before leaving. You can actually use the credi card almost everywhere. I travel to italy most of the time and people there do not appreciate cc for small purchases so i keep some euros for cappuccino and ice creams (although most ice cream places take cc). I would not get a lot of money, pickpocketing is thriving and a lot of cash can be stolen. |
Anonymous
| Tysons mall had an exchange kiosk on the second level, but in country ATM is the easiest. Or pay everything with CC. |
Anonymous
DP - So rude - what do you think the definition of "novice" is? Plus, if you only go to Europe infrequently, things morph over time. COVID pushed the cash-free trend, but maybe they haven't been since pre-pandemic... |
Anonymous
This was my experience as well. I had converted money and had a hard time finding places to take cash. |
Anonymous
It’s not just a Europe thing. It’s a travel anywhere outside the US thing. You get an ATM card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees or withdraw fees and hit the ATM on arrival. |
Anonymous
Is this true in every country? Pre-COVID I remember needing to have cash in Amsterdam and Berlin because not everywhere would accept American credit cards. I have been back to Germany since COVID and was able to use my card nearly everwhere, so maybe this is no longer a thing. I think I still experienced needing a card with a PIN to make a purchase from a train vending machine, but that was about it. |
Anonymous
Where in Tyson's Mall? |
Anonymous
|
Reviving this discussion because we are curious too.
We generally always pay with credit card while traveling (Capital One has a nice no foreign transaction fee). But I always like to travel with some cash in case we arrive and cards don’t work, etc and cash can get us a cab and a hotel to get settled. So if you want to convert some currency before traveling what is best option: 1) local bank or credit union in US 2) Tyson’s currency exchange at mall 3) Airport currency exchange stateside 4) airport currency exchange in foreign country On a side not we have a bit of left over currency what is the best way to convert to USD? |