Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did not realize that bank would need a 3 business day lead time (with Monday's holiday we will miss)

Any suggestions in NW/MD suburbs? thanks.

Honestly, if you have to ask this question, why are you going to Europe? They have ATMs and cashless payments just like here. Typically, there's an ATM right outside the arrivals door and if you have a halfway decent bank they will refund you the ATM charges. Same with credit cards and you can override the PIN that's sometimes asked for.

Agree totally.

Anonymous wrote:Did not realize that bank would need a 3 business day lead time (with Monday's holiday we will miss)

Any suggestions in NW/MD suburbs? thanks.

Honestly, if you have to ask this question, why are you going to Europe? They have ATMs and cashless payments just like here. Typically, there's an ATM right outside the arrivals door and if you have a halfway decent bank they will refund you the ATM charges. Same with credit cards and you can override the PIN that's sometimes asked for.

1. We tend to keep a bit of currency from our last trip, if we expect to use that currency again on a later trip. We do so because it is convenient not to have to spend it on something we don't need (or cash it in and lose on the exchange) and we don't mind holding onto to it for the future.

2. Also, although it's not a "good" rate, we will sometimes get some currency at the departure airport. Shocking, I know! But I'd rather do this while waiting for our flight than hunt for an ATM and hope it works when we arrive (usually exhausted). Given what the trip costs, losing a little more on the exchange doesn't add up to much. And the time on a trip is worth more than airport wait time when we haven't anything better to do.

I do agree that our last few trips (Scandinavia, Ireland, Netherland, Belgium) have involved less cash, and I prefer to use CC whenever possible.