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take some Euros with you - last time I landed I had roughly 400 Euros and an ATM card. there are ATMs everywhere and my experience was that the exchange rate was decent. Let your bank know that you will be out of the country so any of your activity doesn't freeze your card as fraudulent transactions

I spent roughly 150 over the seven days i was there. that includes all of the necessities outside of lodging- check out the grocer Albert Heijn - I always had something in my bag from them to hold off the inevitable munchies

If you can (might be late at this point), I would not disclose your destination to co-workers/ employers I am in a similar position and I simply said I was going to Paris with a quick day trip to the tulip fields in Holland....had i even mentioned AMS eyebrows would be raised.

If the cat is out of the bag, Ingo has it right you should return with stories of the other things in Amsterdam - I smoked a ton but I also visited th van gogh museum - vondel park - Anne Frank House etc. and of course the tulip fields.....

have a blast

soultrane wrote:Let your bank know that you will be out of the country so any of your activity doesn't freeze your card as fraudulent transactions

yeah, i forgot to mention that. good call soultrane

they (work) don't know I'm going to Europe, I said out west on family business, sick relative and what-not.
as far as euros..oh well..everyone gets a piece...might as well grin and bear it..gonna get 500 euro at traveldex (at us airport) and bring atm.
btw, anyone ever rent an apartment from thsi guy http://apartmentpaul.com/
??? have res at rookies but I like the idea of more space...

as far as euros..oh well..everyone gets a piece.

MY BANK ONLY CHARGES ME $20 DOLLARS NO MATTER HOW MANY EURO OR ANY OTHER CURRENCY I BUY..

My bank, which is a credit union, was like duuuhhhh. we don't know the atm fees, or about euros or about anything. My online bank citibank, one of the world's largest, has no atm's or partnerships in the Netherlands.....but this is what pisses me off--- citibank said they would sell me euros..... get this 500dollars would get me i think it was 342 euros for arguments sake--- that same day at like bankrate and yahoo finance and my newly added google web-page=euro to dollars calc should have gotten me like 360 euros!! thats just the exchange...without fees included. I'm not a tightwad but thats just a plain rip. yes, I know currency fluctuates and all but euros to dollars --can't we liken it to breaking a dollar bill and get change? charge me a fee, but 8 - 10 percent Fuck you bank!
wanna smoke-a the niederweit, gotta pay somebody

I looked up my ATM card's networks online, and found that there are many Cirrus network machines in Amsterdam. Printed off the addresses of a few, but somehow I think they won't work with my ATM card, only for cash advance on my credit card, which gets into a whole new world of price gouging.

Yeah, currency exchange rates are always worse than the posted rate. Everyone has to take their cut of the exchange. If you can't use ATM, the best thing you can do is take some cash and try to use a credit card everywhere you possibly can, then pay off the bill when it arrives to avoid interest.

- Ingo

I just ordered 300 Euros The exchange rate was 1.4096 for a total of $422.88 plus $5.00 tansaction fee. I hope thats an ok deal?

I just ordered 300 Euros Exclamation The exchange rate was 1.4096 for a total of $422.88 plus $5.00 tansaction fee. I hope thats an ok deal?

THAT DEALS SEEMS LIKE IT BLOWS..I HATE TO SAY IT BUT IT JUST SEEMS TO HIGH..

that's what I mean, c'mon American ACD'ers! Let's share our resouces in finding the best way to get our euro's!! If we put it in terms of weed, our potential savings are like being able to go to a coffeeshop for the DAY and smoke and drink for FREE!

travelling high wrote:

I just ordered 300 Euros Exclamation The exchange rate was 1.4096 for a total of $422.88 plus $5.00 tansaction fee. I hope thats an ok deal?

THAT DEALS SEEMS LIKE IT BLOWS..I HATE TO SAY IT BUT IT JUST SEEMS TO HIGH..

Normally they charge $14.00 service fee.

pippin65 wrote:that's what I mean, c'mon American ACD'ers! Let's share our resouces in finding the best way to get our euro's!! If we put it in terms of weed, our potential savings are like being able to go to a coffeeshop for the DAY and smoke and drink for FREE!

We used Washington mutual debit card we have set up a special account for vacations only. I think we got a pretty good deal using the atm's. For €200 euro we paid $262.40 for current day exchange rate (in march 2007) a $2.62 atm usage fee and a $3.00 charge from WaMu for a transaction fee.

Let's share our resouces in finding the best way to get our euro's!!

ATM. You will not find a better exchange rate.

Your home town bank will pound you in the arse. They have to make arrangements to get Euros sent in from the regional federal bank and you will be charged accordingly.

Get a hundred Euro just in case, before you leave. Then go to the ATM in Schiphol and get what you need. Be sure to tell your bank/credit union you will be using your card overseas. It's highly possible it will be noticed. The last trip on which I did not do this I had a message from the bank when I returned home. They were suspending use of my ATM/debit card if I did not respond. Fortunately, I was home in time and it did not affect my trip.

Virtually all travel guides nowadays recommend the use of ATMs. Take a spare card if you can.

My ATM from a US credit union charged me 1.39 exchange rate for the deposit on an apt last week. When in the Dam in April/May of this year, the ATM was the best rate with no extra fees attached. Problem is you don't know what rate you will get, but it's usually slightly higher than the published bank rate for the day the transaction is debited.

When I used my Mastercard then, the rate was higher by a couple points (1.42-ish) but every transaction had a "Foreign Transaction Fee" attached for $15. Bastards...

dropshot wrote:My ATM from a US credit union charged me 1.39 exchange rate for the deposit on an apt last week. When in the Dam in April/May of this year, the ATM was the best rate with no extra fees attached. Problem is you don't know what rate you will get, but it's usually slightly higher than the published bank rate for the day the transaction is debited.

When I used my Mastercard then, the rate was higher by a couple points (1.42-ish) but every transaction had a "Foreign Transaction Fee" attached for $15. Bastards...

Visa just raised the atm fee!!! 2% for cash withdrawls and purchases.

Does anyone know what type of percentage you get charged,if you exchange u.s.d. to euros at the places in Schiphol Airport?