Hey guys, quick question. I have a German Maestro Card with a couple hundred euros on it and I am looking for the best way to convert these euros to dollars.
I live in the US, but go to Germany every once in a while to visit extended family and I have considered just keeping the euros on the card for the next time I go there, but I could use the extra cash right now. However, since it’s close to US$1000, percentage fees suck as they take out a chunk of the money when I convert from euros to dollars.
I’ve done a lot of research, and I basically have narrowed it down to four options. Let me know which you guys think is best, please:
Option 1) I can go to my US bank (Chase) and bring them my Maestro card and exchange it then and there. This is the most practical but it has a bunch of fees associated with it, such as lower exchange conversion rate (meaning I am not getting as many dollars for my euros as I should according to the current exchange rate), non-bank card fees, and foreign exchange fees.
Option 2) I heard some people say Bank of America has good rates to perform such an exchange and I’ve also heard the opposite. Is BoFA good for this or is there another bank that would be better?
Option 3) I have a family member coming from Germany in August (whom I can give access to my card), he could bring the euros in cash and then I could sell it to my bank. I would imagine this has no fees, just the lower exchange conversion rate (again, meaning I am not getting as many dollars for my euros as I should according to the current exchange rate)
Option 4) Having my family member in Germany actually exchange the euros to dollars in Germany and then bring it here with him. I thought about this as an option because I read they have much better rates there, and I figured bringing US$1000 on a trip won’t raise any red flags at the airport because that’s not an absurd amount of money.
I figured I would ask you guys because this community is certainly more knowledgable on this topic than I am. Thank you guys so much for your help!
April 19, 2018 at 08:30PM
