I spent about an hour today trying to get my hands on some euros and some pounds for the trip. What a FUN time that was.
I have been putting trip money into a savings account at a local credit union. To prevent me from "cheating" and using that money in advance, I did not get a checking account/debit card hooked to the account. The credit union told me, "SURE! You can order foreign currency online!" I get to the site, and you need a checking account. AWESOME. So I now have to wait 7-10 days to get my Visa check card from the credit union, order the euros/pounds, then wait 2-3 days for them to ship to me. Again, AWESOME. That leaves me a 3 day "cushion" (in case something goes wrong) before I leave.
I decided to check my other credit union and see what it would take to get foreign currency from them. HOLY FEES, BATMAN! It was beyond ridiculous-- $20 just to ship the notes to me?!
Then, I find out that it's going to be a 3% per transaction fee on anything I put on my credit card. WHAT?! My bank is going to profit from me traveling? How does that seem fair?!
I just want to walk into a bank, change out some USD for some Euros/Pounds-- is it really that difficult?!
I'm getting antsy- and now getting a little frustrated. 16 days...16 days...
2 comments:
EVEN BETTER, I just found out that my debit card that I *just* set up will not work in France. Seriously? Are they *trying* to mess me up??
And Jason is here to save the day!! He got me my 400 euros, PLUS my starter 50 pounds... no fees, just foreign currency goodness :) I'm SO glad he's on top of these things...!
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