Wow. I just got off the phone with American Express. In the past when we’ve traveled out of the country it has paid to exchange some money at their local office before leaving. They used to have pretty competitive rates–basically coming close to matching a credit card purchase (3 percent spread). Of course, credit cards in the last few years tacked on outrageous fees and changed their exchange rates such that costs for the consumer went waaay up. Apparently American Express thought raising fees/spreads was a good idea. Today the Euro is trading against the dollar at about 154.50. American Express was charging 1.66 to buy one Euro. Yikes. That’s a seven percent loss against the real value. No thanks.

I’m thinking I can do better via the ATM machine in Europe. I didn’t even ask what American express would pay to exchange back to dollars.

Anyone know any banks that have a better spread???