Exchange rate: $90.00 U.S. gets you 39 Euros - Just wow

[lyonn]

No wonder our economy is out of whack. I just got an e-mail from granddaughter in Europe and she is running our of cash. I can see why. Our media and govt. don't make a big issue out of this but this is critical. Our dollar is pitiful. No wonder gas prices are so high factoring this in. This is no doubt what you get when you borrow your life away as our government has. We owe the world due to our paying for this war on credit.

[tridim]

1. The Dick sez, "Deficits don't matter"

Wonder what McDick has to say about that theory?

[DrDan]

2. that does not look right - I believe the exchange rate is right at .64

which would mean $90 would get you around 58 Euros

[lyonn]

6. She was in Paris this weekend and that was where she

got the rate. I have no idea where she does the "exchanging". It could matter, or, she was mistaken. She said while in a restaurant that one of her classmates was pondering the prices and she raised a white napkin and said "she surrendered to the Euro: Thought that was funny.

[lyonn]

12. Hey Dan, I wrote her and asked if she had receipt, etc.

She e-mailed me this info:

"Yeah the people on DU are right, I looked it up too and should have gotten around 57 to 58 Euros hypothetically. It isn't that they cheated us though, it's that they tax it. I thought we were seriously cheated at first, but then I was talking to my friend Thomas (another guy in the program with me) and I was like "Guess how many Euros I got for 90 bucks?" and he goes "Umm, like, 40?" and I was shocked that he knew and he said there is a certain fee they charge just to exchange and then another $10 they take out in taxes. Poor Michael, he exchanged dollars and franks for euros so they charged him the 10 dollars twice and he ended up with 66 euros out of $150 or something gawd awful."


So, this explains it but that is dreadful. Wonder if it helps to get it changed in the U.S. before leaving?

[Art_from_Ark]

14. She shouldn't have to pay tax to exchange money

As one who has played the foreign exchange game, I think she's getting taken big time. If she goes to a non-bank currency exchange place, she'll end up paying all sorts of ridiculous surcharges. She needs to go to a decent bank to exchange money. If they still charge her such outrageous fees, it would be better to exchange it in the US, and get something closer to the official rate. (Note that the official rate is just between banks. Individuals are usually charged 2 or 3 cents per Euro as a transction fee, but that would still be better than the raw deal she's getting now).

[zeos3]

15. You're right

A couple of years ago I exchanged money in the airport in Germany (i think $100 got me approx. 75 Euros), I got screwed exchanging at a casino (naturally), I went to a bank and got about 83 Euros for my $100.

[lyonn]

16. Thanks, I'll tell her to only use banks to exchange

We were in Paris in 1976 and I remember my husband only exchanging at Banks or somewhere he thought was reputable. I left it to him but do remember being told not to exchange just anywhere. You would think that the school would advise them on this issue? Seems many of the students are having this problem.

By the way, she loved Paris! She went to confession at Notre Dame - and she is not Catholic, ha. She and friends decided it would be cool to be able to say they did their confessions of their sins there. Ugh. Funny. She gets into the architecture in the different countries and the history. She was especially moved by her visit to Dachau in Munich. She said reading about it and actually seeing where and what was done to the prisoners was an eye opener and that she didn't have words to describe the feeling you get being there.

[Warpy]

3. She's getting robbed!

She should be getting 59 Euros for that amount of dollars according to http://www.xe.com/

[lyonn]

8. Thanks, neat site, changes while I'm watching....

Sounds like she is mistaken or was taken.....

[4_TN_TITANS]

10. The French are notorious for

taking advantage of unexperienced American travelers, happened to me. She's getting robbed.

[DrDan]

11. I have been to France numerous time - and cannot ever remember

being taken advantage of.

There can be some bad apples, of course. But to categorize the French as any worse than any other nationality is rash generalization.

[SCBeeland]

4. there was a story on my local news

where they said this guy from Germany bought an SUV and had it shipped to him in Germany, and since he paid for it all in US dollars, it was actually about $1500 cheaper for him than if he'd went and bought one maybe 10 minutes away in Germany. I've got internet friends in Europe who keep telling me that the dollar is pretty much a piece of trash at this point.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Currently, $1 will convert to .642388 Euros. Your granddaughter needs to find a better

place to exchange money! She should be getting about 57 Euros for her $90.

http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

[lyonn]

7. Thanks, I have no idea where she is doing the exchanging

She is in school in Switzerland for about 3 more weeks and they have been to Italy and Germany on the weekends. Apparently there is a different currency in some countries. They plan to go to Greece when school is out for a few days. Wonder if Greece uses the Euro? Oh well, going as a group they save some on rooms as they all pile into one room. That helps, but food and drink is dreadful.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Be sure to tell her never to exchange money on the 'streets'. In some countries, there

are money exchangers standing on the corners of heavy tourist traffic, offering to exchange money.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Yes, Greece uses the Euro

Euro-issuing countries include Greece, Germany, France, Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Italy, Monaco, San Marino, Malta, Cyprus, Austria, and Ireland. In Western Europe, the UK, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland still issue their own money.

[Deja Q]

20. Globalization - everyone can swindle

:shrug:

[CountAllVotes]

17. Currency Converter Results

Currency Converter Results
Tuesday, June 03, 2008

90 US Dollar(s) = 58.266 Euro(s)
1 EUR = 1.54464 USD
1 USD = 0.6474 EUR


http://www.gocurrency.com/v2/dorate.php?inV=90&from=USD&to=EUR&Calculate=Convert

[yy4me]

18. We just returned from France. Rate: €1=1.54. Did your

granddaughter go to one of the "exchange" spots or to a bank? As a young traveler, she needed to be told that the "change" kiosks and storefront spots charge the worst rates. She should be going to a bank or charging everything and getting the bank rate that way, plus a small fee. Almost all bank associated ATM's will be the "bank rate", don't go to the ones in the local Monoprix or other store.

[JustAnotherGen]

19. I was there for

Two weeks in May (Nice, Cannes, St. Trop, etc. etc. Cote d'Azur) . . . The French aren't 'cheats'. However in some of the smaller cafes they will exchange the exchange if you aren't smart enough to say "my card/bank will do the exchange".

Eh? I agree with her though - I surrender to the Euro. I'm going to South America next year for vacation. Much as I love the Mediterranean, their ability to enjoy life - the Euro is just too high right now.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

21. She should have converted to Euros a few years ago

It's really tough right now for Americans traveling in Europe. But if she had invested in Euros a few years ago and turned them back into dollars today, she would have made a fortune!

[MaraJade]

22. I went to Canada to see my inlaws last week and for the first time in history

the US Dollar is WORTH LESS than Canadian money. The current exchange rate is about 91%,
which means that a US dollar will get you 91 cents Canadian.

We are in deep shit here, folks.

[st8grad93]

24. The Canadian dollar was worth more than the US dollar in 1976 ...

It was September 2007 when that threshold was crossed again.

Last week (6/9-6/13) the US Dollar was never lower than the Canadian dollar. If you exchanged currency at the airport, bank or some other place you also incurred service fees that made it look like the transaction was less than 1-to-1.

However, there are a lot of US Dollars flowing into Canada for one simple reason : Oil. We import more oil from Canada than any other country.

[disunderestimated]

23. Our economy is being pushed out of whack by this administration...

This article by an economist at the Council on Foreign Relations contemplates what happens if the Dollar continues to slide versus the Euro

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/afb28736-1082-11dd-b8d6-0000779fd2ac.html