Dollar vs Euro, head to head

Honeymoon planning has continued in spite of the flurry of wedding-related activities. I've mostly completed the day-to-day itinerary and am finalizing a few reservations with tour companies and sites that we want to visit. We've purchased a few necessary supplies, including money belts, those dorky passport/boarding pass holders to wear in the airport (mine is in a zebra print, which makes it both wicked cool and extremely dorky at the same time), packing cubes to make clothing organization a breeze (so awesome I might need to buy more), and a bag for "our" (i.e. my) cosmetic-type items and B's 1 or 2 necessary items.

One remaining issue is the matter of converting dollars to euros. In the olden days (that is, the last time I went to Europe, about 7 years ago), using your credit card was the best way to purchase everything because your credit card gave you a better rate than banks at which you could exchange cash or traveler's checks. Credit and debit cards are still generally best for purchases, but some credit card companies add surcharges to purchases. And since some businesses accept only cash, we needed to figure out how to get some. The situation required further research.

We enquired about exchange rates when we opened our joint checking account, and the woman who helped us wasn't able to give us exact information, so I called the number on the back of my card. I was transferred all over the place and placed on hold for a period of time, but after speaking with 3 people, I finally found out what I needed to know.

• We can take money out of an ATM in France, but we are charged a conversion fee of 3%. If we don't use an ATM of the French bank that is affiliated with ours, we are charged a $5 international transaction fee.
• We can order euros from our bank before we leave. Our bank charges a $7 delivery fee, and a 1% fee is charged over what the euro is currently trading at.
• Any purchases made with the debit card attached to our account are subject to a 1% fee.

So it turns out that it's more economical to buy euros in the States than it is to withdraw them directly from the ATM in France (if we're talking about amounts excessive of $350, if my math is correct...). I would have expected ATM withdrawals to offer a better exchange rate, so I am very glad that I asked.