We went through our credit union. My wife did the transfers. As I recall one to ONZ and one the the hospital in Hattegin.

Thanks
 

Cool. I mainly noticed the huge difference between the exchange rate that Google shows and the rate used by Bank of America. Banks are making a killing on this.

IF you think the 'exchange of money' is a scam or rip off Tom, you should try and book a flight on a plane around Christmas or Spring Break......airlines double and triple the price of a ticket for absolutely no valid reason......except to take advantage of people needing to travel in the season and time of year. "Oh great, it's gonna be really busy, let's gouge the crap out of the public since they can only travel now". Basically illegal in any other industry.

Do you homework and take advantage of the many, many ways to do it economically AND safely (part of what your paying for).

Thanks
 

Thanks, Fathub. One thing I'm going to have to look at is connecting to destination via train or plane. I've been to Europe twice. The first time, we connected from Frankfurt on a plane. The second time, we just got on the train, which I think was much easier.

travel in Europe
 

Travelling by train in Western Europe is easier and cheaper in my experience. Lived there for 3 years.

If your going to Bertagnoli, he has a 'driver' that picks you up in Munich (airport) if you choose to use him and he runs you on the Autobahn to Straubing/Bogen and then you can walk one block from Bogen hotel to the Hospital. He'll run you around on the 2nd week taking you to Straubing (my recommendation on the town square) and back for checkups. He's a bit pricey but when you in a lot of pain/discomfort, WTF wants to be buggering around with the sashaying around on a train. Peter's got a C class Mercedes and never forgets a time or place to get you there.

Laura and I were cheap and took the train each time we went to Bertagnoli but Laura had me to shlep stuff around for her. When we went, you had to change trains and occasionally the time between arrival and departure of the two trains was rather tight. The driver might fall in the list of things that would be worth paying for if you were traveling on your own. No need to rush off the train in hopes of not missing the transfer.

We actually stayed in Bogen, not Straubing. That was too many years ago for any advice we'd give to be really useful but both towns work for both the patient and any accompanying person.

Laura mentioned another point about traveling to get ADR surgery alone: you can make the travel acceptable, but you should also make sure your home will work for you if you're going to return to a situation where you have little help. Getting the house prepared for someone who's going to be in surgical recovery and healing took us several days and some real thinking and planning such that Laura didn't need to lift or otherwise stress her spine to do daily activities of life.

the way I see it
 

bank fees are small coin for the investment ;) Thankfully our bank only charges a flat rate of $35.00 for the wire. Be advised; some credit unions cannot do bank wires; at least not internationally.

Thanks Again
 

Thanks, guys, for the advice. I think we're sold on using the driver.

I hadn't thought about chores around the house afterwards. My wife is an occupational therapist, so I may have to put her to work.

About currency exchange, from what I've learned, using banks will cost you thousands vs. hundreds using TransferWise or other similar companies. I think this is something that wasn't available just a few years ago. Thank goodness for Google. Just look up the exchange rate, then look at the rate Bank of America uses. You'll be shocked.

The other thing I found is that Capital One cards don't have any foreign transaction fee. And credit cards in general have good exchange rates.