Any way to buy Euros from US bank account?

Instead of fees at the ATM, you can use your CC to change your dollars to Euros at the airport before you leave; Travelex has a scheme which allows you to back your original currency at the same rate so you aren't potentially losing more money. You then won't have that $5 ATM fee; you'd still have the 1% conversion fee, but that's pretty standard across the board (you can expect 1-3% at most banks).

Afraid that wouldn't be much better as it still would mean converting from dollars to pounds to euros.  But I just spoke with someone at B of A who said there's only a 1% fee plus $5 per ATM withdrawal and looks like the Malta banks don't charge an extra fee.  So, if I could manage to do it in as few withdrawals as possible shouldn't be too bad.

Yea it's painful to pay $5/withdrawal (stupid BoA) but it's way better than exchanging even so. Try to get your daily limit for withdrawals raised to $1k instead of the standard $500 and depending on how long you're there and whether you can use a CC with no foreign transaction fees (like Capital One, some of the Chase products aimed at frequent travelers) for some expenses, you might be able to get away with only withdrawing once. 

Instead of fees at the ATM, you can use your CC to change your dollars to Euros at the airport before you leave; Travelex has a scheme which allows you to back your original currency at the same rate so you aren't potentially losing more money. You then won't have that $5 ATM fee; you'd still have the 1% conversion fee, but that's pretty standard across the board (you can expect 1-3% at most banks).

We're leaving from and returning to Heathrow.  Home is now the UK.  Is this possible at Heathrow?  Dollars to Euros without the ATM fee?  I'm getting a bit confused.

Yea it's painful to pay $5/withdrawal (stupid BoA) but it's way better than exchanging even so. Try to get your daily limit for withdrawals raised to $1k instead of the standard $500 and depending on how long you're there and whether you can use a CC with no foreign transaction fees (like Capital One, some of the Chase products aimed at frequent travelers) for some expenses, you might be able to get away with only withdrawing once. 

It is at $1k now.  I have a Chase CC but will need to check out the details.  I can't really apply for other US cards any more as I live in the UK and am rarely back in the US.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.  I think I'll just use the ATM at Malta Airport.  It's close at hand.  I'll take out my limit, then if I absolutely must top up there's another ATM not too far from our hotel.

The Chase cards without transaction fees that come to mind are the United Card and the Saphire Preferred. There might be others as well.

Yea, there are others. Here's a list:

American Express Platinum and Centurion (as of April 2011)
Bank of America Privileges with Travel Rewards
Bank of America Travel Rewards
Bank of America WorldPoints Travel Rewards for Businesses
Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard
Barclaycard Arrival – No Annual Fee
All Capital One credit cards, including:
Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card
Capital One® Cash Rewards - $100 Cash Back Bonus
Capital One Spark for Business suite
Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers, for recent immigrants looking to build credit
Citi ThankYou Premier and Citi ThankYou Prestige (as of December, 2010)
Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve
Citi Executive AAdvantage World Elite MasterCard  (as of July, 2011, carries a $450 annual fee)
Chase British Airways Card (as of November 2010)
Chase Priority Club Rewards Signature (as of July 2010)
Chase Hyatt Card
Chase Fairmont Visa Signature
Chase Palladium, if you’re one of the fortunate few (we’re not)
Chase Ritz Carlton Rewards Card (as of June 2011, though this has a $395 annual fee)
Chase United MileagePlus Club Card ($395 annual fee)
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier
All Discover credit cards, such as the Discover It
(An excellent option in China, but international acceptance is limited – check our list of which countries accept Discover for more information)
First National Bank of Omaha Graphite American Express
Marriott Rewards Premiere from Chase (as of March 2011)
All Pentagon Federal cards, including the Pentagon Federal Promise (currently offering 4.99% balance transfers for 2 years) and PenFed Premium Travel American Express (5x points on airfare & Priority Pass lounge access when you spend $15k+ at 600 lounges worldwide)
Harvard World MasterCard
HSBC Premier (you have to have something on the order of $100,000 deposited with them to qualify)
Schwab’s Invest First Visa (one of the best credit card deals of all time, but no longer available)
U.S. Bank Skypass Visa Signature

Source: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/top-credit-cards/no-foreign-transaction-fee-credit-card/

Wow!  That's some list.  My Chase card is through Amazon and doesn't have any perks.  As far as I know I can't get any others from the US (in dollars) unless I'm in the US....which I'm not.

We're leaving from and returning to Heathrow.  Home is now the UK.  Is this possible at Heathrow?  Dollars to Euros without the ATM fee?  I'm getting a bit confused.

Don't use an ATM, and you won't get charged the $5. Changing your money at a currency converter (ie Travelex) won't charge you an ATM fee because technically it's a point of sale, they'll just charge conversion fees, just like if you used it to buy dinner. If you weren't already aware, currency converters take CCs. You could probably go into going to a Thomas Cook to change your money as well and do the same thing, having your money in your pocket before you go.

From the Travelex website:
With effect from the 12th October 2012 you will not be charged a card handling fee if you choose to pay by Maestro, MasterCard® Debit or Visa Debit Card. If you wish to pay by MasterCard Credit Card or Visa Credit Card, a card handling fee of 1.5% of the order value will be applied (min £4.00 - max £15.00). This will be shown within your order summary as a "Credit Card handling fee". Please note: your card issuer may apply an additional charge when using your credit card. Any additional charge will not appear on your order total but will appear on your card statement.

Keep in mind that just like all ATMs that are out of your network, you may get charged an additional fee by them for using it as well as the percentage by your bank. Meaning BofA charge 1% & $5, the ATM you use may also charge you 1% and 2EU. I used to bank with Washington Mutual (pre Chase) and I got stuck with enormous fees every time I used an ATM. It was far cheaper for me, in the end, to just change my money one time at the airport.

Have a great trip!

Don't use an ATM, and you won't get charged the $5. Changing your money at a currency converter (ie Travelex) won't charge you an ATM fee because technically it's a point of sale, they'll just charge conversion fees, just like if you used it to buy dinner. If you weren't already aware, currency converters take CCs. You could probably go into going to a Thomas Cook to change your money as well and do the same thing, having your money in your pocket before you go.

From the Travelex website:
With effect from the 12th October 2012 you will not be charged a card handling fee if you choose to pay by Maestro, MasterCard® Debit or Visa Debit Card. If you wish to pay by MasterCard Credit Card or Visa Credit Card, a card handling fee of 1.5% of the order value will be applied (min £4.00 - max £15.00). This will be shown within your order summary as a "Credit Card handling fee". Please note: your card issuer may apply an additional charge when using your credit card. Any additional charge will not appear on your order total but will appear on your card statement.

Keep in mind that just like all ATMs that are out of your network, you may get charged an additional fee by them for using it as well as the percentage by your bank. Meaning BofA charge 1% & $5, the ATM you use may also charge you 1% and 2EU. I used to bank with Washington Mutual (pre Chase) and I got stuck with enormous fees every time I used an ATM. It was far cheaper for me, in the end, to just change my money one time at the airport.

Have a great trip!

Thanks for all the great info!  Let me see if I understand...if I buy euros at Heathrow through Travelex, they will not charge a card handling fee if I use my Visa debit card.  But won't B of A see this as a purchase and charge 3% ?  And what rate does Travelex offer?  It's got to be something over the official bank rate or otherwise they wouldn't make any money.

if I buy euros at Heathrow through Travelex, they will not charge a card handling fee if I use my Visa debit card.  But won't B of A see this as a purchase and charge 3% ? 

This goes beyond the scope of my knowledge, however I would imagine BofA charging you some sort of foreign transaction fee. They'll do that no matter what you do whether it's an ATM where you'll also be hit by the local bank's fees or a restaurant. In your sitch you can't get away from that, I think. I don't envy you!

This goes beyond the scope of my knowledge, however I would imagine BofA charging you some sort of foreign transaction fee. They'll do that no matter what you do whether it's an ATM where you'll also be hit by the local bank's fees or a restaurant. In your sitch you can't get away from that, I think. I don't envy you!

I went on Travelex's site a little while ago and they were quoting $1.96 to the pound to buy pounds!!  The official bank rate is only $1.52 to the pound.  B of A would charge $1.54 per pound within their network and $1.54 plus a $5 transaction fee outside of network.  I didn't look up dollars to euros but think it would be the same general difference.

So it looks like my best bet will be to use a Bank of Valetta ATM in the airport when we get to Malta.  Their site said they don't charge anything extra (beyond what B of A would charge).  They're trying to make it attractive for tourists.  If I used my bank card in a non-bank, private ATM there would doubtless be a handling fee.  And if I used my card to buy stuff then there would be a 3% B of A charge.  Not sure if the local merchant would also add a fee...probably would.

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to be helpful.  I really appreciate it.