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Exchanging Money For Travel

January 26th, 2007 by Ian McAfee

We receive questions about currency and exchanging money quite often. Bob asked one very similar to questions many people ask:

I have plans to visit the UK in the near future, London to be exact. My concern is if i should convert some of my US dollars to pounds prior to arrival. I have been advised to use my credit card for as many purchases as i can. Should i convert at the airport when leaving the US, or at the airport in the UK? Would it be better to convert at a local bank? I dont think i will need more than 500.00 Pounds. I think that may mean I will be converting close to $1000.00 US dollars to get $500.00 Pounds. Can you advise? Thanks.

Answer:

Bob,

Avoid airports and banks as along with currency exchange booths, as they give you the worst rates. For 500 British pounds you are best off using your ATM card at a ATM in London. Depending on your bank, the charge is similar to using a credit card. Some credit cards are better than others. You may want to call them to compare their fees. A 3% markup with no extra fees is about normal. Mind you will pay an ATM fee too, but even with this fee, the total cost is still lower than exchange booths which charge close to 10%.

gocurrency.com

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2 Responses to “Exchanging Money For Travel”

  1. on 23 Sep 2007 at 3:36 pm   Ruth Briggs

    I have plans to visit Israel in January, 2008. Wondering how to go about the exchange of US dollars into local money. Is it necessary? Can US dollars be used or credit cards?

  2. on 25 Sep 2007 at 2:41 pm   gocurrency

    Hi Ruth. Often credit cards will give you the best rates. Before you go, call your credit card company and ask them what they charge for the exchange. Most credit cards are between 1-3%.
    Also, call your bank, let them know you will be traveling to Israel (if you don’t and you try to use your ATM card, you run the risk of the bank freezing your account if they think the card could have been stolen).
    When you speak with your bank, ask them what their fees are for taking money out at the atm.
    Try to avoid exchanging money at the airport becuase you will often get very poor rates.
    You should take some local money with you so you can get to where you are staying and have some cash on you in case atms are hard to find and places don’t take credit cards.

    https://www.mtwna.com/servlet/MTW;jsessionid=0000Y29HPXOZ2sOmCDSJrcUloyF:10asp7ro0?cmd=quin

    If you go to that link, you can buy foreign cash and have it delivered to your door

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