Exchanging Money For Travel
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
January 26, 2007 2 Comments
Best Winter Vacations
The winter so far has been mild this year in the Northeastern United States and most other places. Things still could change though and winter vacation season will sound a lot more appealing. Maybe the weather is reducing demand because the airfare prices are pretty low.
I looked at fare to these warm places on kayak.com for February:
If your city is not on the list, judging by the above fares you can bet that Florida will be among the most affordable. If you are one of our international readers, feel free to give suggestions for winter vacations and we’ll do a post about those. Email imcafee[at]gocurrency.com.
January 5, 2007 No Comments
Spirit Air Specials
I just noticed this page on Spirit Air when checking into a flight I have tomorrow. The special they announced seemed to be popular because their site was down and they said it was due to the special. The special is good, particularly if you are traveling for the holidays and are still trying to find a ticket now. There’s $29 to $79 flight each way and plus tax, but still fairly decently priced for a short notice holiday ticket if you need one. Here’s the link.
December 21, 2006 No Comments
Italian Lira Scam
Traveling to Italy? Don’t get hoodwinked by the modern currency scam. A few sneaky merchants are giving tourists change with a coin that carries no value. From Rick Steve’s Travel:
The old 500 lira coin (worth about $.25 before the Euro made it worthless in 2001) is the same size and design (silver outer ring with inlaid copper middle) as the new €2 coin (worth $2.50). Countless tourists are finding the old 500 lira coins in their pockets. I did — just last month. Each one you take costs you $2.50 and the only person dumb enough to take it from you is another tourist. Europeans never touch a coin the size of a €2 without verifying that it is actually €2. Study the photos here — the lira was passed off on me on my last trip. You are now warned!
November 13, 2006 1 Comment
Fly to Poland
Getting to and from Poland will now be a little easier. Centralwings is offering new flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to various cities in Poland. Check our their special offers page. I just priced out a flight from Edinburgh to Warsaw for about 67 GBP ( $125 ).
Full article from travelmole:
23 October, 2006
Centralwings expands Polish destinations
Polish low-cost airline Centralwings is to serve Wroclaw from Gatwick with four flights a week from October 29.
The carrier is to start its first service from Stansted on December 15 with three flights a week to Warsaw.
Twice-weekly Shannon-Gdansk and twice-weekly links from Cork to Krakow and Wroclaw start on October 30 and October 31 respectively.
The airline already operates routes from Gatwick to Warsaw and Krakow; Edinburgh to Warsaw, Gdansk and Katowice; Shannon to Warsaw; and Dublin to Wroclaw, Gdansk and Katowice.
Report by Phil Davies
October 23, 2006 No Comments
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