Every October I take my mother to Europe for her birthday. This year we went to Bilbao, Spain. She is old school and likes to take cash and convert it to the local currency, me, I use credit cards for everything. On this trip we were making a connection in Munich, where we flown through before. There use to be currency exchange places throughout the airport. I didn’t see one this time, just a few ATM machines along the concourse. When we arrived in Bilbao, the same situation, just a few ATM machines. When we were at restaurants, 99% of people were using cards or their phones to pay. I think my mother understands now that today’s world is digital, money included. My mother uses apple pay and apple cash, so you can teach an old dog new tricks, my mother just turned 77 by the way.
Money exchange places in airports
- Thread starter Finklejag
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I wouldn't be surprised if the increase in use of CC killed those shops. Money exchange is such a hassle and I bet the ones in the airport were the most expensive way of doing it.
Can your mom teach my mom? Oh wait, I prefer cash as well 
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I travel with a few hundred Euro in my pocket and when I arrive at my destination I take currency out of a local teller machine. I pay for my expensive expenditures such as hotels or rental cars with credit card and everything else I pay cash. A pro tip here is to use teller machines located at local banks. Be watchful of stand-alone machines in back alleys at tourist attractions.
Using teller machines is about the least expensive way to get cash. Never take advances on credit cards unless you absolutely have to. If you're in the police station after a hard night of drinking then you do what you have to do but otherwise pay as you go.
Using teller machines is about the least expensive way to get cash. Never take advances on credit cards unless you absolutely have to. If you're in the police station after a hard night of drinking then you do what you have to do but otherwise pay as you go.
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Those exchange places were a huge rip off. They charged a small “percentage” so they looked reasonable, but they gave terrible rates. Be glad they’re gone.
Find a regular bank, not at the airport, beware of card skimmers, and get some cash using your ATM/debit card.
I like to carry local cash for a variety of reasons. I have, USD, Swiss Francs, UK pounds, and Euro in my flight bag.
Find a regular bank, not at the airport, beware of card skimmers, and get some cash using your ATM/debit card.
I like to carry local cash for a variety of reasons. I have, USD, Swiss Francs, UK pounds, and Euro in my flight bag.
On my trips outside the USA, small hotels and shops give you a better price if you pay in local cash.
And the best way to get local cash is, put your vacation money in a US/Canadian account that has a debit card, and no surcharge for foreign exchange. I use TD Bank. Then, when in a foreign country, use bank ATMs to withdraw local cash. In Europe, I withdraw 500 Euros at a time.
The exchange rate you will get is the official exchange rate for million dollar conversions. The best conversion rate possible.
Do they even sell Travelers cheques any more?
And the best way to get local cash is, put your vacation money in a US/Canadian account that has a debit card, and no surcharge for foreign exchange. I use TD Bank. Then, when in a foreign country, use bank ATMs to withdraw local cash. In Europe, I withdraw 500 Euros at a time.
The exchange rate you will get is the official exchange rate for million dollar conversions. The best conversion rate possible.
Do they even sell Travelers cheques any more?
^^Big yes to what k1xv said. Go to a bank and they'll gladly give you cash from such an account.
It's as if they regard you as a customer...which you are! Exchange places were always bad.
So, I give to my brother ~$80 in Euros before he and his wife went to France,
He looked at me as if I had given him Barclay's Travelers' Cheques from the 1960's.
"Trust me", I said for there'll always be times when you don't want to use any card.
Morning roll & coffee, cute, little restaurant, candy bar....
When he got back he thanked me as if I had saved his life.
I swear, I cannot get into this apparent "all or nothing" mindset. How can you think you'd use a card for 100% of your purchases?
Also, how can you go somewhere and not want some of the local currency in your pocket?
It's as if they regard you as a customer...which you are! Exchange places were always bad.
So, I give to my brother ~$80 in Euros before he and his wife went to France,
He looked at me as if I had given him Barclay's Travelers' Cheques from the 1960's.
"Trust me", I said for there'll always be times when you don't want to use any card.
Morning roll & coffee, cute, little restaurant, candy bar....
When he got back he thanked me as if I had saved his life.
I swear, I cannot get into this apparent "all or nothing" mindset. How can you think you'd use a card for 100% of your purchases?
Also, how can you go somewhere and not want some of the local currency in your pocket?
We found a smoke shop that exchanged US and UK currency. The going market rate was 1 Euro=.94 US. The shop was selling the US at .92 + fee. There were pastry shops on every corner and it was easy to walk into them and buy something, so paying with cash was easier.
I've exchanged at a bank and they had no minimums although they wouldn't take certain currencies (like small coins). Depended on which currency though. Canadian one and two dollar coins could be exchanged. A relative visited Hong Kong once and gave me the unused currency as a gift and I exchanged it for maybe $12. It wasn't much (enough to buy a pizza), but the teller was actually kind of psyched to see them. Even consulted a guide on different currencies since they use private bank notes that are constantly changing, but where older notes are still in circulation.
I think the best rate I ever got in Canada was walking into a bank branch. I didn't need to be a customer.
Not sure what the rate was, but I've walked into a casino in Canada and they had a pretty good exchange rate. But the really crazy thing was that the transaction could be reversed 1:1 within 24 hours up to the amount of the original exchange. It just required the original exchange receipt. Didn't win anything playing blackjack, but at least I got a good deal of my US currency back without exchange rate losses. I kept some Canadian currency just for spending money.
I think the best rate I ever got in Canada was walking into a bank branch. I didn't need to be a customer.
Not sure what the rate was, but I've walked into a casino in Canada and they had a pretty good exchange rate. But the really crazy thing was that the transaction could be reversed 1:1 within 24 hours up to the amount of the original exchange. It just required the original exchange receipt. Didn't win anything playing blackjack, but at least I got a good deal of my US currency back without exchange rate losses. I kept some Canadian currency just for spending money.
The pandemic pretty much killed those manned booths and kiosks like a lot of other airport businesses.
Now, both here and abroad, they've been replaced by ATMs, run by local banks.
Some banks offer foreign currencies, but they have to be ordered in advance. There are still local indie shops that probably stay in business by being one of the few remaining options available.
If not a road warrior, the credit cards that charge foreign transaction fees are still palatable, compared to the hassles otherwise. 3% for the convenience is no problem, especially when it's offset by the absence of tipping cultures in many places. All part of the cost of traveling, and traveling is well worth it.
Now, both here and abroad, they've been replaced by ATMs, run by local banks.
Some banks offer foreign currencies, but they have to be ordered in advance. There are still local indie shops that probably stay in business by being one of the few remaining options available.
If not a road warrior, the credit cards that charge foreign transaction fees are still palatable, compared to the hassles otherwise. 3% for the convenience is no problem, especially when it's offset by the absence of tipping cultures in many places. All part of the cost of traveling, and traveling is well worth it.
Yeah, a little bit of foreign transaction fees is not a big deal in the overall cost of travel.
I do like to have some local currency for smaller purchases as well as to pay for cabs and the like.
It depends a lot on where you are. In the area of Istanbul in which we stayed, there were currency exchanges all over and their exchange rates were marked to market. There were also a number of them in Tbilisi.
Any of these walk-up exchanges offered better rates than did those at the airports, although you might use the airport locations to convert the local currency back to USD if you converted too much money into the local currency.
An obvious way to avoid this would be to convert only $100.00 USD at a time as needed.
I do like to have some local currency for smaller purchases as well as to pay for cabs and the like.
It depends a lot on where you are. In the area of Istanbul in which we stayed, there were currency exchanges all over and their exchange rates were marked to market. There were also a number of them in Tbilisi.
Any of these walk-up exchanges offered better rates than did those at the airports, although you might use the airport locations to convert the local currency back to USD if you converted too much money into the local currency.
An obvious way to avoid this would be to convert only $100.00 USD at a time as needed.
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