Where to exchange foreign money
Getting foreign money when traveling | How to exchange foreign currency
hey everybody welcome back to firsthand
globe-trotting if you're traveling to a
new country chances are they're gonna
use a different currency than you do
that's not always the case in Europe
where so many countries all use the Euro
but for most of us a visit to a new
country means getting a new Kurds so how
exactly do you get a foreign currency
well the simple but not very useful
answer is that you exchange it you take
some of your money and whatever currency
it is and you exchange it for an
equivalent amount of the foreign
currency the tricky thing is that almost
no two currencies are worth exactly the
same amount and to complicate things
even more their values change on a daily
or hourly basis for example today one
euro is worth about one point one four
US Dollars yesterday it was worth a
little less and tomorrow who knows it
may be worth more less or the same but
luckily there are websites out there
that can provide you with up-to-date
currency exchange rates personally I
like to use XE comm it's free easy to
use and very accurate but there are
plenty of other places that provide you
a similar info okay so that's all great
you know how much your money is worth
compared to the foreign currency but how
do you actually go about exchanging it
there are a few different ways you can
do it
all with their own strengths and
weaknesses what people used to do but I
don't think anyone does this anymore
is bring traveler's checks with them
these were internationally recognized
checks you could buy for fixed amounts
in your home country and then exchange
whenever you got to your destination one
of the biggest benefits of them is that
few checks were ever lost or stolen you
could have them reissued so you wouldn't
lose any money but the major drawback is
that there'd be a cost to buying
traveler's checks and you'd have to buy
them all before you laugh so that's why
almost no one uses them anymore when
they're a cheaper easier and equally
safe options available the second method
is using a currency exchange service
you've probably seen them in airports
and tourist areas there's these little
shops or windows where you go and give
them whatever currency you have and
they'll exchange it for you
it's a really easy option since they
have them in pretty much every
International Airport but I find they
have some major drawbacks the biggest
issue I have with them is the cost
usually the exchange rates they give you
are pretty bad if the current exchange
rate for a euro is a dollar fourteen
u.s. they may only give you a dollar ten
or less for anything on top of that they
usually add fees or commissions to make
your currency exchange even more
expensive my other big problem is that
unless you know exactly how much money
you need you'll have to go back every
time you need more personally I never
use currency exchanges they're just way
too expensive to use what I do use is
actually really simple and pretty much
the same way I get money and pay for
things back home I use my bank card and
my credit card if you're going to a
reasonably developed country with a
banking system they're probably gonna
have ATMs or other Bank machines all
over the city
not all bank cards work in all machines
you can call your bank and ask them what
international banking networks they're
part of they'll probably be able to tell
you whether your bank card will work in
the country you're visiting and what
symbols you need to look for on the bank
machine if your card works in the bank
machine you just put it in say how much
local currency you want and it'll give
it to you the money will be taken right
out of your bank back home and the
currency exchange will be done for you
automatically
it's that easy whenever you need money
just find a bank it's very similar for
credit cards especially if you have a
Visa or MasterCard since they're
accepted in almost every country but
there are three very important things to
check before you use your bank or credit
cards internationally first and most
important make sure the country you're
visiting has a sophisticated enough
banking system they have bank machines
and accept credit cards most do but I've
been to a few that don't in those
situations you just gonna have to bring
some cash with you and use a currency
exchange
second make sure to tell your bank and
credit card company that you're
traveling if they see your cards being
used internationally they may think
they've been stolen and deactivate them
I just call my bank before I leave and
tell them my destination and travel
dates that have never had a problem
third make sure to ask your bank and
credit card company about any fees for
using your card internationally my bank
card and credit cards don't have any
foreign conversion fees and offer a
really good exchange rates but some
don't so make sure to figure it out
before you leave if you're like me and
travel a lot it may be useful to open up
a bank account or credit card that has
no fees to use when you're traveling so
that's it now you know how to exchange
your money into foreign currency on your
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