I didn’t know until today that it was called a currency exchange in the US.
In Chicago there are hundreds of currency exchanges throughout the city, but they don’t actually exchange currency (they cash checks and sell money orders). Confounded a fair number of World Cup visitors back in 1996.
Absolutely get small bills as soon as possible if you’re going anywhere that you’re going to be expected to baksheesh. The last thing you want to happen is to have a Cairene restroom attendant standing between you and the door and all you’ve got are 20 pound notes.
This, also, is the voice of experience.
World Cup of what? :dubious:
Using an ATM: it’s better to use it once, and get out a fairly large amount, because there is often a fixed “per transaction” fee. It is also WAY cheaper to use an ATM from a bank that you have an account with. I actually opened a small CitiBank checking account, because CitiBank has operations in lots of countries, so I can use the ATM with no fees.
Also, my suggestion is not to get too hung up about it. If you’re cashing thousands of dollars, then a few percentage points are a big deal. If you’re cashing USD 300, then the extra charge of $2 or $3 is really pretty meaningless – you’re paying for the convenience, but you’re not paying much. I used to get all worked up about finding the best rates, until I realized that I was spending more time comparing rates than it was worth.
Just in case anyone is curious about my experiences now that we’re back…
The above pretty much summarizes all our views. If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably open an account at TD Bank, because there are branches all over my home town, and all over the Niagara area too. What we ended up doing was bringing several hundred in American cash, and changed it at banks on two occasions. Both times we got about $95.50 Canadian for each $100 USA. That’s worse than I expected, as I thought the bank would be much closer to the $98.50 that I saw as the ATM rate. I started to regret not using an ATM (which was no longer an option, because all my cash was in my pocket, and not so much in my bank). But then I realized that if Canadian ATMs have charges like the US ones, then that would have been even more expensive! After all, if the ATM gives $98.50, but then my bank charges $3, and then the ATM I’m using charges another $5, then fugettaboudit!
As far as simply using American cash, my experiences were mixed: One supermarket and a store in a shopping center both took the American cash at 90%, which is much worse than if I would have changed it anywhere. But two “mom and pop” type operations both took it at 100%. Draw your own conclusions.
I put several purchases directly on my debit card. They converted at about 98%, and the bank tacked on another 3% service charge as a separate entry. I was surprised to find that the restaurant charged their bill and the tip separately, so I ended up with four charges on my card for the one meal. It doesn’t bother me, because the numbers add up fine; it’s just an interesting curiosity.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the parking meters accepted American quarters at 100%.
All in all, we only spent a few hundred dollars, not thousands. So the difference between converting this way or that way were minor. I just like to know what I’m doing, no matter how minor it ends up as.
With careful choices, I had just enough Canadian cash left to make a decent tip for the hotel staff. Actually, I had to add $5 USA to it, but my point is that I had nothing left over to worry about changing back. Except for the $1.20 that I found in my back pocket when I got home. Oh well.