I’m old enough to remember using traveller’s checks, these days i probably still pack more cash than I need, but usually get a little ‘travelling’ money at the airport and then use my cards for most stuff. But it depends where you go, Zambia and Zimbabwe don’t have quite the financial infrastructure of Sweden and Norway.
One caveat about getting foreign money in the USA is the risk of getting notes that are out of circulation. The U.K., in particular, seems to change their notes every few years. This year, the £5 paper note was removed from circulation and replaced with a new polymer note.
You can exchange old notes at the Bank of England in London, but that’s an inconvenience, especially if you’re not going to London!
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I carry about $200 in USD when I leave the US and then get cash in the local currency at the airport at the ATM. If there isn’t an ATM at the airport, then I can change my USD at a kiosk. If there isn’t an ATM or a kiosk that means I’m in a country where USD is better to have than any local currency. I travel a lot for work and you can find ATMs almost anywhere including in Afghanistan in the major cities.
Of course you can get robbed leaving an ATM in Afghanistan ������������. Happened to my partner when he was there.
I get the cash before I go from one of the places that does remittances etc for people sending money back to India/The Phillippines/Indonesia etc; they usually have excellent rates, no commission, and have smaller denomination notes.
I usually take a little bit of walking around money for getting coffee, lunch, stuff like that - otherwise I use my credit card; which also has the advantage of making it easier to track expenses for reimbursement claims etc.
You can get robbed anywhere. I spent years in Afghanistan and never had a problem at an ATM.
That reminded me of something I should mention: we were specifically warned before our China trip that the currency exchanges in the airports do not give you as good of an exchange rate as they do at the hotels. That’s probably specific to China, but do some research before you go, so you can get the most bang for your greenbacks.
When we went, $100 would get you just over 600 yuan. Looks like today it’d get you about 666.
I used to change money at the airport before I left, but now usually do it at a bank or elsewhere when I arrive. I bring my bank card/VISA in case I run short, but haven’t had to use it overseas in years. Mostly, I charge purchases and use money only for little pocket expenses like postcards and stamps and the occasional sandwich.
I’ll buy some before I leave, just in case, for whatever reason, I can’t get any exchanged at whatever airport I land at, although I have yet to see a major international airport without an exchange booth in its international baggage claim area. However, for the most part, I exchange in the target country, since supply and demand would suggest that the rate would be better (you have something they don’t have much of, and you want something they have a lot of).
I buy some currency in the airport I’m departing from, while I’m waiting to board. I also buy $100 of currency for whatever country we’ll be transiting through so I’ll have it while killing time. (Each way!)
Usually the currencies I’m after can’t be had at the local bank in my city.
Small denomination US $ can come in quite handy as well, those I do get from my local bank before leaving.
I can’t think of any time I’ve bought currency before traveling abroad. I’ll bring a couple hundred dollars or Euros on me, just in case, but, otherwise, I’ve always either exchanged at my destination or, most commonly in the past couple decades, just used the ATM (where in most cases, the rate is better than what exchange kiosks are offering. The one main exception is places where the bank rate and the street/black market rate are quite different–there I change on the street.)
The currency exchange rates at airports in Australia & NZ are outrageous, from what I’ve seen. Their rates are usually much worse than banks, who are in turn worse than remittance/currency exchange places, IME.
No, airport kiosks and exchange rates at hotels are usually not great. They know they’ve got you. I can’t remember the last time I actually went to a kiosk to exchange money rather than just get it from an ATM, it might not have been in this century.
Our banks in Canada will trade USD and GBP on the spot at any branch, so if I’m going to the US or UK, I’ll get some before I leave home. Usually US$100 or GBP100. I haven’t been to Europe since the introduction of the Euro, but I’m pretty sure our banks could supply Euros on the spot, if I asked. At any rate, I have taxi fare, money to get coffee, etc., when I land.
I always went to Australia with AUD$200 in Australian currency, for the same reason. I could buy Australian currency from my local bank, if I ordered it in advance.
After that, it’s ATMs, which dispense local currency.
I know the outbound exchange rate at kiosk in Aus airports isn’t very good, because, amongst other things, they’ve got signs indicating that you can get a better rate by pre-booking (where they would be competing with other online FX businesses).
And notice that the posted exchange rate at many kiosks and banks is not what you get: there is a flat-rate charge on top, which can be very stiff indeed.
Exactly.
Changing your money at the airport in Australia is pretty much a textbook example of a trap for young players.
The advice I was given when **Dweezil **went to Europe last year was to just have him make ATM withdrawals in the local currency as needed. He was traveling to countries where Euros were not the currency (he flew into London, then wound up in Hungary and Romania, which are not Euro-users as far as I know). So he’d have had to change money multiple times.
I think he used his credit card for most purchases; I didn’t ask if he ever actually got cash. I did go to a local currency exchange place in DC and get him 300 Euros before he left, but that was more for my comfort than his. I figured that if he got into trouble in, say, Hungary, he could use the Euros somehow even if they weren’t the local currency. He kept that as his emergency cash in his neck pouch, along with $100 US, and never touched either.
The biggest hassle to me of getting local currency is getting rid of it at the end of the trip - which would involve spending it or finding an exchange going the other way. We still have those 300 Euros, as I figure they might come in useful again some day. We also have a bit of leftover Canadian currency from this summer - we actually made a point at stopping at a grocery store just before we crossed back into the US to spend whatever we could (then later I found another $5 in my purse, oh well).
A recent anecdote of why it is good to have some local currency versus relying on cards: a friend’s son went to Europe with a couple of friends, and one of the hostels they stayed at only took cash. The son was the only one of the group that had enough Euros to pay, so he wound up having to wipe out his cash reserves. Hopefully the others paid him back later!!
I’ve got some random francs, lira, and pesetas from my Navy deployments in the early 80s. I don’t know how much they were worth, but it was just pocket change. My daughter took some of the coins in for show and tell one time, and honestly, I don’t know if I could lay my hand on them in short order. I’m sure the envelope is shoved in a drawer somewhere in the house.
I wonder if they have any value to collectors?
I’d imagine not really, especially for well circulated currency. I have a shoebox full of pre-Euro currency as well somewhere in the house. I suspect they’re common enough that they don’t have much value, but someone like samclem would know better.