What do you typically do if you are leaving a country and find yourself with leftover currency? I know the first step is to try and not take out too much, but when you are leaving the country this is a moot point.
Do you change it back in that country, wait til you get home, blow it in the duty free shop in the airport, keep it as a souvenir, assume you will return in the future...
Assume you will return????
Of course I'm going to return.
I keep it all...change too...for the loo at the airport.
Now, if it's a country I'm not going back to...say Outer Mongolia--then I'll change the currency into something useful unless I just have a little left. Then it becomes a souvenir.
If you want to get rid of the currency then pay your last hotel bill with the leftover currency and put the rest on the credit card.
As a traveler that regularly stays in B&Bs and hostels, where you pay in cash upfront, that isn't generally an option.
Mostly I try to pace my last couple of days so that I come close to running out of currency. Leftovers become either souvenirs or gifts.
If I have bills left over that are worth keeping, I leave them in my money belt for my next trip.
I save the small change for various uses when I get home (souvenirs, trading items for geocaching, etc). On Aer Lingus (and other airlines) they solicit donations of leftover change in any currency for charitable causes.
We put our "leftover currency" in a ziploc bag in with the maps,unused bus tickets and rail info etc for our Next Trip.
If the currency is euros, we always bring back the equivalent of $75-100, for our next trip. If it's a currency we plan on not using in the next 5 years or so, we'll use our cash for paying the part of the hotel bill, except for the equivalent of $10. That money is for use at the airport, just in case. As the flight time nears, we'll either buy chocolate, donate it to a charity collection box if one is available at the airport (I know that Schipol has them), or give it away to a local person.
Seeing the surprised look of joy on somebody's face as you hand them free money is a treat.
Rumor has it, leftover money constitutes 90% of Toblerone's sales:)
I admit, I've never bought Toblerone except in an airport duty free shop!
Another option is to save them and sell them to a friend going to where you came from. We once ended up with over a thousand extra Australian dollars. (Long story that ended with my husband and me in a taxi to the airport, with my asking him "Where are you carrying the Australian cash?" and him replying, "Me carrying it? I thought you had it.") Anyway, when one of his co-workers went to Australia, we sold him our currency at the current exchange rate.
I don't worry about euros or pounds much, since I'm pretty sure I'll be back soon. But the currencies of Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, etc--they're going to go the way of lira and francs in the future. Those I make a special effort to spend down.
Instead of changing back the money go back to Europe. This has become much easier to do since the introduction of the Euro. Or if I know somebody who is planning on going to that country I give my leftover as a gift - which is what I did with some leftover Swiss Francs.
Changing back is really the very last option I would consider.
Before I go over there, I know pretty much what my expenses will be. I've been there enough times to know I will spend an average of €20 per day on food, I have accommodations reserved, and I know the cost of transportation and tours. Minor miscellaneous expenses, like souvenier books, newspapers, postcards, and WC are only a few Euro per day; I don't bother with them.
Anyway, I put all of this on a spreadsheet (I bring my subnotebook) and delete each expense as I pay for it. When I go to the ATM for the last time, The speadsheet shows me how much my remaining expenses will be; I subtract my cash on hand, add a couple hundred Euro to bring home to start my next trip (I assume I will return), and that's what I take out.
Lee - you're very well organized. I'm one of the people keeping Toblerone in business...
If you had to change it back, where would you do it? It is isn't alot of money, but it is starting to add up. (couple hundred Czech crowns, some pounds, 50 francs, ect...) We do a good job of budgeting and not withdrawing too much money, but it's never perfect.
Laura - suggest you check with your bank. I bought some euros for my last trip and the bank said they'd buy back bills (but not change).
Frank, I actually have some money from Mongolia that I will be happy to give you in case you want to go there.
For change, at many airports they have places where you can throw your change as a donation. Since I usually never go anywhere but Europe and the US, it isn't a big problem, but in Morocco on the last evening, I gave out decent tips to the housekeepers that did the room every day, our waiter and the bartender, and porter at the airport. They seemed to have liked it and I felt good about it.
Never sell back your money if you plan to go back. Wells Fargo, which sells Euro for 5% over the Interbank rate, but buys them back for 7% under. If you sell them back now at -7%, then go back in a year and get more from an ATM at 3%, that nearly a 10% hit.
"Assume you will return..."
If it's not much then I'll donate it to one of the bins usually in airports that collect for charity.
I have blown it in the shops at the airport before -currency I wouldn't use.
As far as Euros I keep them for another trip.
Thanks, Jo, but I'll wait until they're on the Euro. That, is, of course, unless I get a real craving for Yak butter. Then I might take you up on your offer.
I had some British pounds left over from when I studied in England in the early 1980's. I went to use a one pound note about 7 years ago, only to be told that they had been replaced by the coin and my best bet was to trade it in at a bank. I chose to keep it as a souvenier. Not really a helpful reply, but an amusing story.
Guilty of the "Toblerone souvenier" and Tulip bulbs at Schipol airport in Holland, but still prefer to "keep the change" til the next trip.
I like having a few Euros left over and in my pocket at the end of the trip. But I live with Il Cheapissimo and know that that 50 Euro in the dresser draw keeps him up nights and is the assurance that we'll be back!
One time I sold some extras to a friend who was going to Europe, but I kept about 25E and a Paris Metro ticket from my last trip. I'll take them on my upcoming trip - that should be enough to get me by until I get to an ATM plus the subway ride to the hotel!
You have a few good options.
Option 1: Send it to me. Then you won't need to worry about this problem anymore.
Option 2 (tied with Option 3): Save it for next trip. That way when you arrive, you'll already have some local currency.
Option 3: Give it to someone you know, a relative or friend, who is travelling to the country/region in question.
I also pay my hotel bill the last day allowing myself enough for cab or train fare to the airport and pay the balance of the bill with a CC card.
