Is it better to exchange some $ for euros at the U.S. airport as we leave or wait and exchange some at the destination airport (this case, Madrid)? This is to pay taxi or whatever on arrival.
And how about the return trip? Convert back as we leave or when we arrive in U.S.?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23622 posts
Scan back, this question was asked several times this past week. Personal preference we carry a hundred or so going in that was saved from a previous trip or obtained from a local bank. After that it is a debit card and ATMs. We manage the cash flow at the end with the use of credit cards so that we bring back a hundred or so for the next trip. And, of course, we are carrying 200 US as emergency back up so that is what we use when we return to the US.
Posted by
La Crescenta, California, USA
361 posts
Don, Frank is spot on, he has it right.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
While saving back a couple of hundred euros for your next trip is a good idea, some of us (maybe many of us) don't have deep enough pockets to afford setting aside that much money for a trip at some undetermined future time. I'm usually lucky if I have enough local currency at the end of a trip to get me to the plane home.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Like I said, it is a good idea. I just can't do it. I never know when I will get to travel again, for one thing. I don't take multiple trips a year, or even a trip every year.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23622 posts
Come on Nancy, at hundred to a hundred fifty euro is not deep pockets. In the past, with one exception, I have always make money on the few I kept.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19272 posts
I brought home about €100 in 2000, not because I was looking ahead, but because I couldn't find anywhere to change it back. It was worth $89 then; it's worth $146 now. Better than bank interest.