Pounds and Euros

I'd have been able to get $70 worth of foreign currency out of ATMs for about $71, I think, but I might have had to go to multiple machines to find one not charging a fee.

Since you will be taking more trips, why don't you take a small amount of those foreign currencies home so you don't have to pay US bank rates again.

paying for currency is just part of travel, like overpaying in airport newsstands. just shrug and move on.

Over 3 weeks this summer, I withdrew about 1,000€, usually 200-300€ at a time. I have an account that reimburses atm fees. Those fees totaled less than $10. It’s not worth worrying about fees.

We travel so we can get the joy to be taken to the cleaners once in a while.

Don't worry about the $5 fee. You'll save money when you have a drink in Portugal, where everything costs far less than at home.

"Now I have $35 in Pounds and $35 in Euros."

What? Do you have $35 worth of Pound Sterling, or do you have £35? Do you have $35 worth of Euros, or do you have €35? These are not the same thing.

It looks like the bank didn't give you as good an exchange rate as you would have gotten at a local ATM. But you knew that before you did this. In any event, it's done now. As has been suggested above, if you anticipate more UK or European trips in the future, bring some € and £ home with you so you don't need to deal with this again.

I travel solo and even if I am going somewhere that I am told is mainly cashless, I still get some money in advance from my local bank. Things happen, and having a bit of cash feels like a safe cushion to me. Waiting til I arrive is always possible, but I like to be prepared. I don't worry about the fees or exchange rate--it's just a cost of travel.

I am going to Edinburgh next week and then on to London, so I ordered 150 GBP from my bank...this cost me $205. Whatever I don't use--and I usually return with about the equivalent of $10-20--I have a friend who travels to London regularly and will just give it to her.

I subscribe to phred’s way of thinking. You have appropriate amounts of each currency with which to begin your trip and if you need more, just use an ATM. Chalk it up as a small part of your travel expenses and enjoy your trip!

Your are fine ! --- You DID NOT get taken to the cleaners ------ I always like having a little local currency in pocket on arrival. I always have close to a hundred US . Saves spending time to find a working BANK OWNED ATM within the first few hours or even a day. So I paid a 10% fee -- cost of traveling and convenience. Depending on your debit card you might have saved half of your fees or maybe all if you had waited. But it is nice to be able to buy a local coffee or use the taxi without a second thought. In your case you might have waited to get the Euro since it would be easy once there.

If you are a depositor in Wells Fargo bank, they charge the two way exchange rate plus 5% for euro bought over here. For ATM withdrawals, banks without foreign currency operations (I think Chase and USBank are some of them) charge the exchange rate plus 3% over. My credit union and Fidelity charge the exchange rate plus 1%, and Wells Fargo, for ATM withdrawals, charges the exchange rate plus $5. If you have a $500 dollar limit, that's just over 1%. Some institutions, I think Schwab is one of them, charge 0% over.

In 2012, I was going to be in Zwiesel, on the Czech border and wanted to buy a rail ticket to Prague on the border. I didn't know if they would take euro, so I purchase $40 worth of Koruna from Wells Fargo, just to be able to purchase my ticket to Prague, then used the ATM in Prague to get Koruna for the rest of my stay.

I paid less than $4 for over the exchange rate from Wells. Not bad to make sure I could buy a ticket.

paying for currency is just part of travel, like overpaying in airport newsstands. just shrug and move on.

+1

At today's reported interbank rates, £35 is at around $43.65, so you bought £35 for $45. That's reasonable

€35 is at around $37.44 -- and you paid $45 for the euros as well? That seems a bit much, looking at various bank buy/sell rates for customers buying currency, it should be around $39 +/- a few cents.

One of my banks charges $0.05 over the daily interbank rate for a currency buy. Looking at random currency exchanges in London you'd have been charged $47-$50 for the £35. Your best rates are going to be from ATMs as most banks exchange at the interbank rate.

No big deal to pay a few cents over the bank rates and worrying about it borders on penny wise and pound foolish.

I wouldn't worry about it, bostonphil. I paid maybe $5 extra to get GBP from my bank before my trip so I could save myself the hassle of looking for an ATM upon arrival. It was a tiny fraction of the total trip cost, less than the cost of a sandwich and well worth having one less thing to worry about.

Is there anyone else who does not get money out at the airport ATM or exchange it at home before you go? I haven't done that in years. There are so few instances where I need to use cash right away that I just wait until it's convenient and I'm near a bank.

When I was in Scotland this year, I didn't get any cash out until I ate at a restaurant on Tobermory that requested cash. And I'd been in the country for at least 9-10 days by that point.

This is a completely personal choice. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to getting cash. There is only what makes you feel confident as you progress in your travels. I am not going to push my personal preferences (limited cash, use ATMS) on you.

Let's be honest, over the course of your trip you are going to "waste" more money than that on something. Some people pay for expensive meals. No one gives them a hard time about that. Others shop for expensive items. Once again, no censure for that. So, why oh why, would anyone worry if you spend a few extra $ on getting cash in advance?

I spend money to use my home telephone plan internationally. That is my splurge (or at least one of them).

But Mardee, the notes are so prettttty!

When tech works, it works great, but there are tech fails (and I include banking systems in that). Chances of a tech disaster probably unlikely, but with weather these days…who knows. I prefer some cash in case something happens out of my control. While it isn’t as much money as in the past, I bring some cash. In the scheme of things the cost is barely a blimp on my budget. If I don’t have left over cash from my last trip, I get what I need from AAA. Do what makes you feel the most comfortable, which you did. Have a great trip!

I take out $20 in the US before I depart and only take a little out here and there as I enter new countries, usually no more than the equivalent of $40 at a time. My bank reimburses me for ATM fees and neither of my credit cards charges me for foreign transactions.

I don't feel safe carrying around a lot of cash and most places take credit cards, but I do like having some cash for street vendors or outdoor markets. Also, a lot of toilets require payment. My credit card didn't work at the restroom at Gare Montparnasse last year and I really had to go!!

I've never paid to exchange money and don't come home with a ton of foreign currency (bc of the above) so I never feel like I've wasted money. I have maybe $20 or less leftover and it's kind of a fun souvenir. Kicking myself for not keeping currency from the UK back in 2018 with the Queen still on it!

But Mardee, the notes are so prettttty!

Hahaha, Mary!!! That's true! Much prettier than our grubby old dollars!

“…but I like having the local money on me when I arrive in the airport.”

You have some funds to get started at reasonable rates for a purchase of foreign currency in the USA. You don’t have to rush out and find an ATM. Looks to me like you are in good shape. Enjoy the trip.

CJ jean

"What? Do you have $35 worth of Pound Sterling, or do you have £35? Do you have $35 worth of Euros, or do you have €35? These are not the same thing."

i have £35 and €35 or at least tht is what I think I have. The teller counted out 35 of each. How do you make the symbols in the front of the numbers?

Thanks to all for your very helpful and kind responses.

Yes, I like to have the money on me and not spend any time looking for ATM's or currency exchanges upon landing.

However although i got the smallest bill available which were 5's, I still would like even smaller bills if there are any such thing and.of course coins. I am going to need coins. I guess that i need to buy something to get the coins or find a bank.

I usually am posting from a tablet or phone and the £ & € are default on the keyboards. They're not available on desktops, so when I am posted on a computer I'll just cut and paste them from another post into my response or I'll write a post in MSWord and pull the symbols from the insert symbol tab then paste the post onto the forum.

£5 and €5 are the smallest notes, and rather than smaller notes there are £1 & £2 and €1 & €2 coins, you'll get them soon enough and the easiest way is just to buy something small.

So I spent about $90 which includes a fee of $5,00

At today's exchange rate the cost of 35 euro and 35 GBP would be $82 ( interbank rate)

At an ATM 'over there', you would probably not get the official interbank rate, so you paid about $6 for the convenience/peace of mind of having some local currency in your pocket.

Skip one trip to Starbucks you are 'even'.

Enjoy the trip

Blockquote
Is there anyone else who does not get money out at the airport ATM or exchange it at home before you go? I haven't done that in years. There are so few instances where I need to use cash right away that I just wait until it's convenient and I'm near a bank.

Me. I'm someone else who does this. Usually never need cash but if I do, I go to a local bank ATM.

you will start to get £1 and £2 coins as soon as you start buying things - but truly that is only if you want to use cash. You will find that the great majority of transactions here are done by most folks using a tap and pay credit or debit card. I personally still have most of the £80 I took out of a machine in 2020 - I simply virtually never use cash.

I usually am posting from a tablet or phone and the £ & € are default
on the keyboards. They're not available on desktops,

€ is too available on desktops (at least on PCs. I use it all the time. I just found £.

If you are using a non-Apple PC:

For €, hold down the key and type 0128 on the numeric keypad,

For £, hold down the key and type 0163 on the numeric keypad,

For °, hold down the key and type 0176 on the numeric keypad,

For ±, hold down the key and type 0177 on the numeric keypad,

For ½, hold down the key and type 0189 on the numeric keypad.

Or, just use the character map that comes with a PC. You can also get ä, ö, ü, & ß.

A lot of people don't understand how I can travel in Germany (not including air fare to get there, but everything "on the ground" - accommodation, local travel, food, misc.) for less than $100 a day. I spend a lot less when the euro is down relative to the dollar.

I find that my biggest expense is accommodations. I'm an enthusiastic believer in Rick's philosophy,

... spending more for your hotel just builds a
bigger wall between you and what you traveled so far to see.

I love to stay in small, family run Gasthaus(es) or, when I can find them, Privatzimmer. Those places can be very economical, and, usually, they don't take plastic. Last trip I spent 20 nights in 5 places. Two of them (5 nights I already knew only took cash). I stayed for 9 nights in a Ferienwohnung on the Main, and I paid cash, so I don't know for sure, but I really doubt the grandmother who rented a 40€/night apartment in a building she owned accepted plastic.

Paying cash saves me a lot of money.

I've been reading up on a trip to Austria and many folks are complaining that no one told them that all the businesses in Hallstadt are cash only, which is odd since it exists only to "serve" tourists. So there are still some times you need folding money.

Also for tipping.

I always have some local currency when I travel. Technology is not available 100%. Small businesses were affected in North America for several hours yesterday when Square went down. Many rely on it for their credit card transactions. I was trying to do an online order for a local bakery and it didn’t work over a 5 hour period. We have had credit cards not work in France and Italy in the past year.

The "extra" amount you paid to have currency in hand upon arrival is miniscule compared to the total cost of the trip. And since doing so made you more comfortable, no need to second guess or wonder about what others would have done. Just enjoy the trip -- you did what pleased you.

Mary (roubrat), I made a point of getting my Scottish pounds from a Royal Bank of Scotland ATM just so I’d get the ones with Scottish women of arts and sciences on the front and Scottish animals on the back. I withdrew £100 and got ten £10 notes, all with scientist Mary Somerville on the front and otters 🦦 on the back.

But everywhere I went was tap-and-pay, so my contactless card got a workout and most of my cash went unspent. No complaints—I’m happy to hold on to my pretty money and bring it back with me next year. ☺️

paying for currency is just part of travel, like overpaying in airport newsstands. just shrug and move on.

You can shrug & move on; some of us think that intentionally overpaying for foreign currency is akin to opening up one’s wallet & tearing up the cash. It’s like buying train tickets at RailEurope.

“Small businesses were affected in North America for several hours yesterday when Square went down. Many rely on it for their credit card transactions.”

@Claire - interesting you mentioned that. I got a haircut this morning and whipped out my CC. My stylist said..let me boot this up (I was the 7A person, lol) and see if it’s working today. Then she laughed and said yesterday was apparently “free haircut” day at their salon because everyone had CCs, no one had cash but they thought all their customers would drop back in to pay, lol. For the record they have a pretty stable long term clientele.

NancyG, you made me google it. The design is beautiful!

I vote with Continental. If an expenditure is unavoidable (or you're pickpocketed, etc.), that's different, but I don't approach excess costs from the standpoint of "It's only a tiny percentage of the total cost of the trip." A major reason I can travel as a retiree is that I lived frugally when I was younger. I see no reason to change now.

In most countries you don't need to have local cash the moment you arrive, so you don't usually have to make a special trip to an ATM. I stop at ATMs as I notice them until I find one that doesn't charge fees, so it takes very little extra time. I admit that didn't work well in Oslo, and if I had had limited time in that city, I'd have had to use a fee-charging machine. Prague was challenging in 2018, and I expect there will come a time when all ATMs charge fees,, but I don't think we're there yet. (Maybe Greece?)

I am firmly of the Club that likes to have cash as a safety net when I arrive somewhere. I don't know whether a better deal would have been available for @bostonphil7, but don't see it as a big deal- I suspect I would have done better in the UK buying USD but that is simply the UK travel money market.
But for her it's the price of less than two take out coffees or two bottles of water.

Just because in the UK you CAN use contactless everywhere doesn't mean that you HAVE to. There is a difference. If you prefer to use cash or just want to, then pay in cash.
I have been this week- on the buses in parts of West and North Yorkshire and the West Midlands where you no longer get a bus ticket if you pay contactless (so have no proof of the transaction if you are over charged).

So I am paying cash as that way I retain control of my finances, because I don't trust the computer systems.

Because I always have cash on me I have never looked for a an ATM near Lisbon cruise port. I assume there is one, probably in Santa Apolonia station or the ferry terminal. But to me it is just so easy to cross the road, pay for my metro ticket with cash to load my Viva Viagem card and away. No worry about my bank phoning me for a foreign transaction or the card being retained for unknown reasons.

I am naturally frugal, which is probably no surprise to anyone. I would personally never stay in London Zone 1 for instance (unless I found an astounding deal), preferring the far lower costs of Zone 2 or 3, and the not very much longer travel time in most cases, but if that was the cost of foreign exchange would not hesitate to pay such costs.

bostonphil7 stated in his original post

"...I wanted to have some Pounds on me before traveling to London even though I know that I get a poor exchange rate...but I like having the local money on me when I arrive in the airport."

If that is what he desired, then who are any of us to judge his decision?

bostonphil7 stated in his original post

just by the way - her.

Oops! My apologies, bostonphil7!

Pam, even today, at our farmers’ market, we were warned that Square might act up for some vendors so to bring cash. While I was there, I chatted with one of the vendors, who operates a large enterprise in the lower Okanagan of BC ( organic produce, restaurant, cafe, cidery, guesthouses…). He mentioned that he wished more customers would go back to cash (Covid led to no cash transactions in those early days) because for him as a smaller business, the transaction fees are a big cost for them (and many are still recovering from the impact of Covid and wildfires).

In Canada we don’t have access to very many ‘no foreign exchange transaction fees’ on credit cards or at ATMs so I am long past being able to do much about that cost; as some others have said, it is a part of the cost of travel.

Impact of the music entertainment industry on Austin, Texas
by Krantzman, Phyllis Nancy, 1845-
Published 2008
https://openaccess.library.uitm.edu.my/Author/Home?author=Krantzman%2C+Phyllis+Nancy%2C+1845-

Serious longevity

Have to do a lot of digging to uncover the above ( assuming it is correct)