When is the best time to exchange currency?

Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.

On Dec 29, 4:11*pm, paris2venice wrote:
Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

* a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

* b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

* c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. *This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.

when the currency markets are in your favour....

On 2011-12-29 09:11:37 -0600, paris2venice said:

Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.

I cannot speak for Egypt per se, but I find there is usually an ATM in
the airport. There is where I get my starter cash. You may have
trouble finding a local bank that does exchange, anyway, and besides,
my research tells me the ATM offers the best exchange rate, anyway.
--
Dan Stephenson
http://web.mac.com/stepheda
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)

On Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:11:37 -0800 (PST), paris2venice
wrote:

Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.


I know nothing about Egypt, but my experience with Europe is that b is
the worst choice. You should get currency from ATM machines as you
need it.

--
Ken Blake

paris2venice wrote:

Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.

Best thing is usually to use an ATM, and make sure you have a card
(and/or bank) with reasonable rates. I recommend fairfx for UK
travellers abroad.

Changing money physically is rarely a good idea but it depends where you
go. Official street money changers can offer surprisingly good rates in
some countries (e.g. Peru) but it's not something I've encountered in
Europe.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

Dan Stephenson wrote:

On 2011-12-29 09:11:37 -0600, paris2venice said:

Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.

I cannot speak for Egypt per se, but I find there is usually an ATM in
the airport.

There were ATMs at Cairo and Luxor airports when I was there over a year
ago.

(By the way, I had to go through a body scanner at BOS the other day- I
think you're the poster who won't use such airports, so you can add that
one to your list.)

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

Ken Blake wrote:

On Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:11:37 -0800 (PST), paris2venice
wrote:

Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.


I know nothing about Egypt, but my experience with Europe is that b is
the worst choice. You should get currency from ATM machines as you
need it.

That is assuming that your bank gives you a good rate. In the UK, many
travellers are ripped off by using their cards abroad to get cash, and
would usually have fared better by getting foreign exchange from the
Post Office or similar outlets.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

On Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:11:37 -0800 (PST), paris2venice
wrote:

Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.

It varies from country to country.

For travelers from the US, B is always the worst.

C is generally the best if you have a Capital One visa or other card that
doesn't charge foreign transaction fees.

In many countries, exchange rates at airports are significantly worse than the
competitive commercial money changers in large cities, such as Paris.

-- Larry

On 29/12/2011 1:27 PM, David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote:
the airport.

There were ATMs at Cairo and Luxor airports when I was there over a year
ago.

(By the way, I had to go through a body scanner at BOS the other day- I
think you're the poster who won't use such airports, so you can add that
one to your list.)



I am leery of airport ATMs because, like ATMs in convenience stores and
malls, they tend to have outrageous fees. I usually go to my bank to get
enough money to last my first day or two at my destination. Then I go to
a bank and use the ATM there.

On 12/29/2011 04:11 PM, paris2venice wrote:
Would the best time to exchange currency be when:

a) you arrive at the airport of your destination

b) at your local bank several days before your flight departure or

c) get it from an ATM or bank at your destination any time

Thanks. This applies to any travel in Europe but mostly, for me, to
my upcoming vacation to Egypt.

No idea about Egypt but to see if option b) is worthwhile, compare their
buying and selling rates. I suspect that the two rates for Egyptian
currency are way different from each other.