Currency conversion rates

[braumeister]

I've never looked at currency conversion rates closely before, but when in London last month I decided to check on how much the exchange offices actually charge.

So I checked the offered rates at two places, one near Harrods and the other in Covent Garden. Averaging them and comparing with the actual exchange rate for the day (from XE.com) I calculated their profit on the following currencies:

CHF	4.9%
EUR	6.3%
USD	6.3%
AUD	6.8%
CAD	7.2%
JPY	9.1%

Obviously, people exchanging Japanese Yen are getting massacred, while the Swiss Franc gets off lightly. I think it's a very good thing that cash transactions are gradually getting phased out in many places.

 

[Texas Proud]

My DW did an exchange when we were in Rome... not only do they get good money on the rate but they also charged 5 euros fee...


So unless you are exchanging a large amount of money that is a big percent added on what you calculate...

 

[Blue Poles]

I'm surprised people still convert currency, since getting local currency from an ATM (or using a credit card) seem to incur much lower fees. I used an ALLY debit card at an ATM in Croatia recently and received a competitive conversion rate and the $5 ATM fee refunded.

Croatia now uses the euro, so I wasn't worried about converting any extra cash I had back to dollars. I'll just keep them for future travel. If they still used the kuna, I would have converted them back to dollars but euros are useful to have if you travel frequently.

 

[Texas Proud]

I'm surprised people still convert currency, since getting local currency from an ATM (or using a credit card) seem to incur much lower fees. I used an ALLY debit card at an ATM in Croatia recently and received a competitive conversion rate and the $5 ATM fee refunded.

Croatia now uses the euro, so I wasn't worried about converting any extra cash I had back to dollars. I'll just keep them for future travel. If they still used the kuna, I would have converted them back to dollars but euros are useful to have if you travel frequently.

Yea... tried to talk my DW out of it but she is such a hard head.. AND she didn't even us the money for days.... after I got more from an ATM...

 

[brett]

We passed by a Western Union agency office in Nazare, Portugal last year.

It had by far, the absolute worst exchange rates that we have ever seen, ever.

And they had the temerity to advertise rates on a board. Could not believe it.

No wonder the place was empty.

Very easy to loose as much as 10 points if you are not paying attention.

 

[athena53]

Yeah, I git hit with that when I went to Albania last year- had arranged for a taxi to the hotel and they told me the driver took only Euros or Albanian Lek. I always save leftover currency but had to get more Euros at O'Hare and that flat fee was a killer. (Driver didn't show up. I found one at the airport that took credit cards.) Ordinarily I get my cash through local ATMs.

I was in O'Hare with my granddaughters last year and pointed out the buy and sell rates on GBP before without the flat fee. Even my 9-year old granddaughter could see that the difference between the Buy and Sell rates was a ripoff.

 

[Koolau]

Yeah, I git hit with that when I went to Albania last year- had arranged for a taxi to the hotel and they told me the driver took only Euros or Albanian Lek. I always save leftover currency but had to get more Euros at O'Hare and that flat fee was a killer. (Driver didn't show up. I found one at the airport that took credit cards.) Ordinarily I get my cash through local ATMs.

I was in O'Hare with my granddaughters last year and pointed out the buy and sell rates on GBP before without the flat fee. Even my 9-year old granddaughter could see that the difference between the Buy and Sell rates was a ripoff.

My local credit union exchanged some Polish currency and some Yen for me - and they did it for $5 total. It must have taken 45 minutes of their time. It was a very small amount of each (perhaps a grand total of $40.) The currency was given to me by someone who was leaving the Island and had no idea where to get rid of his left overs. I carried it to my old home state and handed it to the teller at the CU. I have no idea why the CU offers such a service. They can't make money at $5 for 45 minutes (at times, there were two people involved!) They weren't familiar with the process and kept calling someone - probably at home since the other CU branches in town don't do currency.

 

[marko]

When we lived in Paris, I would offer visiting friends to exchange/covert their cash myself; no fee, fair published rate. It was usually only a few hundred bucks they needed for walking around money.

Despite warning her, one family member insisted on going to the local downtown exchange office instead. A total rip off. What an idiot! But there was no swaying her. Never was able to figure out her motivation.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

When we lived in Paris, I would offer visiting friends to exchange/covert their cash myself; no fee, fair published rate. It was usually only a few hundred bucks they needed for walking around money.

Despite warning her, one family member insisted on going to the local downtown exchange office instead. A total rip off. What an idiot! But there was no swaying her. Never was able to figure out her motivation.

For so many decades, cash was king and credit was almost useless; before the information age, there was no way to quickly know whether a payment was good or not. And without an easy way to check exchange fees or read reviews of exchanges, the airport exchange with the rates posted in big type on a huge board was considered the most reliable source of information. If you got to your destination, how would you even know what places ripped you off or not?


Sure, it means she is behind the times, but if you traveled much in that era and had that pre-internet information drilled into your head about what was trustworthy or reliable and what wasn't, it's probably hard to change your thinking.

(OK, behaviorist mode off. )

 

[Koolau]

For so many decades, cash was king and credit was almost useless; before the information age, there was no way to quickly know whether a payment was good or not. And without an easy way to check exchange fees or read reviews of exchanges, the airport exchange with the rates posted in big type on a huge board was considered the most reliable source of information. If you got to your destination, how would you even know what places ripped you off or not?


Sure, it means she is behind the times, but if you traveled much in that era and had that pre-internet information drilled into your head about what was trustworthy or reliable and what wasn't, it's probably hard to change your thinking.

(OK, behaviorist mode off. )

Perhaps 25 years ago, DW and I wanted to do some of Ontario. We entered at Toronto and left through Windsor. When we stopped at entry customs, I asked the nice lady where was a good place to exchange currency without too big a hit. She said all the exchange places associated with the duty free shops next to customs were good. So, we got some currency and it seemed like it was pretty close to the current posted exchange rates.

So we spent several days exploring our neighbor to the north. When we got to Windsor, we wanted to change our money back and stopped at another exchange near the duty free. We had to wait on a young woman (maybe 22?) who had a stack of Canadian currency which was all she could hold in one hand. It was almost all $5 and $10 CAD.

When she had cleared the booth, DW asked me where in the world the young lady got such a wad of cash while in Canada. Surely she didn't exchange US$ of that magnitude and carry it around, only to exchange it on the way out.

The nice lady at the window overheard us talking and, in hushed tones, said "She's an American "dancer" who commutes to Canada to make her living." DW and I were pretty much speechless. I was surprised that the nice lady would share such info (not sure how she knew - though I'm sure she knew what she was talking about.)

Fast Forward 25 years to present times and technology: So, how DO you use your Apple Watch to tip a dancer??