When and Where to Exchange Currency for Travel

Ask the counter to write down what you pay in total and how much local cash you receive. Check whether the board shows the rate for buying or for selling your currency and whether a fixed charge is deducted. A zero-commission offer can still use a less favorable rate.

A reference rate helps you measure the margin. ECB reference rates, for example, are published for information, not as a rate you can trade at. Compare quotes taken at about the same time and in the same direction.

Example: at a reference rate of 4 local units per EUR, EUR 100 is worth 400 units. Counter A gives 380 units after all fees: (400 − 380) ÷ 400 = 5% below the reference. Counter B gives 392 units but charges EUR 2 on top, so you pay EUR 102, worth 408 units: 3.92% below. B costs less in relative terms but takes more euros; ask both for a quote on exactly EUR 100 in total to compare like for like.

Example: your transfer from the airport needs 80 units of local cash. The counter charges EUR 22 in total for 80 units, and a working ATM would debit EUR 20 for the same 80. Use the ATM if it accepts your card and leaves time for the transfer; use the counter if the ATM is unavailable, since EUR 2 is a small price for making the transfer.

Buy the amount and denominations the first part of the route needs, not a larger bundle because its percentage looks better. Price city spending later, once you have time and a safe ATM. Use only an authorized counter, count the notes and keep the receipt; refuse informal offers from strangers.

Write down the amount and currency you must have, the due date and how long the transfer or cash collection takes. Keep deposits, tuition and other fixed bills separate from optional spending. If a bad rate move would leave you unable to pay a bill, convert the money for that bill now or on a fixed schedule.

If you earn or hold several currencies, first use money you already hold in the currency of the bill. Converting dollars into euros only to buy dollars back for a known dollar invoice costs two conversions.

For recurring costs, a fixed schedule works; for a confirmed bill, converting early buys certainty. Neither guarantees the lowest cost, so revisit the plan when the bill, your income or your provider’s terms change.

Compare the same total debit and the same received currency at about the same time, including percentage fees, fixed fees and any deduction on the receiving side. A reference rate explains the cost but is not necessarily a rate you can get.

Some providers charge extra outside their exchange hours. Revolut Standard in the UK adds 1% to exchanges at weekends where that fee applies (as of 26 Sep 2026), and Revolut’s guidance ties the weekend fee to your plan. Converting on a weekday avoids that fee, though the rate itself can move in either direction meanwhile.

A rate alert, such as Wise’s rate tracker, tells you that a displayed rate has reached your target. It does not reserve that rate or convert automatically. Before acting, check the rate you can actually get and the fees, and set a latest date by which you will convert regardless.

Example: you convert USD 2,000 and each exchange costs EUR 3, taken from the euros you receive. All at once at 0.90 gives EUR 1,797. Half now at 0.90 and half later at 0.88 gives EUR 897 + EUR 877 = EUR 1,774. If the later rate is 0.92 instead, you get EUR 897 + EUR 917 = EUR 1,814. If both rates are 0.90, splitting gives EUR 1,794, EUR 3 less, because the fee is paid twice.

Now suppose the USD 2,000 must pay a EUR 1,780 bill. Converting at once covers it with EUR 17 left; the unfavorable split leaves you EUR 6 short. If you cannot cover that gap and the bill cannot wait, convert the money for the bill at once and use staging only for money you do not need by a fixed date.

Compare the buy-back quote with keeping the currency for a likely next trip. Spending the rest on things you do not need is still a cost. A particular counter may refuse coins, but they keep their value in the country that issued them.

Holding foreign cash carries exchange-rate and loss risk. Some currencies have export restrictions, so read the customs rules of the country you are leaving before you carry them out.