Travel outside the Euro zone: Money exchange & withdrawal

When traveling outside the euro zone, the question regularly arises: how will I pay on the spot? Where to change money to get local currency.

Small article to introduce you to the different options and traps to avoid.

Install an exchange rate application on your phone

This is an indispensable practice, to be able to convert prices in local currency into euros. Exchange rates are set according to supply and demand on the financial markets and fluctuate 7 days / 7 24 hours a day.

On an Android phone, the “Exchange Rate” application is fine. On iOS, you can use “XE Currency”.

It will be useful for you, as much for how much a dish in a restaurant, a product at the market, … as to avoid being fooled when you change money.

In this example you can see that with one Euro you can have 33.79 Thai Baht if you benefit from the real exchange rate.

Collecting foreign currency in France before leaving

If you wish to obtain foreign currency before you leave, you have two options:

Going to an exchange office
Ask your bank

These two options are rarely recommended because you will benefit from a disadvantageous exchange rate

Banks and currency exchange offices pay themselves a fixed fee + a difference between the actual exchange rate and the exchange rate they apply.

In general, it will be much more interesting to “buy” a currency in the country where it is traded:

If you buy Thai baht in a bureau de change in France, they have rather little stock, so the bureau de change will sell them to you at a high price, applying a bad exchange rate.
If you buy Thai bahts in an exchange office in Thailand, it is the opposite. They have an “unlimited” stock and will even be happy to get your euros back. You will benefit from a much more favorable exchange rate.

As an example, the exchange office “Multi Change” in Paris applies today (January 7, 2020) a rate of 1 € = 30.76 baht. Whereas the actual rate is 33.78 baht. That is a difference of almost 10%

If you change €1000 into bahts in this exchange office, you lose the equivalent of €100!

And generally, with your bank, it will be even worse!

It is always more interesting to go with your Euros to the destination country.

Go to an exchange office on site

If you arrive with your euros in a country: The best is to do a little exchange at the airport to be able to face the first expenses and then to do a more consequent exchange in the city where the exchange rates will be better. As a lot of tourists exchange money at the airport, they take the opportunity to practice high rates.

At the airport you usually have :

Several exchange offices: Compare rates to find the best deal
Also exchange offices in the departure areas. If there are many queues at the arrival exchange offices, a simple floor change can save you a lot of time.

To be able to compare exchange rates, you have to understand these large luminous tables that aren’t easy to understand.

In a table like the one below. Let’s look at the “Euro” line.

When you arrive, the exchange office will “Buying” your euros, so the rate in the left column applies: 1 € = 45.72 baht
At the time of your departure, if you have money left over, you can “sell” your baht in euros: it is the column on the right that applies”: 1 € = 46.86 baht.

Knowing this, you can easily compare exchange offices and choose the one with the best rate.

A few more tips :

Don’t be fooled by the indications “0 fees” or “No fees”, it simply means that the exchange office does not apply a fixed fee. It does not mean that the exchange rate will be interesting.
Speaking of fees, always ask that there are no fixed fees (commission) before changing money. This is quite rare but it can happen.
Come with the newest tickets possible. In some countries (Argentina for example), tickets will be refused if they are damaged and sometimes even if they are simply folded!
Some currency exchange offices ask for identification. Come with your passport or the CNI
Favour large denominations: in some countries like Burma, they apply more interesting rates for large bills than for small ones.
Keep the receipt, in some countries you cannot re-exchange the local currency for euros if you don’t have a receipt (like Cuba for example).

Withdrawing money from the ATM

I wrote a detailed article on the subject.

The big points to remember are :

Withdrawals will cost you a lot of money if you have not taken an international option or even better: if you have an international card such as N26, Revolut or Boursorama Ultim. Otherwise, the French bank will charge you a withdrawal fee + a commission on the exchange rate.
In some countries, local banks apply a flat fee when withdrawing from ATMs. Test ATMs from different banks to identify those with the lowest fees. Withdraw smaller amounts less often, larger amounts, so that you don’t have to pay more flat fees.
Big trap to avoid: always refuse the conversion offered by the ATM, exchange rates are always scandalous.

Avoid changing money in the street

In some countries, you will find people with large bundles of bills in the street (often near banks) who will offer to change money for you.

This is a practice to avoid, it is the best way to get scammed by recovering counterfeit bills.

Anotable exception: this is a very common practice in Central America (as in Nicaragua), and in Argentina with very little risk, with better exchange rates than at the bank. However, check each bill for forgeries.

In case of problems: the Azimo solution

In some countries, such as Argentina and Chile, it can be very complicated to withdraw money from the ATM, we’ve talked about it here.

I don’t wish you to, but it can also happen that you lose or have your cash and credit card stolen.

In these cases, you can use the Azimo solution. The principle: you or someone close to you can send money by paying by card. You will be able to withdraw money in a partner agency a few minutes later.

Detailed explanations and promo code on this article.

Where to hide your euros?

We went to Cuba with 2500€ in our luggage and didn’t lose anything. It is however a country known for the flights in the suitcases. In general, thieves don’t have much time to search well, so if you take a little time to hide them well, it decreases the risk of theft.

I therefore advise you to hide your euros a little bit everywhere: not in one place but in several places. If you are 2, you have to divide the money in two, each one keeps half. You can hide them :

in a closed suitcase with code. Small padlocks with key can be opened very easily with a small pliers, while code padlocks are harder to open
if your suitcase doesn’t close, hide them in the sanitary napkins, in a fake medicine box or in the lining of the suitcase
underneath your shoe soles
in a belt with a secret pocket (see my review here)
in the secret pocket of your scarf
wrap your euros in a bus ticket or bus confirmation paper and leave them in the suitcase, on a misunderstanding, the thief may think it’s just paperwork
or simply in the safe of your hotel room – but only in highly rated hotels, which have never had a theft incident before (tripadvisor is your friend)

Above all, don’t hide the money in the hotel room (under the cupboard etc.) because you risk forgetting ahahah

End of the trip: what to do with the remaining money?

Unless you want to keep some currency as a souvenir, the ideal is to get on the plane back home having gotten rid of all the local currency

In France, it may be difficult to change money into euros (except for the most common currencies, dollars, pounds sterling, …) and you will have unfavorable rates anyway.
In some countries like Cuba, it is even forbidden to take money out of the country. You will not be searched at the customs to check but the money will be unchangeable outside the country.
Other countries don’t forbid it, but no country (even bordering) will want their currency, this is the case of Nepalese currency, Paraguayan, Bolivian…

When your return is near, try to get rid of coins that are rarely accepted in exchange offices.

On the day or the day before your departure, go to a currency exchange office in town. Keep only what you need to finish your stay, pay for transportation to the airport and a small amount for emergency assistance.

Once at the airport, you can change the remaining money or do like Anh: have fun spending all the money left until the last coin 🙂 Note from Anh: if there is still money left over after my spending at the airport, I leave it next to the toilet sink at the airport, the cleaning ladies are always very happy to get it back.