by Paul Ruth

Created on: September 01, 2008   Last Updated: September 16, 2008

The most important thing to remember when exchanging any type of currency is that there will always be fees. After all, exchanging currency requires some type of labor or process. In most cases, the exchange rate will not affect whether or not a person or a family goes on vacation over boarders. There are a few options that a vacationer has: one, you can exchange money at you bank at home; two, you can exchange money in the country you are traveling to; three, you can use credit cards or debit cards (which do work in other countries); or four, use travelers checks. Each method can be used in a combination in order to achieve the most traveling pleasure for the least cost depending on the type of traveling you are going to do.

Exchanging money at your local bank would most likely be the most cost effective. Some banks might even provide this service free of charge to their customers, or if not it is a low convenience fee. This though may only be practical for certain travelers. If you are traveling between counties that use different currencies, then it may be cumbersome to keep it all in order. Also, you are limited by the fact ast how much money you want to holding at one time. There will always be people not matter where you are that will take advantage of others. This would not be recommended for paying for all things, just to have enough to help pay for water at a stand by the you can't leave the country without seeing this tourist trap.

Exchanging money at the location that you are going to can be costly, especially if it is a high volume tourist area. This being said, there are time when you will need to do this in order to save money. For instance; if you are moving between countries that uses different currencies and not going back to that country, then you would want to get rid of, what is now to you, useless currency. My preference is to hold on to a little as a souvenir. Same rules apply here as above, only carry as much as needed for safety reasons.

The last two work in a similar fashion. Basically, they are only as good as where they are accepted. Credit and debit cards work in other countries, but for fees. Yes, fees. Expect that there will be fees coming from a few directions for the transactions. Travelers checks usually go through American express, and are pre-paid checks that you can cash at an exchange, uses as a regular check with getting change back, and can be cancelled if lost or stolen like a card. This is the safest way to carry money because of the ability to stop usage, but there are a few thing to consider. First, check the rates of your credit company or bank. The fees may be high enough to where it would be impractical to use a card on small purchases. Second, do not always expect that your card will be accepted everywhere. Also there are many small businesses, both in city and small towns that do not recognize traveler checks as currency. I would say that American Express has the least abundance of places for it to be uses whereas Master Card and Visa have the most.

In the end you plan of currency exchange depends on where your going and how you plan to travel. Use the Internet to determine which place you can uses the best method most effectively.

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