Author Archives: Xchange Of America

How Online Currency Exchange Can Save You Money

Buying currency is quite a simple thing to do, you just give a provider your US Dollars and buy the currency that you want. Getting a good deal when you buy currency is a different issue.

To get a really good deal when you exchange money, it pays to do a bit of research. Firstly, you need to understand exchange rates. The rates that are quoted on Yahoo Finance is not the same rate that you will get at your bank or the local bureau de change.

If you want to get an idea of the exchange rate, you can try using Google. Type “1 USD to EUR” if you want to exchange US Dollars for Euros. Just substitute the currency symbol for EUR. Just remember that this is only the market rate, not the actual rate you will get from wherever you are buying currency from.

Get online and look at the rates from some providers. The rates you are offered will be adjusted for fees and a profit margin. You need to compare the rates including the fee that the providers charge to work out how much you will get in hand.

Some places will say zero fees, and this is an ideal option to save as much money as possible on your currency exchange purchase. Low fees will mean that you avoid what can sometimes and 10 to 20 percent or more in costs to your currency exchange. If you are planning on exchanging a substantial amount of dollars, the difference can be quite substantial.

Low or Zero Fees

Find out which provider offers no-fee transactions or where they will waive a transaction fee for large deals over a set amount of currency. These providers also often give you better exchange rates. These providers work out well for people who want to exchange larger sums of money, but they are also good with lower sums as well.

You can save money by watching the rates

You can time your currency purchase to a time when current rates will get you the best deal. Sometimes, you can fix a target rate at a foreign exchange broker but this is not freely available to the average person.

Don’t go for the first broker online.

Compare all the rates together with the fees. Consider also their delivery times and costs of shipping the currency to you. Xchange of America offers low cost shipping and free pickup from their outlets if you order your currency online.

If you are a corporate customer or usually deal with large amounts of money that need exchanging, you can sometimes negotiate for a better exchange rate and pay minimal costs.

Don’t change money at the airport

Don’t wait to change your money at the airport before you next travel. They currency exchanges at airports are notorious for their rates. They almost always make a bigger spread and therefore a higher profit than an online currency exchange service. Get prepared earlier and order your currency online. You will get more foreign currency to spend when you travel.

What you Should Know about Currency Exchange for Travel Purposes

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Since travel got cheaper, most people do it on a regular basis in our days. And regardless whether it’s for discovery, entertainment, sports or love purposes, travel requires money. However, many countries have their own currency, including Switzerland, Bulgaria, Romania, England, and so on.

Should you wish to visit and make their transactions in these countries, you will need to exchange your currency or an international currency (euro/usd) into the local one. This can be achieved through a local or online exchange service, or an airport exchange.

Here are some tips that you need to take into account when you search for a currency exchange at an airport or abroad:

Ideally try to avoid exchanging money at airports. There maybe exceptions, but often the worst exchange rates are in the airport. Let’s look for example at airport currency exchanges. You’ll get significantly lower currency compared to other options. That’s the way it is in just about every part of the world. If you have to change currency there then you should, but do it in a small amount just to help you get to the city. Always be on the lookout for latest currency exchange rate, and your best option is to use an online currency exchange well ahead of your time.

Watch the commissions. Commissions and service fees are some of the biggest charges that you’ll encounter when exchanging currency. You can expect to pay significant sums when using an airport currency exchange. For other options, the sums are typically lower, but you’ll still want to try to avoid them whenever possible.

Also check the currency exchange rates. There are a lot of “too good to be true” rates are only shown to get your attention. Then once you exchange your currency you’ll find that not only was the rate incorrect, but that you’ll be charged extraneous service fees.

You’re walking on the street at your travel destination, you see a great good written rate … 1 USD = x crowns/pesos/etc. That might lure you in, but read everything carefully. That rate is so good that you will want to make a currency exchange at once. But if you look carefully there will be certain clauses to this exchange. You’ll likely have to pay some kind of fee or commission charges.

Negotiate when you don’t have the opportunity to buy currency online ahead of your travel destination. There are instances where you can get better rates if you change more, you can get better rates if you change bigger banknotes like 100 euros or 100 dollars. You’ll typically save a substantial amount this way, but the total cost of your currency purchase will typically be higher than what you would pay at a provider like Xchange of America.

To get the highest amount of currency possible, you’ll want to avoid any situation where you have to buy currency abroad. It will only cost you extra time and more money than necessary, when you can get some of the best rates anywhere at Xchange of America along with low shipping costs, great service, and zero service charges.

Buy Foreign Currency Online

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You are long overdue for your vacation and this time you have chosen the sun kissed cliffs and beaches of Italy. All your bags are packed and you are ready to go, but before you set foot in Italy, you of course need to make sure that you have enough Euros with you.

Did you buy foreign currency online ahead of time? Of course, if you were unfortunate enough to have remembered while you were at the airport, we feel for you. They do sometimes give you the worst exchange rates possible.

Make the Best of Exchange Rates

When we plan for our vacation, we go to great lengths to cut our costs on travel, accommodation and even at times, on food. But most of us, forget that we can save a pretty penny if we got our foreign currency purchase right! If you had been prudent enough to plan ahead, see the currency fluctuations over a period of at least a month or two, you have a better chance of getting the best exchange rates possible.

Exchange rates fluctuate rather steadily over time and you of course are better off, if you buy your Euro when the US Dollar is at the strongest. Simply put, you can buy more Euro with the same amount of US Dollars, when US Dollar is at its strongest, and Xchange of America can help you time your purchase.

Buy Online and You Might Save More

But planning ahead just isn’t sometimes sufficient to get you the best exchange rates. You guessed it right! Like everything else out there, you can also buy foreign currency online. And buying Foreign Currency online from some of the specialist Foreign Exchange Institutions like Xchange of America can help you save more.

Buy foreign currency online and you have the choice to either pick it up at a store location or have it delivered to your home. Most places charge you a delivery fee if it’s delivered to your home, but if you need to exchange more than a threshold amount, you can save on the delivery fee. Now, this is very convenient in the very least.

Look Out for the Special Promotions

There are special promotions that happen online, and those are always fun times for the customer. Look out for promos, be sure to read the fine print, and your vacation might just get a lot cheaper and a lot happier. Perhaps you can save a particular amount on your currency purchase, or you might get discounts on bulk purchases.

Compare the Best Offers

If you choose to buy foreign currency online, it’s becomes easier for you to compare the exchange rates as well as service fees and total prices offered by the various foreign exchange institutions.

Easiest Savings in Your Vacation

Saving on currency exchange is the easiest way to save while you go for your vacation. Choose to buy foreign currency online at Xchange of America and it might just help you cut your budget to size for a better hotel or a more convenient flight.

Finding the Best Service to Buy Currency Online From

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With all the different types of currency exchange services out there, you may be tempted to buy currency online. However, are there any disadvantages to consider? Why not just purchase your currency from a bank?

You’ll discover publicized rates all over, yet do you have an opportunity to look into them all? There can be so many options to consider when you browse the internet to purchase your travel money.

This market is a competitive one, and you should locate online currency exchange suppliers like Xchange of America that attempt to offer you the best deal possible, frequently stripping commission charges and other service changes.

If you have not purchased cash online recently, ideally the tips in this article will help you locate a better service, and you’ll spare yourself the headache of dealing with a lower quality company.

Review the company’s terms

Consider the total sum of currency that you need. Review the company’s terms of service and exchange rates. Give the them a look and you may find that the aggregate cost is more than you should expect.

Watch out for commission fees and service charges. These are quite common for both online and offline currency exchange services. The amount can quickly add up, especially if you are purchasing currency multiple times. Xchange of America never charges you service fees, and our exchange rates are some of the most competitive that you’ll find anywhere, ensuring that you save as much money as possible on your currency exchange.

At many other providers of whether it’s charge or credit, you may be charged a service expense. Charges could be as much as 10 to 15% so be careful about this. A superior decision is to utilize your credit card to ensure that you can always make a dispute if you use a currency exchange service online or abroad. You won’t have to deal with this issue at Xchange of America.

It’s vital to ensure the supplier also protects your shipping of travel cash. Most currency exchange services like Xchange of America will ship the money to you, at your home or street address, and your cash will require signing for when it arrives. It’s common for suppliers to give you a ring promptly after you’ve put in an order, just to affirm it’s you.

Choosing an established provider like Xchange of America will allow you to get the highest amount of currency at the lowest price possible. We also guarantee that your cash will be securely and safely shipped to you, with insurance upon request as well as tracking. Expedited options are available at a much lower cost than other providers.

With your security being of the utmost importance, and with so many stories about cyber hacks and other security issues with online purchases, you can’t afford to choose a lower quality or inexperienced currency exchange service. Find out why Xchange of America is growing and is one of the largest currency exchange services in the world, and buy currency online with 100% security today.

Buy Currency for Multiple Countries at Xchange of America

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You are looking forward to your upcoming trip to another international destination. Whether you are traveling for leisure or business, you should take care of the basic factors that will make your overall journey experience truly memorable and hassle-free.

Weeks or days before your scheduled trip, it would be best if you buy foreign currency ahead of time, which you can spend when you get to your destination. Your ATM or credit/debit cards could be used for cash withdrawal when you arrive in some cases, but these options are not always practical and convenient. Hefty charges may apply and at times, your bank may not permit international transactions. Furthermore, you might have issues finding ATMs in your destination.

This is why you should buy foreign currency before leaving. And the internet is the more convenient and practical option to take. Among the services you should consider are those offered by Xchange of America (www.xchangeofamerica.com).

Multiple currencies

While most traditional and over-the-counter foreign exchange establishments have limited number of currencies available, Xchange of America has dozens of currencies of various countries that can be accessed. This means that wherever you are heading on your next trip, chances are greater that you could buy the currency in that country through our website.

Prevailing exchange rates

Xchange of America regularly updates its rates. Thus, you could be sure the rate applied to your transaction is the latest. You could determine this by clicking on the Currency Converter tab in the site’s homepage. From there, you could directly determine how many of your dollars would be converted into your required currency.

Picking up or delivered

For utmost convenience and security of its customers, Xchange of America is offering two options on how to get the currency you purchased. First, you can opt to pick up your currency in any of its eight locations across Florida, Georgia, California, Minnesota, Texas, and Nevada a day or several days after completion of your online transaction. This option will also save you a few dollars in fees.

If you are far from any of those locations, you can opt to have the currency delivered right to your doorstep. This option would automatically take the same billing address as used in the credit/debit card that you have used to pay the purchase. Anyone you authorize from your household or office could receive the delivery if you would not be around the moment the currency is shipped.

Rates and costs

Xchange of America intends to be the most practical and most convenient online portal to buy foreign currency. That is why it is also applying rates that are among the most competitive and attractive in the market today. Rates are regularly updated and are closest to prevailing currency exchange rates in various countries.

As for charges and fees, the company also sticks to being among the most transparent. You would not worry about being surprised by charges that are hidden in the fine print. During your purchase process, you will know upfront exactly how much you will pay for our services.

Avoid Last Minute Headaches By Purchasing Currency Before Traveling

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Your vacation is just around the corner. You’ve booked the flights, the hotels and the rented a car.

Before you embark on a trip, you usually have a long list of things to do to get you ready. You’d probably stop the newspaper delivery, get a house sitter, put the dogs in a kennel and set up some timed lights to go on while you are away.

Then there is the packing. If you are super efficient, you have a packing list that you use regularly to make sure that you have included everything you need to take with you on your travels. You don’t want to bring everything including the kitchen sink but forget to bring your charging cables.

Don’t leave it until the last minute

Plan to do this a few days ahead of your trip. You will then have some time to research the best rates to convert your US dollars. Start with finding out what the market rate is, which you can find on Yahoo finance or other financial sites. Check whether these currency outlets have minimum cash order amounts. Look out for hidden handling and delivery fees. Work out the total cost of your transaction, including all fees. Some places will charge an extra fee if you are buying currency with a credit card. The simple comparison is how much foreign currency you will get for the dollar you are exchanging.

Once you have done some research, book your currency with an online exchange service like Xchange of America. They will send you the cash to your home or office and you can save some time and avoid any last minute headaches.

Avoid the rip-off exchange rates and fees in the airport. Make sure you plan ahead and buy currency online before you travel. Give yourself enough time for the foreign currency to be sent to you. If it is really last minute, you can order online and collect the cash from the nearest outlet.

The best tip to save money on your travels is to never change money at the airport. They are notoriously bad for giving the worst exchange rates and charge high fees. They know that travelers have no choice so they can take advantage of that.

By buying your foreign currency online a few days before your trip, you know that you have secured a good exchange rate and got the most for your US dollars. It will give you peace of mind that your holiday spending budget is now fixed. You won’t be subject to high fees and terrible rates that you would most definitely experience if you had to change your money after you arrive.

By making sure that you have some local currency to hand when you arrive at your destination, you can feel a bit more confident that your arrival will be smooth and comfortable. You won’t need to scramble around to find a currency exchange to change your money. In some countries, you will need to buy an entry visa at the airport with cash so be prepared. You don’t want to get caught out or get stranded with no money to pay for a cab.

Why Xchange of America is better than an Airport Exchange

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Are you ready for your next travel adventure? No matter how prepared you are, there will always be some factors that may cause you anxiety days or hours before you actually get into your flight. Be sure such setbacks does not include preparing money in the currency you would need. That is because you can easily and actually avoid this problem just by being wiser.

Are you going to buy currency online or at the airport exchange? Logically, all smart travelers recommend buying online based on their previous experiences. Here are some key points why buying currency online through services like Xchange of America and ahead of your trip is more advisable.

Practical convenience

Of course, you usually opt to buy currency online for the immediate convenience of doing so. Just go to the website www.xchangeofamerica.com and quickly use the currency conversion button so you could instantly determine how much your budget would equate when converted to your preferred currency. This way, you could decide how much currency to buy without the element of surprise and desperation.

If you opt for the airport exchange, you would need to drop by the establishment on the day of your trip to buy the currency you will need in your travel. This could be tedious as you have to find that store and fall in long queues. Just imagine how stressful this can be if you are in a hurry catching your flight schedule.

Availability of currency

Visit Xchange of America’s site to instantly find out if they are selling the currency you need. In general, this service sells any currency travelers may need to buy. If in rare cases that a currency is not available, or there is a limited supply to that, you can easily and conveniently find other alternative sellers also online.

This is a greater and more depressing setback if you do not choose to buy currency online and instead opt to buy at the airport exchange. What will happen if the currency you need to buy is not available in the establishment and it is just a matter of hours or minutes before your scheduled flight takes off?

You might experience unnecessary stress finding alternative measures or worse, you might take the flight without money (converted to your required currency) in your pocket, which would surely bring about greater setbacks once you arrive at the destination airport.

Payment options

At Xchange of America, you can buy currency online and opt for any of various payment methods available. You could opt to pay through bank transfer, e-check, money order, credit/debit card, or collect on delivery. Such choices could facilitate more secured transactions.

The same set of wide payment options may not be available in an airport exchange center. The most prevalent mode of payment there is cash, which is commonly an issue to some customers who are not comfortable carrying around cold money. Payments via credit/debit card may also be dubious because of security concerns with regards to manual swiping by merchants.

What Causes the Currency Exchange Rate to Fluctuate?

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If you are traveling to any international destination, you have no choice but to know and understand the constant fluctuation in the currency exchange rate. You should not be surprised that exchange rates for all currencies change every day. If you would be more strategic, you can take advantage of such movements and buy currency at the best possible price.

To begin with, exchange rates normally and frequently change due to interrelated factors combined with the reaction of the market (consumers and businesses). This way, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to predict when or how much such rates would rise or fall. Here are common factors that cause this flux.

Law of supply and demand

In simple terms, when there is an oversupply of currency in a market, the value decreases. On the other hand, when there is a robust demand, the value increases. This way, a country’s central bank can influence the currency exchange rate by lowering supply of currency to increase its value or by increasing supply in circulation to lower it. This dynamics is called a government’s monetary policy.

Inflation rate

The rate at how prices of goods and services in a market moves is called inflation. If a country has a high inflation rate, there usually is a depreciation in its currency. As a traveler, this could work both ways for you—your dollar could be worth higher when converted to a country’s currency, whereas you could also experience the downside because you might find costs in that area very expensive when you travel.

Government debt

Are you familiar with credit ratings? Here’s the analogy: if your credit rating is good, you could easily make loans from lenders with very attractive interest rates; the same goes for countries—if an economy has a good credit rating, it can borrow from international funds easily. A country with bad rating may suffer from currency depreciation.

Political and economic stability

Travelers often monitor the political stability and security of their next travel destination. In terms of currency exchange rate, this kind of monitoring is also important. Countries with stable political climate have stronger currencies, while those with political turmoil undergo depreciation.

Conclusion

In all these factors, one thing is certain: you could not accurately predict how much the exchange rate is if you are buying currency for a scheduled trip to any country. This is how Xchange of America (www.xchangeofamerica) could be of service to you.

Before deciding on how much to buy, you could use its online currency converter to determine how much your designated amount of dollars would equate in the currency of your next international destination. From there, you could decide how much you could comfortably buy. Take note that rates may vary each day due to the market dynamics discussed here.

Whether the currency rate is favorable or less favorable for you, it will always be advisable to buy ahead of your trip so you could spare yourself from the stress and risks that may also be brought by currency fluctuations from any of such factors.

Reasons to Purchase Currency Before Traveling to Undeveloped Countries

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While it is always recommended, for several reasons, to buy currency of the destination country, it is especially recommended when traveling to less developed countries. While all the normal reasons remain – i.e. safety, less risk of loss, etc. – new reasons and risks arise when discussing less developed countries.

Less developed countries typically have less access to foreign currencies meaning that the difficulty of finding a bank or entity to accept the home currency of the traveler in exchange for the currency of the destination country increases drastically. Not having the currency of the destination country on hand ahead of time can therefore lead to having no money in the destination country for the life of the trip. This is not only unpleasant, but can also be dangerous as it could lead to lack of food, water, supplies, places to stay, and even in the most extreme cases a flight home.

While the traveler may find some entity to accept the trade of home currency to destination currency, the likelihood of the transaction being standardized by the current currency exchange rate is extremely low which could lead to having much less destination currency than the traveler had previously planned on having. This could lead to the traveler not having enough not only to enjoy the trip as they had intended, but possibly not having enough to truly survive comfortably while staying in the destination country.

The next major danger in not having the destination’s currency ahead of time in less developed countries stems from the countries lack of infrastructure. In the case of an emergency – i.e. break down of public transportation, or something just goes wrong while traveling the country – not having the destination country’s currency could lead to a dangerous situation in which the traveler is stranded without a way to pay for help getting out of the situation or getting back to their hotel or place of residence whilst in the country.

It is possible that these issues do not happen; however, it is always better to be prepared for the worst, especially in personally unfamiliar territories such as these undeveloped foreign countries. It is important to understand that in many undeveloped countries, the United States dollar does not hold the same standardized exchange value as it does in the rest of the world, if it holds any value at all.

To avoid getting stuck in these dangerous or uncomfortable situations in unfamiliar, undeveloped countries, it is important to buy foreign currency online ahead of time. Buying the currency online ahead of time ensures that the proper currency exchange rate is used to give the traveler a fair, universally accepted value in the transaction, and to ensure that the traveler has the destination’s currency in hand to avoid possible dangerous or uncomfortable situations and allow for a response from the traveler to emergencies that may occur while traveling. Buying the destination country’s currency online is always the safest and best way to go.

The Best Financial Conditions for Travel

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Believe it or not, there is a best and a worst time to travel. No, not due to the weather, the season, or when someone has accrued enough personal time at work to take a break, but rather, a best time financially to travel and explore the world.

The conditions that make for the best time to travel from a financial stand point can get very in depth, so here we will try to break it down into simple components.

If someone is taking a trip out of the country, say for instance from the United States to Greece, they would want to get the most bang for their buck. In order to do this, they want the United States dollar to be as highly valued as possible when compared to Greece’s currency (the Euro). Simple concept, right?

Well, it gets a bit more complex than that. Many factors can change the relationship between the value of the US Dollar and the Euro. For example, if the United States government decides more dollars need to be printed and circulated through the economy, the value of the dollar will decrease because there are more dollars.

The opposite occurs when the US wants less dollars to be in circulation, therein taking dollars out of the economy and increasing the value of the dollar because there are less of them. Like diamonds, the rarer the dollar, the more valuable it is in comparison to other currencies. Travelers going from the United States to a foreign country want the dollar to be as powerful and as valuable as it can be so that they can use their dollars to buy more of their destination country’s currency, effectively giving them “more bang for their buck”.

Other things that could cause a change in the amount of foreign currency one can purchase is the conditions of the destination country. In our example, the traveler is going from the United States to Greece. The Greek government has a very high volume of debt obligations, leading to extremely poor economic conditions right now in Greece.

This means that the American traveler has a prime opportunity – all else equal – to get great “bang for their buck” using USD to buy euros in Greece because the average cost of goods in Greece will be less due to poor economic conditions. Hotels, food, and transportation will all cost less than it would on average if someone was to visit Greece before these poor economic conditions began taking shape.

While there are several other factors that contribute and work together to determine how much foreign currency can be bought with the traveler’s home currency, it is important to understand how the world can influence the prices when going to buy currency. This is why it is important to keep track of currency exchange rates, and pay close attention to the conditions of the destination country. This will lead to the best financial decision when it comes to timing a trip to international destinations in the future.