Before you travel, it’s a really good idea to buy currency from home before you leave.
1. Financial transactions are safer at home
At home, you know the financial institutions that you deal with. There are lots of check and balances to ensure that all your money transactions are done with legitimate businesses. You can buy your foreign currency online with confidence that your identity will not be stolen. You don’t really know this when you are abroad. You don’t want to risk your credit card details being stolen and cloned.
2. Get the best exchange rates and locked in rates
Usually most banks and online currency exchanges offer the best exchange rates for foreign currency. You will get more cash to spend on drinks and have more fun while you travel. Don’t forget that an exchange bureau states that there are no fees or commissions, look closer at the exchange rates. This is to catch those people who are not too good at math. They load the fees into the exchange rate so you end up getting less foreign currency than if you bought online. At Xchange of America, you can see what rates you are getting before you transact. The fees will be fully disclosed so there are no surprises.
3. Convenience
You really should have some local currency in your pocket when you arrive at your destination. It is not always easy or convenient to find a currency exchange where you are going. When you are at home, you can do your own research and find the right place to buy your foreign currency. Buying foreign currency online helps you save time too as the currency is delivered to you, at a time convenient for you. Just check the rates online and order the amount of foreign currency you need.
4. Unexpected fees and minimum charges
As you are not familiar with foreign banks or their currency exchanges, you won’t know about unexpected fees and minimum charges.
At banks you might find a board with the current exchange rate and you can work out if you are getting a good deal. So far, all that is all quite transparent.
What is unsaid and not clear is the transaction fee. They charge a fixed fee regardless of how much money you are changing. The fee is the same whether you are changing USD $10 or $10,000. If you are only changing a small sum, this makes the transaction a really bad deal. The little bit of foreign currency you are getting has been greatly reduced by this unexpected fee. You need to check before you transact.
5. Can help you budget and don’t have to carry extra US dollars or take money out of a local ATM.
When you take some time to research and have enough time to buy your foreign currency at home before you travel, you know that you have got the best exchange rate possible. This will help you budget for your trip as you have locked in your costs.
If you worked out your daily spend, you won’t have to worry about running out of money and carry an emergency stash of dollars. The amount of money you need is now fixed before you travel. You don’t want to be caught out when you have to change currency after a major economic event. You might lose a lot more on exchange rates if they move against you.