1353513636

If I travel to a foreign country, I can pull money from an ATM in a foreign currency and pay no fees. If I have extra currency left over, is there a way I can get it back to USD without paying any fees?

dh01

When you are getting foreign currency from an ATM abroad, you are not paying no fees. You are getting charged through the foreign exchange rate the bank uses, and then they are not charging you "further fees". So changing back to USD, you will get pay the exchange rate differential as well. Whether they call it a fee or free and then give you a very bad exchange rate, it really costs you both ways.

rwoman

I think many of us tend to keep the foreign curriencies, especially if we plan to return to whatever country/countries using the currency. I try to limit my cash withdrawals and use my CC (no fees) as much as I can.

In some cases, depending on the currency, you can put it on a Starbucks GC and use in in the USA - be sure to check first!

Some other threads of interest:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/usa/1...cy-usd-us.html (look for the list about Starbucks)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...er-thread.html

jbeckett

I tend to keep the foreign currency, unless it is from some obscure country that I would not expect to return to and whose currency would be non-convertible outside of that country.

If the currency is easily convertible, then sometimes I convert it on a trip to a third country to that countries currency. For example, I have some Canadian dollars but don't expect to go to Canada so I would like to get rid of them. But I do have a trip to Singapore upcoming and I know that it is easy (and has low commissions) to convert currency there. So I will take my Canadian dollars there and convert to Singapore dollars for spending in Singapore.

CFFrost

What has been everyone's experience converting USDs at your bank, with a teller, before you depart? I've done this a couple of times in the past when time allows (at least enough to pay for a cab and have some pocket cash on arrival). Has anyone paid close enough attention to know if the rates are reasonable?

Duke787

This. Plus if you have no-fee ATM withdrawals in a foreign country I would reduce the amount you withdraw and try and shift more spend to a non-FOREX CC (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi AA Exec, etc.). In addition to reducing the potential amount of extra currency, you also get points / miles for you spend while in that country (this is FT after all).

Whenever I go international I take out $100 upon arrival to cover places that won't take CC (plus the cab from the airport). I then use my CC the rest of the time and only switch back to cash to zero it out before departure.

I only take out more cash if I end up needing more cash due to the country or restaurants I'm going to being anti-CC (say Tokyo sushi restaurant).

FWIW, my no-fee ATM comes via Schwab and I use a CSP for international (I used a Citi AA Exec earlier this year since I was abroad and wanted the 100k promo but otherwise I go with the CSP)

alaskantraveler

I travel frequently to countries where cc s are not widely accepted. I travel with my Schwab Debit card. Not foreign transaction fees and reimburses all ATM fees. I don't have a good way to convert foreign currency back to usd. Since I have a debit card that reimburses all ATMs I only take out enough currency that I need. I try to have the lease amount of foreign currency when I get to the airport to leave. I just use the airport currency and take hit conversion hit. I rarely every have more than $50 usd equivalent so I never pay much in fees anyway.

CFFrost

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/...ecking_account

If I'm reading this correctly, there is no monthly fee, no minimum balance, no FTF, and no fee for any ATM worldwide. They also pay (negligible) interest, which is better than you can say for most other free accounts.

Is there a "catch" that I'm missing? It sounds like it would be worthwhile to open the account even if you just transfer some cash in before each trip. If I like them I might even move some of my other banking to them.

Do you need to have other assets or relationships with Schwab? Also, does anyone know if there is a credit pull when you open an account?

howtofreetravel

My experience it's a bad exchange just use the atm there it's a much better exchange( if you don't get charged a fee)

Duke787

If there's a catch I have yet to encounter it. I've gone the Schwab approach since earlier this year and it has worked as described.

I have no other assets with Schwab, put no money into my Brokerage account, don't use the account for anything but foreign travel. As you note - I only use it to put cash in before a trip.

If I had to name a "catch" it's that the foreign transaction fee reimbursement doesn't happen on the spot but that's not really a gotcha.

They seem to reimburse it at the end of the month and reimburse it in full (they even reimbursed my fee from Bangkok where the fee is hidden by local banks and not announced to you)

alaskantraveler

No catch! I've been using this product just to transfer money into for my international travel for the last year. I spent 3 1/2 months in South America an it worked great! A small thing though. When you do an ach into your charles schwab it goes into the investment account first. Once it is deposited there you transfer it into your checking account.

lin821

This is the question OP is interested in:

How to get leftover foreign $$ back to US currency with no fee?

IIRC, there's one TravelBuzz thread (or 2) that discussed spending leftover foreign changes back in the States.

FWIW, OP is NOT asking ways to get fee-free foreign currencies. We have many other threads on that very topic in TravelBuzz and Credit Card Programs Forum.

Yoshi212

No catch with the Schwab accounts.I use them for checking, savings, IRA and brokerage now because the service was so good just using it for checking.
When I used an actual bank's ATM is Mexico the atm fee wasn't automatically returned but withdrawals from a hotel atm were. Simple quick phone call took care of it with an apology and a thank you for business.

When I have leftover currency I either
-keep it for another trip/currency collection
-use it towards hotel expenses/return to airport (primary means of disposal)
-offer it up to people at the airport. Say I have 100 euro remaining and the rate is 0.75euro for 1 USD. So 100 euro is worth about 134 USD I will offer it up at 120 USD. (not the best rate but gets money back in my pocket without having to go to a bank or other exchange office and helps out a fellow traveler.

aBroadAbroad

Since this query is of general travel interest, the thread has been moved to the TravelBuzz forum where it will probably get a bit more attention.

Thanks everyone!

~Moderator, Information Desk

prncess674

If i have more than about $50 USD and from a country I don't expect to visit is I apply the money to my hotel bill. Sure, I lose a few credit card points but it is totally worth it.