Unused currency
 

In your final days in a country you know you are not going to revisit anytime soon do you try to limit the amount of cash you have on you or do you not care about converting large sums of unused cash and incurring the loss? I have seen some pretty hefty margins at airports which could amount to quite a bit being lost to commissions.

Yes. It's easy to do by using ATMs. Towards the end, I withdraw lesser amounts just to cover what's needed. If there's still a lot of money left, I use it to pay for my hotel instead of my credit card and/or taxi to the airport.

You use it before you get to the airport. Pay down the hotel bill, whatever. There's no reason to show up with a large amount of money left to convert.

I think you would of course limit the currency that you have on hand. I personally keep about $15 worth of whatever the currency is (one of each bill and coin and the best bills that I encounter). I recall some people recommending using the last of your cash to pay for your hotel (with a credit card for the difference) as a good way to get rid of cash.

A couple we met on a cruise keep foreign currency to use as tips on cruises. Allegedly, crew will be able to use that currency in the future somewhere or trade with other crew. Not sure about that.

But, yeah, pay down the hotel bill first.

Has anyone tried buying prepaid Visa or MC cards in local currency?

One thing about all countries paper money they are like IOU's and worth less every day...

Ever look at the US Dollar...it takes twice as may to fill the same gas tank as 3 years ago..Be glad when the Gold Standard gets here...

Unused currency
 

If you are not going to come back anytime soon.. Say in the next 10 years then there is really no choice... You may as well pay the high cost but get some real money back. Obviously try not to have too much left over.

I am at Pudong airport and they charge $8 transaction fee plus 15% lower rate which is a surprise to me... everything here at Pudong airport is laughably expensive even by aiport standards, $15 for a pint of Tsing Tao draft... cmon now. Fortunately got rid of all my spare cash at a bank downtown for a decent rate and no fees.

Americans come up with the funniest schemes on how to "save" the economy instead of just paying taxes. You guys would have a much stronger dollar if taxes weren't so artificially low.

I bought my co-worker's leftover British Sterling cash from him because he didn't have time to change it on the way back to the US. You can always see if anyone you know is going to that same country in a few months and sell it to them. I got 32 pounds without having to pay any transaction fee and we used the exchange rate that was given on the day he withdrew the money from an ATM in the UK. Yes, it is well in advance of my trip, but I may be able to use it at Heathrow towards my initial transit purchases; I won't have to wait in line at an ATM at the airport.

Try to spend it down, keep $30 or so for incidentals.

Never leave with coins - no bank or currency exchange will take them when you return home.

I'll buy stuff in the airport like gum and magazines using the coins and pay the balance with a credit card.

I've found that duty free shops at airports will accept coins (even as low as 1 cent). [Since money changers outside of that country will not accept coins--probably the only way of getting rid of loose change.]
PS: (1)On AA they come around collecting for UNICEF, so you can donate coins,--I assume other airlines do the same, (2)In the past (I haven't checked lately) in Switzerland, money changers did accept "foreign" coins

Do you anticipate that the US will ever again back its currency with gold--once we went off the gold standard, "they" could just print more money and inflate the value of the dollar...

I try not to have too much local currency left over, it's usually just coins and a few smaller notes (talking no more than about $10 worth of notes).

I think the largest amount I've ever been left with was around NZ$200, which I just exchanged at the airport. Yes it was not the best exchange rate, and yes I took a hit going from AU-NZ-AU. But I also figured my time has a value attached to it as well, and I rate my time as been more valuable than $8 an hour. Plus it meant I had a few $$$ in cash when I landed in SYD.

I also tend to place remaining coins into the change for good program which all OW airlines have (not just AA).