In the UK, most banks' credit or debit cards make a charge for foreign currency transactions. This can be made up of a basic fee plus a percentage of the transaction. Bureaux de change either take a commission or load the exchange rate to make their money.

For many years now there have been a handful of accounts which don't charge any of these (they can change over time), and currently the best are credit cards. Mastercard exchange rate, no loading for purchases or ATM withdrawals and even though they charge interest from the time of withdrawal for cash, any interest is far exceeded by the charges of "regular" cards.

Paying any cash withdrawal off promptly maximises the savings, but even leaving it for a month costs me 1% (my credit card APR is around 12%), which would still beat most other options.

There's some more examples and explanation on this UK based site:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tra...l-credit-cards

Just found out another feature of Schwab that really makes it's value even higher. Used my card again without issue on a recent trip through UK, Greece, and Italy where some currency was needed, especially in Greece. During our trip one of our flights was canceled and we were eligible for EC261 which of course is paid in Euros (since the airline was a European airline).

Was researching where to have it deposited to minimize fees and found out that Schwab will receive a Euro deposit (or any FX deposit) with no fees and then will route it to your Brokerage account using the spot FX rate on the day of deposit.

You can then transfer for free over to your checking account (you can't currently receive FX into the checking account but you can into the Brokerage account which is free with your High Yield Checking Account).

They have banks around the world set-up to receive FX wire transfers (in this case Citibank AG Frankfurt receives the funds).

+1 Schwab is fantastic for international travel ^

One I use for this purpose does - https://www.firsttechfed.com/Credit-Cards/Credit-Cards/Platinum-Rewards

I believe, at least US, MasterCards are all fee-free for cash advances.

I bel

Should I exchange money at the airport?
 

What's the best place to exchange USD to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam currency? Should I exchange it somewhere in my city San Francisco or when I get there?

Bring a debit card with no foreign transaction fee or third-party ATM fees and withdraw from an ATM at your destination. Maybe bring a couple hundred in USD for backup.

Never exchange currency at an airport unless you're desperate.

This...

I always use an ATM at the airport on arrival. Just let you bank know where and when you'll be traveling so you won't have any problems.

To follow up with what I should've set in that first post:

Just get yourself a Charles Schwab debit card. Numerous threads on FT about it. The best way for the vast majority of Americans to access cash while abroad.

This is often repeated on FT and is good advice in general, but starts to fall apart in developing countries.

In Thailand, for example, ATMs charge extortionate fees to foreign cards and have very low limits to force you to pay the fee over and over. Exchange counters in the basement level of BKK (where the train is) offer rates within 1% of mid market which is better than what any international card network gives. You may have a bank that refunds these fees but most people don't.

In Cambodia many ATMs are not connected to debit card networks and will only give cash as a credit card advance, which will come with fees that dwarf any exchange rate spread from an exchange counter. Furthermore, you're going to be using a very small amount of cash ($15/day or less probably), which again makes any fixed fee proportionately very large.

My advice specific to these countries - bring USD and exchange it. You will get a better rate than the Maestro network and with no fixed fees. Just don't exchange a lot at the first place you see in airport arrivals if it doesn't have a good rate.

Worst rates are at airport. I usually change my Aussie dollars to local currency in town not at the airport.

I rarely use an ATM in Asian countries.

Schwab refunds third-party withdrawal fees, even the extortionate fees in Thailand. If you're a frequent traveler there's really no reason not to open an account there.

As do many other banks including First Republic.
I've used ATMs in 40+ countries (including Thailand) and never paid any ATM fee or what I thought was an unfair exchange rate.

+1 on both of these points. It has never failed me (except one time in Tokyo when I didn't realize Visa Japan was a separate network than the rest of the Visa network so the Schwab card didn't process - so I had to find a Lawson's/711 to use insetad).

I can also co-sign the automatic refund of the extortionate fees in Thailand.

Open a Schwab card with confidence - it's a no-brainer if you don't already have no-FX, no-fee ATM access through another avenue.

Neither of these match my Schwab card experience in those countries.
I believe this is very, very, very bad advice.

I have been in Thailand and Cambodia three times in each country. Each time I used my Schwab card 3-4 times.

Yes, Thailand withdrawal fees for overseas card withdrawals in ATMs are about $5-$7 but in every case these fees were refunded by Schwab automatically, without even the need to scan/send receipt or photo from the ATM (which I take every time, in addition to receipts.)

For Cambodia and Vietnam, there are several banks which do not charge ATM withdrawal fees and these I've been using at Seam Seap and Phnom Penh, also with Schwab card. No problem whatsover.

While I still bring some USD as a cash during my travel in SEA and other developing countries, it is no more than couple of hundred $ and never in my last 5 years of travel I needed to exchange it on local currency.

Bringing several thousand of $ and carry it around to exchange it at the destination country is not the smartest idea from a safety perspective and moreover - from financial perspective. Well, unless you decide to travel to Venezuela. But travelling to Venezuela and moreover, with USD cash is even less than a smart idea.

At the end - to each its own.

P.S. Regarding ATM withdrawal fees - for Vietnam use DongA Bank, EXIMBANK and Techcombank - they do not charge withdrawal fees (my information is from 2016), while AgriBank charges less than $1 per withdrawal. For Cambodia, CIMB, ANZ and MayBank do not charge withdrawal fees (information from 1.5 years ago).