How to Get Foreign Currency for Your Trip Abroad

How to Get Cash Before Your International Trip

There are two ways to get foreign currency for an upcoming trip:

1. Order it through your bank at home before you leave, or
2. Use an ATM at a reputable bank when you first arrive in your destination.

Which option you choose depends on how much time you have before your trip and how comfortable you feel getting around in a foreign country.

I’ve done both, and both have worked out just fine. I’ve also made mistakes in my adventures abroad, but lucky for you, I’m sharing how you can avoid them.

While I prefer to use credit cards rather than cash, abroad or at home, I still believe everyone should have some emergency cash on them, just in case.

We can debate using credit cards vs cash abroad elsewhere, but that’s not the point of this discussion. Here, we’ve accepted that we need to get foreign currency and are evaluating our options.

Let’s start with the recommended options, and then we’ll discuss why you should stay away from currency exchangers if possible.

Option #1: Ordering Currency Through Your Bank

If you need less stress, order foreign currency through your bank a month before you leave for your trip. Every bank has their own cutoff dates, but a month prior is usually enough time.

The bank will ship the foreign currency to your local branch for you to pick up, and it shows up in your account as a charge as if you’d just bought something at the store.

Good to Know: This service is standard practice at big, national banks. It might not be at your local credit union. Check with your bank to confirm if this is an option for you.

The downside to ordering through your bank at home is they usually have a minimum order requirement, which may be more cash than you wanted to get.

That will only be a problem if you don’t spend all the cash while you’re on your trip. Always spend it before you come home!

That doesn’t mean buy useless things. It means use the cash on things you were going to buy anyway, like food or lodging.

Banks also have a minimum amount required for them to buy back foreign currency when you get home, and it’s not a low number. There’s a good chance they won’t take your $100 back. It’s not profitable for them to do so.

Even if they do accept it, you almost never come out on top in that scenario. You’re losing money to the bank in the form of a conversion fee, convenience fee, or something else.

Spend your foreign currency abroad.

Option 1 Pros:

• Easy access with tellers that speak your language
• Minimal, if any, additional fees; just the exchange rate
• Have cash before you leave so you’re ready immediately when you arrive
• No need to bring your debit card abroad

Option 1 Cons:

• Must order several weeks before your trip
• Minimum amount required to order may be more than you wanted to get

Option #2: Using an ATM in a Foreign Country

This intimidates many a first-time traveler, but the process is exactly the same as it is at home.

Go to a reputable bank, choose your language on the ATM, put in your debit card, choose your amount, and receive the cash in the local currency. You don’t have to be an account holder at that bank to use their ATM.

I always recommend you find an ATM that is inside a bank, not a standalone ATM in a shopping center or elsewhere. It’s much less likely the ATM inside a bank has been tampered with by scammers. You wouldn’t use a standalone ATM at home, either, because of the additional fees.

If you don’t know any banks in your destination, look it up. Google banks near you, choose one that has lots of locations in the area, and then double check their website.

You’ll likely have to pay fees, like a foreign transaction fee, an out-of-network ATM fee, etc., but the goal is to pay those fees just once. Take out enough cash to cover the duration of your trip.

Then, go hide your debit card in a safe place at your lodging, preferably a safe you can lock. You won’t use your debit card for anything else while abroad so don’t keep it in your wallet.

Minimize the risk of losing it by keeping it in a safe. Put one shoe in the safe with the card, so you don’t forget it before you leave.

Worried about what happens if your card gets stolen abroad? I discuss that in this post.

Don’t use your debit card for anything besides the ATM. Most debit cards have foreign transaction fees. You’ll get charged every time you swipe it, and those add up over several days.

Option 2 Pros:

• Ability to get more cash while abroad if you run out
• Better rate than currency exchanges

Option 2 Cons:

• Have to bring your debit card abroad
• Paying additional fees, even if just once
• Don’t have cash on hand immediately when you arrive

Good to Know: Don’t use your credit card in an ATM. That is called a cash advance and is subject to your card providers cash advance interest rate immediately. Save yourself the 20+% interest rate, and don’t use a credit card to get cash.

What About Currency Exchanges or ATMs at the Airport?

I don’t recommend using currency exchange desks or public ATMs at airports or train stations if you have other options. Why?

Public ATMs are easy targets for scammers to attach card readers and steal your card information. They also all have ridiculously high convenience or transaction fees.

I used one in Hawaii once, and the fee was like $20 per transaction. Don’t check your balance first. That counts. It was a frustrating experience, and it wasn’t even technically outside of my home country.

Currency exchange desks all have a similar fee they add on top of their lackluster exchange rates.

No matter what the service is (food, rental cars, sim cards, currency), it will always cost more at the airport because they’re paying the airport a hefty fee for the privilege of operating on its campus. Businesses compensate for that by passing the fees on to you, their customers.

Now, I said I don’t recommend these if you have other options. Sometimes, you don’t have other options. For example, if you’re not heading into a big city first, you may not have an opportunity to stop at a reputable bank and get cash before you’ll need it.

In that case, I would have ordered currency from my bank at home before I left, but maybe it was a last-minute trip and you couldn’t do that. No worries.

You can use the currency exchange kiosks. They’re legitimate businesses. Just know that you’re not getting a great rate and will be hit with high fees, so get only what you need.

5 Quick Tips for Getting Cash Abroad

1. Don’t use a credit card to get cash out of an ATM. That’s called a cash advance and is subject to high fees and interest rates that start accruing immediately. Use a debit card only in ATMs.
2. Most debit cards have foreign transaction fees and out-of-network ATM fees, but there are a few that don’t! Check your card’s policies before you leave so you know what fees to expect.
3. Bring a backup card, just in case. Sometimes ATMs will keep your card. If you’re at a bank, like I recommend, try talking to a teller to get it back. Most likely, though, you won’t get that card back. Cancel it, and use your backup for future purchases. If you still need the cash, you could use the credit card cash advance and immediately pay it back that night.
4. Avoid using one-off public ATMs in airports or shopping centers. They’re easy for scammers to tamper with and often have their own outrageous convenience fees anyway.
5. Split up your cash. Don’t keep it all on one person or in one place, like your wallet. Leave some in a safe place at your lodging, some in your wallet for ease of access, and some in a money belt hidden under your clothes.  

Use basic common sense when handling money, just like you would at home, and you’ll be fine!

Happy travels!

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