That’s very strange, I’m sure, I have the right PIN. Maybe the machine doesn’t like me? It’s just stupid that there’s no other ATM here and I need $7 for the train ticket to the city centre. Now how the hell do I get that $7?

I didn’t have much time until the train came, which I had to take to reach my booked bus. Luckily, as on every trip, I still had Euros with me. So I walked back to a change counter and quickly changed 25€ into dollars. Of course I now had to pay the exchange fee at the counter, which I actually wanted to avoid. At least I now had enough dollars to buy my train ticket.

But now I had another problem, because I needed money for my whole stay. I could already pay with the credit card in shops, because I had to sign for it on the receipt, but I could not withdraw any money or buy anything at the machine, like a train ticket, because I would have needed then again the PIN.

When I arrived in Baltimore I told my friend Linda about my situation. I definitely needed cash, because we wanted to go to a convention in Atlanta, the Dragon*Con together and you definitely needed (a lot of) cash to pay for the autographs and photo sessions of the actors you like. And my list was quite long!

My girlfriend was my salvation, because she withdrew cash from her account for me, about 3 times in the whole time and I just transferred the money back to her via PayPal. I was so glad it worked out. My girlfriend really saved me with it. Being so completely without money is really an unpleasant situation. But you learn from mistakes.

Since then I change a certain amount of Euro into the appropriate currency before every trip. But in the meantime I found the correct PIN of my credit card. The other one was the PIN of a previous credit card.

Changing money before the trip is now an important point for me on my checklist before every holiday. If I had had the right PIN right away, of course everything would not have been a problem. Nevertheless I recommend you not to make the same mistake as me and to change money before every trip. Had I not had my girlfriend, my holiday would probably have been totally ruined. So the whole thing still had a good ending. 🙂

Where to change money

Holiday planning is in full swing and the question “Where to change money?” arises automatically when it comes to travel funds.

In many countries of the world, cash is still the first choice means of payment, even if the credit card is already enjoying a high level of acceptance in many shops, upscale restaurants and hotels as well as in tourist facilities. At rental car stations abroad, payment can often only be made by credit card.

Customs regulations for the import and export of money

The traveller should first find out whether and to what extent the import and export of foreign and local currency is possible in the destination country. In some countries the import of the local currency is prohibited, so money cannot be exchanged in the home country. In these cases there is no need to ask where to exchange money. You should also pay attention to the currency limits, which are usually stated in US dollars. Check out valuuttamuunnin.eu to know more about exchanging foreign currency in the airport.

The exchange rate for currency exchange

Where to exchange money. In general, the holidaymaker receives the more favourable exchange rate on the spot in the destination country. It is therefore rarely worth exchanging euros for the local currency before travelling. On the Internet, you can also find information about money exchange on the country websites of the tourism associations. It is generally advisable to take a manageable and rather small amount of cash with you, which will then be exchanged in the destination country. In countries that are heavily visited by European tourists, payment in euros is also possible in some places, in addition to the local currency. But the tourist still beats real bargains in the local currency. The exchange of money should only take place in authorized exchange offices, in many countries the exchange of foreign exchange on the street is illegal, also the fraud rate is high. At the airport, in banks and hotels money can also be exchanged, traveller’s cheques are useful as a supplement to cash, they should be issued in euros or US dollars, then they are usually accepted at all money exchange offices for cashing. For the exchange of money fees can result, very favorable to free of charge show up here the exchange offices. A comparison of the exchange rates of the individual exchange offices on site brings exchange rate advantages.