There are neobanks for people who travel a lot. Both Revolut and Wise should let you either convert ahead of time or just convert as you withdraw (Revolut has a notice saying please don’t let the ATM do its own conversion as the ATMs are going to be higher fees). Currencies here. They apparently have a 2% withdrawal fee with a 1 EUR minimum. Revolut’s fee-free maximum depends on your plan. Metal gets you a metal card and 800 EUR per month fee free, Ultra or whatever gets you a platinum plated card and 2000 EUR per month fee free, but it’s also ridiculously expensive compared to their free, plus and premium plans. Metal itself is already a bit expensive, but it’s still way less than Ultra.
Wise has both a monthly allowance for proportional fee free withdrawals and a monthly limit of 2 completely feeless withdrawals. You get hit by fees once you hit either limit Basically: From the 3rd withdrawal of the month I pay 0.50 EUR for every withdrawal, and for any withdrawals above 200 EUR per month I pay 1.75%. If I make card payments or withdrawals in e.g the US, there’s a 0.47% conversion fee from EUR. In South Korea it’s 0.71%.
In both cases, the fees are predictable and low, just gotta familiarize yourself with the beforehand. There are other similar options out there as well, but these are the ones I use (Wise is great for giving you both a USD and EUR native account so you can receive USD and convert it to EUR instantly. Other currencies as well, but these are the ones that matter for me).
shneancy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
it does yes, but currency exchange places near airports/train stations are notorious for pretty much stealing from you. Seriously, never buy a different currency near any place considered vaguely international, it can get as bad as getting half of what you’d get in a reasonable place, nowhere near as bad as withdrawing from an ATM in a foreign country
Bob_Robertson_IX@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
I’ve found that going into a casino is a great way to exchange money when going to Canada.
bdonvr@thelemmy.club 3 weeks ago
Yep. ATM or call your bank before you leave they can often give you foreign currency with advanced notice