Most of the cost of spending abroad is not the exchange rate. It is a handful of decisions made at a terminal in a hurry, usually by someone tired at an airport.
Always pay in the local currency
When a terminal offers to charge you in pounds, that is dynamic currency conversion. It sounds helpful and is almost always worse — the merchant’s payment provider sets that rate, and it includes a margin you cannot see. Choosing the local currency lets the card network convert instead, at a rate published daily.
Cash costs more than card, nearly everywhere
- Independent ATMs, particularly in tourist areas, add their own charge on top of anything your bank levies.
- That charge is disclosed on screen. Read it — you can cancel at that point without being charged.
- Withdrawing one larger amount beats several small ones when a flat fee applies.
Before you travel
- Check your card’s international payment setting is on, and turn it off again when you get home.
- Set a sensible per-transaction limit for the trip.
- Make sure you can receive our messages abroad — a passkey works with no signal at all.
- Hold the currency in advance if the trip is planned, so the rate is fixed on a day you chose.
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