With our pending departure to Denmark (less than 10 days at the office!), we’re getting to the point of exchanging money.
Since I no longer have a Danish bank account, we’ll have to rely on
exchanging dollars for kroners
.
As I suspected, travel guru
Rick Steves warns that exchange fees have gone skyward
in the last decade. But he also gives lots of practical tips for using cash and credit in Europe. Use your debit card at ATMs to avoid additional credit card fees, and getting out more cash at once is preferred. Rick Steves also recommends calling your bank to find out what fees they charge, apparently
One PacificCoast Bank doesn’t charge a fee if you use an All Point Network ATM…we’ll be looking out for those! He also reminds you to call your credit card/bank to let them know you’ll be traveling so they suspect theft.
We are planning to use almost all cash, partly because it’s easier to budget and gauge how much you are spending. We will exchange $1000 to begin, which will hopefully last us a while…
On TravelPortland I found a coupon for waiving currency exchange fees, bonus!
There are some easy
online currency converters
, but thankfully with close to 5 kroner to a $1, it’s an easy to calculate in your head.
How much cash versus credit do you use on vacation?
Don’t you just love the Danish kroner, writer Karen Blixen makes a lovely 50 kr?!
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Sustainable Family Finances
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That is good to know that using credit cards costs more in fees than using an ATM. However, I usually also consider safety. If I take lots of cash with me, I will save on foreign transaction fees but I could lose the cash or be mugged. It is probably a small chance for it to happen but my point is that the foreign transaction fees, while high, give me a peace of mind.
Safety is definitely a key factor, thankfully crime in Denmark is lower than almost any place. If we were going to Rome or Paris, I would certainly choose to pay mostly by cards.