Travel money
How to think about carrying money abroad — and where to ask when the detail matters.
The question is rarely where to change money
Most travel-money decisions are made badly because they are made late, at an airport counter, under time pressure. The useful thinking happens earlier and is mostly not about rates at all: how much cash a destination actually needs, whether cards are accepted where you are going, what your own bank charges you abroad, and what you would do if a card stopped working. We help travellers work that through, and arrange currency through partners where it is wanted.
Currency is a planning question before it is a counter question
Our currency guide covers how money works on the road in general terms, and the budget guide covers what a trip actually costs once flights are paid for. Both are worth reading before you decide how much to carry.
Four things travellers get wrong about money abroad
None of these is about the exchange rate, and all of them cost more than the rate ever will.
Carrying too much cash
Cash feels safer than it is. In much of the world a card is accepted more widely than a foreign note, and a large amount of unfamiliar currency is a thing to keep track of for the whole trip.
Your own bank’s charges
What a card costs abroad is set by your bank, not by the country you are in — foreign-transaction fees and withdrawal charges vary widely. It is worth knowing your own terms before you leave.
Being offered your home currency
When a card machine abroad offers to charge you in your own currency, the conversion is being done by that terminal rather than by your bank. Choosing the local currency is usually the better of the two.
Having only one way to pay
Cards get blocked, machines refuse, wallets go missing. A second method kept somewhere else is the difference between an inconvenience and a problem.
Guidance first, arrangement second
- You tell us where you are goingDestinations, rough dates and how you normally prefer to pay.
- We talk it throughWhat that destination actually needs in cash, and what is better left on a card.
- Currency is arranged through partners if you want itForeign exchange is provided by partners rather than by us. Anything you are quoted comes from them, and you see it before you commit.
We are a travel company, not a money-services business. Currency itself is provided by partners; what we offer is the planning around it and the introduction.
Rates and charges
We do not publish exchange rates. A rate quoted on a web page is out of date by the time it is read, and it would not be ours to quote in any case — currency is provided by partners. Ask when you are close to travelling and you will get something current rather than something decorative.
Travel money questions
Do you exchange currency yourselves?
No. Foreign exchange is provided by partners; we are a travel company. What we offer is the planning around it and the introduction when you want one.
Why is there no exchange rate on this page?
Because it would be wrong almost immediately, and it is not ours to publish. Rates come from the provider at the time you ask.
How much cash should I take?
It depends entirely on the destination — some places run on cards and some still run on cash. That is exactly the conversation worth having before you travel.
Is a travel card better than cash?
Usually a combination is, and the balance shifts by destination. The currency guide covers the general principles; ask us about a specific trip.
Ask us about travel money
Tell us where you are heading and how you prefer to pay, and we will talk through what that destination actually needs.
Enquire now →