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When you travel overseas, where is the best place (ie bank, currency exchange, etc) to get the best currency exchange rate for your money?
For example, if I go to Hong Kong and I want to exchange my US dollars to Hong Kong dollars, the "official" exchange rate is 1USD=7.7HKD. However, most currency exchanges such as Travelex will never give you the actual rate or anything close to it. Travelex only gives its customers 7.02USD for every Hong Kong dollar.
Where can I go or what can I do to get the maximum exchange rate for my money?
The exchange rate quoted is always the mid-market rate. So, in your example, with midmarket of 1USD=7.7HKD and you bought hong kong dollars it will 1USD=7.02HKD but when you sell it will be 1 USD=8.38HKD. This spread is how the banks and companies make a profit.
From my experience, the best exchange rates are through credit cards with no transaction fees. Capital One for example is one that is great for travel and purchasing items. If you want cold hard cash, you would have to open an account like Fidelity's smartcash account. Once it is opened, you will get a debit card that you can use in atms worldwide without any fees. The exchange rates are far superior than any you can get through banks, travelex, or forex due to the massive purchasing power of the credit card companies. If you travel overseas a lot, it is definitely worth the hassle.
I get Cash at ATM's (my bank charges $5/400usd) exchage fee, But get 'bank' rate minus about 1%.
Cash at ATMs and I use my Amex card as much as possible. Also, I almost never change back foreign currency. I usually keep it for the next trip.
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