A Tip for Currency Exchange

[Tsar]

Here's a tip when exchanging currency.

Always lookup the current banknote series im the currency that you're receiving. Reject the ones that aren't recent and request newer ones.

I am not stuck with $450 Canadian Dollars until I go back to Canada.

The exchange that I got the notes is ran by Jews. Most likely Israeli Jews. They're tan, speak with a Middle Eastern accent which is typical of Israelis, and have the appearance of Israelis. They also have the rude attitude of Israelis.

It's apparent, considering that they're Jews, that they either intentionally gave me old Canadian banknotes knowing that they were not valid and had to be exchanged at a bank in Canada, or they intentionally gave me counterfeits, so they could steal my money. I don't know which it is so I will eventually find out the next time that I am in Canada.

Another tip is to not do business with Jews. Jews, especially those Israelis, cannot ever be trusted!

Every other exchange that I went to before my stay in Canada, only gave me the newer polymer Canadian banknotes, not the old paper banknotes.

[publicduende]

Here's a tip when exchanging currency.

Always lookup the current banknote series im the currency that you're receiving. Reject the ones that aren't recent and request newer ones.

I am not stuck with $450 Canadian Dollars until I go back to Canada.

The exchange that I got the notes is ran by Jews. Most likely Israeli Jews. They're tan, speak with a Middle Eastern accent which is typical of Israelis, and have the appearance of Israelis. They also have the rude attitude of Israelis.

It's apparent, considering that they're Jews, that they either intentionally gave me old Canadian banknotes knowing that they were not valid and had to be exchanged at a bank in Canada, or they intentionally gave me counterfeits, so they could steal my money. I don't know which it is so I will eventually find out the next time that I am in Canada.

Another tip is to not do business with Jews. Jews, especially those Israelis, cannot ever be trusted!

Every other exchange that I went to before my stay in Canada, only gave me the newer polymer Canadian banknotes, not the old paper banknotes.

Why did you ask for Canadian dollars? Are you going to Canada?

[Tsar]

Here's a tip when exchanging currency.

Always lookup the current banknote series im the currency that you're receiving. Reject the ones that aren't recent and request newer ones.

I am not stuck with $450 Canadian Dollars until I go back to Canada.

The exchange that I got the notes is ran by Jews. Most likely Israeli Jews. They're tan, speak with a Middle Eastern accent which is typical of Israelis, and have the appearance of Israelis. They also have the rude attitude of Israelis.

It's apparent, considering that they're Jews, that they either intentionally gave me old Canadian banknotes knowing that they were not valid and had to be exchanged at a bank in Canada, or they intentionally gave me counterfeits, so they could steal my money. I don't know which it is so I will eventually find out the next time that I am in Canada.

Another tip is to not do business with Jews. Jews, especially those Israelis, cannot ever be trusted!

Every other exchange that I went to before my stay in Canada, only gave me the newer polymer Canadian banknotes, not the old paper banknotes.

Why did you ask for Canadian dollars? Are you going to Canada?

I was already in Canada earlier in the year but I didn't spend most of the cash.

[Tsar]

I just learned about the banknote exchange issue today after I couldn't exchange the old banknotes back to European currency.

[publicduende]

I just learned about the banknote exchange issue today after I couldn't exchange the old banknotes back to European currency.

I see. I am not the ultimate traveller but nowadays bank currency rates are better than most "cash deals" you can find at currency exchanges. I no longer use currency exchange shop at the airport or at a mall, I just use my debit card.

[Tsar]

I just learned about the banknote exchange issue today after I couldn't exchange the old banknotes back to European currency.

I see. I am not the ultimate traveller but nowadays bank currency rates are better than most "cash deals" you can find at currency exchanges. I no longer use currency exchange shop at the airport or at a mall, I just use my debit card.

I use local currency exchanges in Europe with the best rates. Eastern Europe had a lot of good rates at currency exchanges in the city. I never use exchanges at airports anymore. I try to exchange currency before I go somewhere just in case the chip in my bank card stops working. I also don't like to use my debit card much because I don't want to risk losing it then not being able to easily get a replacement without going back to the United States for a debit card. I can't easily do anything financial abroad because of FATCA which is essentially a US Sanctions on US Persons and Expats. I also don't feel like setting up a bank account yet unless I actually need a local bank in Europe because once again, even if I can find a bank to accept me as a client, then, I will always have my account reported to the US and I consider that an invasion of privacy.

[Natural_Born_Cynic]

@Tsar

Tsar, which country are you located now?

[Tsar]

@Tsar

Tsar, which country are you located now?

You sound like @Voyager1 by asking that question.

That's a secret that I don't share publicly. I am too cautious and I won't allow certain people on the forum to attempt to blackmail me which is why I really delay writing trip reports for awhile after the fact but I will probably write some trip reports soon.

[Natural_Born_Cynic]

@Tsar

Tsar, which country are you located now?

You sound like @Voyager1 by asking that question.

That's a secret that I don't share publicly. I am too cautious and I won't allow certain people on the forum to attempt to blackmail me which is why I really delay writing trip reports for awhile after the fact but I will probably write some trip reports soon.

All right I am sorry, I was just curious.

[MrMan]

I don't remember getting stuck with old series bills that I got from a moneychanger overseas, but I do remember not being able to exchange bills. It is possible I got some of them from moneychangers, but I seem to recall having problem changing certain bills I had brought from the US. In Indonesia, banks won't change US bills that are worn, have wrinkles, or even a neat fold down the middle. You can exchange those at a discount at a money changer. They want a discount for a wrinkle or a fold on a $100 or lesser bill. I didn't know that the first time I went there, so I always try to find some fresh money from the bank. Sometimes they can order or they just have some new-looking bills. It's a hassle.

They call worn, wrinkled, or folded money 'uang gelek'-- ugly money.

Even the US embassy wouldn't take wrinkled money and at one point insisted on rupiah payments for services because they used Citibank, which wouldn't take 'ugly money.' I pointed out that the bills say they are legal tender for all debts, public and private, and the embassy is US territory.

United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.

31 U.S.C. § 5103

It looks like they would be legally required to take my 'uang gelek' which I had intentionally set aside to pay the embassy with.

Someone has to be making a living taking wrinkled bills to the US or some other country and exchanging them for clean bills at the same price. They might be able to just take them to Singapore.

It is good to have some bills before you go to a new country so you don't get ripped off at the airport. But where are you going to get them in the US? Maybe if you live in NYC, you can get them, but if you live in a smaller town, where do you buy the bills? The airport? At their prices.

In my experience, which is mainly with east and southeast Asia, the better rates are overseas, not in the US.

In China, when I got there, I had no yuan. I was going to buy it at the airport, but there was a $9 fee to change money before the exchange rate kicked in, and a line. A Pakistani guy I was chatting with said he'd buy me breakfast.

One strategy for money changing is to find an expat who wants to make an exchange. I found another white guy, who was English. He didn't have to pay income taxes in the UK since a worked abroad. He lived in Hong Kong, but he worked in China. He didn't have to pay income taxes in China because he lived in Hong Kong, and he didn't have to pay income taxes in Hong Kong because he worked in China. Anyway, I asked him if he wanted to change some dollars, and I think we both got a better rate than we would have through the money changers. I don't know if I could have gotten arrested for such a thing or not. Two foreigners talking to each other in an international airport hopefully would not raise too much suspicion.

I think I have bought a few things with a credit card over the years overseas since I first started traveling abroad as a young adult in the mid-1990's. As I recall, the exchange rate was okay and fees weren't bad. It was just a hassle to remember to pay off the card. I remember I had Uber set to take cash in Indonesia. Then I went to California for a trip (my office paid for...Yay!), and Uber required a credit card. Then I couldn't get that credit card out of Uber for a while and it kept putting local drives on American Express, which I hated, until I either deleted and restarted the account or just figured it out. But I think I would have needed the card had I used it at the airport in Australia when I went there next (My employer paid for the trip again. Yay!)

I got a local credit card in Indonesia and used that, and had it set up to pay off out of my bank account every month. Their largest rupiah bill is worth less than $7, so a lot of purchases are made with a debit card. My wife and I set up accounts just to make debit card payments out of. They only allowed one card for one account, so she had a spending account and I had one. We had an account to put my salary in that we would feed the accounts we used for purchases out of. I didn't like using a debit card on an account that had a decent amount of money on it.

What are charges like if you go around making purchases on your home country debit or credit cards in a foreign land?

What are your experiences with paying for goods overseas with credit or debit cards?

[milevaa]

It's just better to pay by card. When I travel abroad I don't even take cash with me. I've read Flutterwave reviews here https://flutterwave.pissedconsumer.com/review.html and I got their card because it provides good terms of using it.