I’m sure that you have read and memorized the tips in my post about how to get the most foreign currency for your dollar when you travel. In case you need a refresher, here it is. So here you are, walking around a foreign country with a fistful of Euro, Yen, Dinars, or Dong, enjoying your trip. But as your trip comes to an end, what do you do?
If you’re lucky, you will spend your last Ruble at the airport on your way out. I’ve managed to pull that off twice, once in Argentina and once in Thailand, and it’s a good feeling. It kind of feels like you beat the system. But more often than not, you’ll have a few Lira left over to get rid of. The currency exchange booth at the airport is one of the worst places to get your money changed, so that should be your last resort. Only slightly better than that is changing it at your local bank when you get home. Fortunately, I just learned a great little trick for you coffee drinkers that will not only maximize your exchange rate but will also feed your addiction.
Many major cities outside of the US now have Starbucks, and sometimes you can find a Starbucks at your departure airport. Since you’re supposed to be at the airport several hours before your flight, you probably have time to kill, so go ahead and head towards the Starbucks. All you have to do is put your leftover Rupees onto a Starbucks gift card. They’ll take bills and coins, with no currency exchange fees, and you can use the gift card when you get home. If you don’t like coffee, they have tea and cookies, or you can give the gift card to your favorite coffee-holic for Christmas. Of course, this should work with any chain that you have at home, as long as they offer gift cards. Starbucks just seems to be the most common option.
Congrats, you just left a country with no foreign currency in your pockets, and you got nearly the full value of that currency in a form that you can use.
** Disclaimer: I haven’t tried this yet, since I just learned about it. I’ll try to give it a shot when I can and I’ll post an update with the results.
