Hi All,
Thanks so much for answers to other questions; I've got one about currency.
1. In Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, etc would the dollar or Euro be preferable / preferred?
2. Generally, to get cash from an ATM, what is the usual "fee" imposed by local banks (aside from my home bank)?
Thanks!!!
1) You will want to use the local currency. The U.S. Dollar and the Euro is easily exchangeable in the entire region. So it depends on what your home currency is. The best option, though, is to use an ATM/debit card to withdraw money as you go. You will usually get the best exchange rate, which makes up for the fees your bank might impose. (Call your bank for more information.) I usually take two backups: A stash of $100-$200 U.S. (Euros would be fine, too) that could get be out of a bind in case of a problem with my ATM card. Also, a credit card, for the same reason.
2) Most ATMs have no local fees, so you need to only worry about your own home bank's fees.
I can't answer which is best for Euro/dollar. I've been in Romania, Poland and Ukraine, where dollars were fine. Can't remember the fees for the ATM's either, but can say that in Eastern Europe we've had instances of ATM's eating the card, or not accepting it. Our solution is to take cards from up to 4 accounts, so if one is not useable, we have backups.
Another question :)
Okay, when going from, say, Serbia (where I'll only be for a few days) into Albania, should I simply convert Serbian Dinars for Albanian Lek or withdraw more money? I guess I'm asking whether I should load up on Dinar for both countries (some to convert to Lek) or just use dollars/euros/ATM card in each country.
Thanks!
Every time you exchange money, you lose a little bit of money. Sometimes a lot. So it pays to exchange money as infrequently as possible.
When you are in Serbia, it's best to estimate your cash needs and only withdraw from the ATM what you need. Then when you are ready to cross over the border into Albania, you (hopefully) have no Serbian dinars to exchange, or very few.
Thanks again. MTL, thanks for the link. I read the short version :)
ATMs is the way to go.
Cheers
