Foreign exchange is crucial for tourists to make purchases and transactions in foreign countries, attracting international customers and helping businesses in the travel industry attract them. Tourism trips are defined as trips taken by visitors, including domestic, inbound, or outbound visitors. Accommodation providers, such as hotels, resorts, vacation rentals, and other businesses, play a significant role in the tourism industry.
The exchange rate of the destination country’s currency in relation to the country of origin is a key factor in the development of tourism at different destinations. Distribution channels play a crucial role in the tourism industry, with marketing intermediaries providing benefits. Business tourism comprises meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions.
Tour operator terminology is essential for running a tour business and interacting with end clients. A travel agency serves two types of clients: business travelers and leisure travelers. Sharing companies may bring tourists to less popular destinations, as seen in a 2016 study by the Observatoire.
Travel agencies act as agents, selling travel products and services on behalf of suppliers, also known as Travel Advisors. They issue tour vouchers, documents issued by tour operators to be exchanged for tour components, or coupons. The buying rate is the rate used when banks purchase currency from an individual.
In summary, foreign exchange is essential for tourists to make purchases and transactions in foreign countries, helping businesses attract international customers and promoting the tourism industry. Understanding the various terms and terminologies associated with tour operators can help ensure effective communication and collaboration between businesses and tourists.
📹 Worst Rated Exchange Office And How They Trick Tourists
0:00 Welcome to Florence, Italy 1:29 Best and Fast Change 3:45 Save Money – Post Office! 5:06 The worst and slow change 8:24 …
What is trip trading?
Trip trade refers to a single transaction where a Flight Attendant trades their trip or day off with another in Open Time, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. Trade refers to any purchase or sale of a Swap made on the SEF Platform or subject to BSEF Rules. Licensed marks include Localized Game Marks and other trademarks authorized by Shengqu. Supply Business refers to the licensed business of the Licensee and any affiliate or related undertaking, but excludes the Board’s public electricity supplier business.
What is the meaning of tourist trade?
The term “tourist trade” is a British English term that is used to describe the tourism industry.
What is tourism exchange?
The Tourism Exchange is a B2B digital marketplace that enables real-time inventory exchange between suppliers and distributors for worldwide distribution of various tourism products. It is used by over 100 Destination Management Organizations in Australia, Great Britain, and Japan to develop and showcase new products, distribute destination content, and compile privacy-compliant first-party data. The Exchange is built on an existing platform linked to hundreds of major domestic and international Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and reservation/ticketing systems, and is already used by Priceline, Expedia, Google, and Tripadvisor to source new products.
Key benefits of the Exchange include multiple NO-COST technology options for suppliers and distributors, allowing them to choose when and who to connect with and only pay for completed bookings. The platform also allows DMOs to promote bookable products alongside inspirational content and have end-to-end visibility of campaign performance. The Exchange captures legally compliant first-party data for every transaction, providing accurate and real-time reporting for all stakeholders.
It facilitates marketing partnerships with the Travel Trade by creating standardized measurement procedures and a broader representation of products. The Exchange accelerates the development and global distribution of U. S. tourism products, increasing the volume, reach, and diversity of suppliers.
What is tourism collaboration?
Collaborative tourism is a concept that involves exchanging skills for accommodation and other benefits, such as working abroad, volunteering in social impact programs, or helping eco projects. In return, participants receive free accommodation, meals, laundry, bicycles, yoga classes, and other benefits. Collaborative relationships work by allowing people to exchange goods or services without involving money, often while helping others. These relationships are team-based, based on empathy and contribute to the development of others and our overall evolution.
What is travel partnership?
Travel brand partnerships are strategic partnerships that aim to expand a travel business’s reach and marketing efforts. These partnerships focus on helping the business reach and acquire more customers, rather than enhancing the product offering. Examples include partnering with hotels to offer tour services, partnering with tourism bureaus to increase exposure, working with travel influencers to spread brand awareness, and partnering with other relevant travel brands to promote the business.
What are the two types of travel distribution?
The principal categories of distribution channels in the travel and tourism sector encompass both direct and indirect sales avenues. Direct sales are conducted through the intermediary of travel agencies or online platforms, whereas indirect sales are facilitated through the formation of strategic alliances with third-party entities. These channels function as intermediaries through which tour operators, attractions, and travel companies can offer their products to customers.
What is travel trade in tourism?
Travel Trade refers to the industry of tour operators, travel agents, receptive operators, and wholesalers who organize and contract to buy travel products to sell to groups or individuals. They provide packaged tours, manage products and services for incoming visitors, and often book through international tour operators. Receptive operators play a crucial role in the packaged travel industry, helping tour operators plan routes in unfamiliar markets. They usually receive discounts from accommodations, transportation companies, and attractions, which they pass on to the tour operator.
What is exchange visits?
Exchange visits provide young people with distinctive opportunities to engage with diverse cultures, cultivate new relationships, and expand their understanding of the world. The opportunity to reside with a host family provides an invaluable chance for language learners to apply their skills in a genuine, authentic setting.
What is tourism distribution?
Tourism distribution refers to the process of distributing tourism products, tours, activities, and services to customers through direct or indirect channels. Direct channels involve businesses controlling the mediums, while indirect channels involve intermediaries like travel brokers. These channels are crucial for ensuring the right audiences are seen for your travel products. Aligning with existing distribution channels connects you with industry stakeholders and allows you to optimize your marketing budget.
Partnering with various distribution channels allows you to test different systems and grow your tour and activity business. There are various types of distribution channels, including direct and indirect, and combining them can increase exposure and uptake of your offerings.
What is tourism cooperation?
It is of paramount importance that the public and private sectors engage in collaborative efforts to consolidate and enhance the value of tourism destinations. This entails the sharing of resources, knowledge, and strategies, as well as the promotion of tourism development and efficiency in service and product management. The Serra da Estrela Natural Park in Portugal provides an illustrative case study of this collaborative approach.
What are the two types of trip distribution?
Trip distribution is the second stage of travel demand modeling, involving trip generation and distribution of trips based on destination choice. There are two methods for distributing trips among destinations: growth factor model and gravity model. Growth factor models respond to relative growth rates at origins and destinations, suitable for short-term trend extrapolation. In contrast, gravity models start from assumptions about trip making behavior and its influence by external factors.
A trip matrix or origin-destination (O-D) matrix is a two-dimensional array of cells representing each zone in the study area. The trip matrix is a two-dimensional array of cells, with rows and columns representing each zone. The advantages and limitations of growth factor models and gravity models are discussed in detail.
The trip matrix is a two-dimensional array of cells that represents each zone in the study area. It is essential for accurately representing the base year travel pattern in the model.
📹 PRAGUE’S WORST TOURIST TRAP!!! (Honest Guide)
↓ ↓ PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION ↓ ↓ For decades, this place has been offering the worst exchange rate in Prague, just …
We were in Florence in October and November of 2021. This location negotiated a rate of 1.20 with us but then tried to exchange $1000 for 650. When we saw the rate on the receipt we didn’t touch the money. We refused to sign the receipt and said we would not conclude the transaction. The woman said that we had no choice and could call the police if we wanted because “they won’t do anything.” So we did. We called the police and it was beautiful. The officers showed up and yelled at the cashier. It turns out the business was committing a crime and the police called a judge who ordered our money to be returned. This place needs to be closed and hopefully our efforts helped close their doors.
When I was in Milan, I decided to draw money from a Posteitaliane ATM and when my SMS notification from the bank came, I couldn’t believe it, but they didn’t charge me a fee, not even 50 cents. So as it appears, whatever you need to do with your money when you’re in Italy, it’s best to go to Posteitaliane. Props to them
We spent our Honeymoon in Florence. We were offered a terrible rate at one of those offices. I politely bargained and the lady declined a better rate. I walked away, she hollered for me to come back, and she gave me almost the real going rate. I slipped my money into the window… then immediately got scared that she might not actually give me the amount agreed upon. Fortunately she did, but I would encourage all readers NOT to do business with a cash exchange you had to argue with in the first place.
Thank you for great work. I visited Prague at the end of last year. Before that a friend warned: “don’t change money in Czech Republic – they’re scammers”. See how such businesses can affect tourism so badly that some travellers can even feel unsafe and go somewhere else? But… someone allows them to operate. Everything was nice in Prague and now a traveller’s news site shared your article and that explains the warning.
Me, an Italian: Somehow I am not surprised. PS: Just as a heads up… As said in the article, when you come to Italy use your card. It is mandatory by law now for owners to let customers pay with card if they can’t via cash, so if someone is throwing hissyfits or exuses, call the police. As a rule of thumb, ask if you can pay with your card before purchasing anything or sitting in a restaurant and if you can’t, then walk straight outta there if you wanna avoid quarrels. They don’t deserve your time and money. It s*cks, I know. Anyhow, I hope your holidays in Italy will be great!
This company has made an unfortunate decision. If they’d do nothing, they would be just one of the many bad exchange offices in Prague. (Thanks to the Honest Guide, most of them are shut now.) By filing a lawsuit, they made Honza and Janek cross, so that they came to Florence, to make this company famous. EDIT – By threatening them, that they will file a lawsuit
Those rates are insane, 19.9% commission plus 9.9 euro fee !! Hopefully the word will get around, and everyone will know to avoid these scammers. Good work by Janek and Honza filming the article. The Italian government needs to bring in laws to stop these scammers, for example give customers a cooling off period in which time they can reverse the transaction.
Beware if you go to Lisbon airport and use the taxis that are lined up. I took one to a hotel nearby. They started with the meter on but when arriving they turned it off and then say their price which for me was more. I had filmed the whole 10 minute journey so later he gave up and dumped my stuff at the side. I had asked the hotel the price too and they helped me sort of.
I visited Greece a few years ago and experienced this kind of highway robbery for cash exchange. I was a newbie and Easy Pickins thank you so much for your article I really appreciate what you’re doing for all of us Travelers. But lots of Travelers are not armed with knowledge they travel infrequently and they are easy prey for these villains
I’m trying to imagine doing what you do in Los Angeles. It would be taking your life in your hands. Your articles are so important. You’re helping countless visitors have the best visit possible. It’s too bad so many businesses who represent these destinations want to make sure visitors have a terrible time and that their actions will forever be the bad moments of their visits. You two ARE the best!!
The ATM point at the end is an important note – always either choose “decline conversion” or select the local currency when asked. This results in your bank converting the money, not the bank that operates the ATM. As you would expect, your bank will exchange the currency much more fairly than some random foreign bank who have no reason to care about how they treat you. Personally I have a card I can use abroad and exchanges using the Mastercard exchange rate with no extra fee. This results in me losing 0.1%-0.5%, depending on the currency and moment of exchange. Its usually around 0.2% when exchanging to euros which is beyond acceptable.
Studying in Prague, living in a city up north that is way smaller. Even in a small Czech city, I can only think of one store I visited since moving here where I could not use card instead of cash. I think this goes for a lot of Europe too (Sweden, where I am from, is almost entirely cash free) Appreciate all you do!
First, thank you for your very informative and eye opening articles. I’ve learned to be a lot more careful when travelling overseas. Second, it really shows how the legal system isn’t necessarily a justice system when companies can operate under the guise of a legitimate business – which they legally are – but are in fact elaborate scams. Not much different than fraudulent accounting where money is being skimmed. And also the gaul that one cashier/scammer has to say it’s the customers fault they didn’t read the small print, when they make it small so it’s hard to see! Great article and thanks for bringing awareness.
14:06 When I had a trip to Estonia, and then to Latvia, I withdrew cash only once – it was necessary as not all places accepted credit cards. Please, listen to Janek and use your credit cards, and only exchange your money if there is no other way to pay for the thing you need. If you do need to exchange cash, always check the official rates, and ASK how much you can get BEFORE giving the cash to the cashiers. As you saw, you might not get it back
I follow you since three or four years ago, and think you’re awesome, and make a great job making Prague more popular, if that’s possible. This articles are great because as a simple tourist I think I have been scamed by this kind of people once or twice. They shouldn’t be allowed to operate in any place. But sometimes I’m worried for your security and feel fear for you. I think you are also very brave. Have you ever been menaced or attacked in a more serious or violent way? Please be safe, we all need more people like you.
Hey Honest guide, After visiting prague and being recommended to you some years back. I learned about the ATMs and the bad rates. When I visited Kroatia last September, I remembered your advice to never exchange money at EURONET atms or other dodgy atms. When I traveled to Pula I looked for an ‘honest’ atm. Literally on the opposite site of the street there was one still running on windows XP it seemed (due to the sound effects). It was I believe run by the Croation bank and I got a good rate out of it. I didn’t even have to press the ‘decline conversation’. I double checked with my bank account too. Thanks for saving me money in Kroatia. I may have made a mistake back then in Prague but you taught me to not fall into future tourist traps anymore. So thank you <3
after a long time i’ve decided to tune in to this website again. and i’m so glad i did. the quality’s improved significantly and the great and informative commentary remained the same. i’m just amazed at how far they’ve come and hope they continue their journey the same way forward. a huge congratulations to the successes and to the 1 Million subs. keep up the great work guys.
I went to Spain in the summer to visit my sister. Laterally everything from taxis to supermarkets to restaurants to even small kiosk stores in the streets accept Apple Pay and GPay. Just make sure your credit and debit cards have no foreign transaction fee and you’re golden. I exchanged a couple hundred dollars to euros at my bank in small bills to use as tips ect..
Greece-Athens is not devoit of this as well, basically most places where there is lots of tourists you would get to record some articles. Also, thanks for this, as this was one of the MOST constructive time i spent on youtube lately, and i know the stress and danger you guys put yourselves in for us. I don’t know what else to say, you are amasing and take care !
Maybe it’s just me, but I think it’s crazy how super defensive those employees are getting. Like, sometimes people work for shitty companies not because they share the same mindset or ideals or whatever, but because they NEED the money (e.g. have children, terrible job market, debts, etc). In these cases though it seems like the employees are totally supporting the tourist scamming.
0:12 as an Italian I can assure you that ice cream is a tourist trap! 🙁 I mean maybe it tastes decent but ice creams with those bright colours and fancy presentations are usually shitty quality and factory made. The best ones are usually the ones stored in aluminium cylinders with a lid on top where you can’t actually see the ice cream
Ιt’s sad that they really do not violate any law, yet they base their audacity mainly on tourist/US American gullibility. But being a naive drifter has ultimately a price to pay. (Unfo Italy, unlike the Czech Rep., would never enact a law according to which you could have your money back up to 3 hours after the transaction, at your own discretion of course).
I liked the option of going to the Italian post office. There is an option I used when I traveled to Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome with my family. In the USA, I setup a new type of checking account with my bank (Wells fargo) which allows at least 2 monthly withdrawals at any bank ATM (foreign or domestic). This afforded 2 benefits, very good exchange rates from my bank in the USA and with a limited amount of funds in that account, I only risk losing $3000 or $5000 USD if the card gets lost. When traveling, I left all of my regular debit and credit cards at home.
You don’t know how helpful this article is for me. I’m from Turkey, I was saving money for an Interrail trip for two years. Of course, Prague was on my list and I’ve watched your website regularly. But this year our currency basically crashed and I had to switch my plans from 3 weeks of the entire Europe from 2 weeks of Italy. NOW YOU ARE IN ITALY EXPOSING SCAMMERS, LIKE HOW?!?! THANK YOU!!!
I took this whole thing to the other extreme: When I moved in New Zealand for a year I travelled there with all my money in cash. Since it was quite a lot, I of cause wanted to get the best exchange rate. So i spent the whole first day walking around Auckland to all the exchanges to see which one had the best rate. Visited about 10 places and picked the one with the best rate.
Yes, I agree with him. Pay via card. When I went to Italy a month ago, I got a wellsfargo autograph visa. Rewards are non-existent, but also, no fees for international use and exchange rates are within pennies of the best rates you will be able to find. Also, for phone service, Google Fi is great for US travelers. There are no international usage fees for data and text. 0.20c per min for phone calls, but just use whatsapp or similar. You can just pay month to month and stop service when going home.
For April 1st or some other non-prague series, have you considered going to a capital or tourist city that is actually very safe / honest with tourists? I feel like a city that actually manages to crack down on dishonest tourist traps deserves to stand in the spotlight on your website, and maybe even receive some ‘ordinary’ travel guide advice with nice places to go in those cities.
In some places, dealing in cash is advisable. Pickpockets will go after loose credit cards, but if you only carry cash (and only a small amount in your pocket, the rest in a more secure place like your shoe), you will only lose a small amount of you get pickpocketed, and not have to worry about your card getting stolen. Of course you don’t have to worry too much about this in Florence, but it is a common occurrence in places like the Phillipenes.
Thanks for the article, will definitely avoid everything visit any of that scammer establishment when I visit Milan at the end of the year. Your article & the countless reviews online definitely exposed what a scammed organisation & this founder definitely founded just to catch rookie and unsuspecting tourists off guard until it is too late. Assuming I did not know about all this, there are signs to indicate something is off with them. 1. The name of the changer sounds really weird for an Italian business. Obviously whoever that used it specifically to make it look English friendly to mainly target tourists. 2. Call me a pessimist towards human behaviour but I was a victim of scams before to know never to trust something attractive or a deal too good to be true. The more someone tried to sell or supposedly give “special deals” the more something is wrong. 3. Always read though the T&C before agreeing to anything. Most people will avoid it out of convenience & that’s where this scam business took advantage of. 4. Forcing people to sign whatever receipt is obviously a ploy to protect themselves legally. It is just disappointing that the Italian government is doing nothing & allow this to continue.
Mm if visiting any country, do web check what the “spot” exchange rate is before going to any currency exchange place. Also before changing currency, clearly ask what the net, after all charges/taxes is, before proceeding. Also d/check a few nearby currency exchanges then choose from them, the best NET amount. There are also cards which you can load up with the local currency before travelling (eg in the main, UK£, Euros etc) and just use them to pay bills or to withdraw from an ATM. And important, (and this also applies if using yr own card in your own currency to then pay in their local curreency eg using a UK based card in UK£, to pay in Euro) they may offer you a price in UK£, instead of Euros. DONT ever pick the UK£ amount. Because they will then use their own possibly bad exchange rate (known as dynamic currency conversion). Also if paying by card, dont allow them to take it away out of your sight. The transaction must be done in front of you, at the desk/meal table.. best
I once worked in a remittance firm, based in Brazil but with offices in Belgium and Luxembourg. At the time I didn’t think much of the exchange fees and comissions we had, and to know that an office is charging 20% + fixed 10 is beyond absurd, the owners of this place must be dirty rich already with this scam.
If you watch a show called Dirty Money on Netflix. There is an episode about Pay day loan business which was operating EXACTLY like this exchange place – and those guys were accused on multiple counts of racketeering and fraud. The law states that the print needs to be very, VERY clear – and large size for people to notice. The law also states that customers can always change their mind and get money back if they were not let know of the conditions ahead of time.
Travel Pro-tips: 1. use a card that allows you to convert currencies in-app. Best rate, low fees. You can then use the same card for contactless transactions. 2. If you really need to bring cash with you, withdraw from ATMs using your travel card while you’re on the airport. Most ATMs here are from major banks and won’t be charging you ridiculous fees! 3. Use your head.
I was scammed in Florence on stamps. I bought some postcards at a souvenir stand near the palace and unfortunately some stamps. They seemed nice, there was an information that I can TRACK my postcards and that I should use some other type of postal box to send them. I was very lucky that I read that and searched two districts for those boxes before I realized it’s a scam. After that I read that a lot of people had sent their letters/postcards using real postal boxes and lost their mail. So be careful and buy stamp only at the Poste italiane!
Going back 40 years, in England and on the continent, my question always was ‘for £100, taking the exchange rate and commission into the transaction, how much will i have in my hand’? When they told me i asked them to write it down. This was after being scammed a few times in Spain by saying the rate shown was for a minimum of £1000.
I am still amazed how many tourist exchange cash anyway. Totally unnecessary – I live here in Prague. You can simply use your credit card or apple pay pretty much everywhere and if you really need cash simply withdraw from your credit card at any ATM. Noone should exchange cash at all… then these scammers would be dead out of business in a month.
I’ve studied in Italy and I can confirm that unfortunately that beautiful country is full of scammers including restaurant workers – who charge extra and when you realise they say oh sorry my mistake, airbnb/house landlords – who just trying to get your money and fade away, exchange office – as you showed and many more…And yes they are so arrogant when you want to talk to them which brings bad reputation to the country..I hope officials will take some actions about it..
To play devil’s advocate, it really takes very little rationale to look at these rates and realize they are way off. Sure, they take advantage of unknowing tourists, which is morally wrong, but you got to be quite apathic to not realize you are getting scammed. It literally takes one google search to find out these guys charge way too much and where to find normal rates. Anyway, great job digging this up Honest Guide!
Great Information – Last month in Florence I went to one of these booths and before giving them a cent I asked exactly how much I would I would get for $200.00. I laughed when they offered 110 Euros and they even pushed it further by saying that I should exchange even more money. As I was leaving they offered 120 Euros. It has scam written all over the place. Annoyingly banks do not exchange unless you have an account with them. I wish I knew about the post office. Using Credit cards is the best bet!
It’s great you are exposing this and making people aware, but I feel that it isn’t the exchange companies fault that they are doing this and getting away with it. We should / locals should be going after the trading standards agencies / local authorities in their countries to try and change laws to ensure fees are clearly and visibly displayed or fees capped.
Love the work you guys do for all tourists! Just wanted to say that it bothers me a bit every time you say “Just use a credit card!” Due to my country taxes, sometimes is even more worthy using these scam exchange offices than paying by credit card….. Many of us are stuck with cash If we want to avoid paying a lot more for something
On a vary elementary level, it’s almost the same in the U.S.A going to a coin-counter machine and having to pay an outrageous fee for converting your coins into a ticket stub or cash. There are machines who do it for free, (Usually in a financial institution if you deposit the amount) or those who only want a 5% commission as a service fee but, you have to look at the screen because, in the U.S they HAVE to tell you. Read the fine print and you’ll save.
“thats your opinion.” no thats a fact. You can factually show if something is the worst rated. There was a pizza place i used to love going to in my old home town. The pizza was great but the owner was super rude to everyone. It was the worst rated pizza place in my home town. Thats a fact. There was 4 pizza places and without giving out the names place A had a 4 star, place B had a 4.5 star and place C had a 3 star and his place Had a 1.5 star review. mathematically 1.5 is less than 3, 4 and 4.5 thus he in fact had the lowest rated pizza place in the town. my opinion was that the food was great aand made up for him being mean but for many it didnt. So my opinion was it wasnt the worst. But the facts show it was the lowest rated.
Fun fact about ATMs. In Europe they are legally obliged to warn you before they charge you a commission. BUT, they are not legally obliged to tell you HOW MUCH that commission will be. In Spain it’s so usual to see messages like: “this transaction might involve a commision. Do you wanna continue?” xD
We almost got scammed yesterday. We were in the Money Exchange establish when 1 guy approach us that he has a better rate. Luckily I was working in a bank before, and whe. I touch the bank note, i knew it was fake and you can tell by the looks of it. It’s like printed in a expensive paper ONLY. We are still in Prague right now, and there’s nothing we can do but to use cards because of these scammers. It’s hard to trust em.
Great article. Never been to Florence but I will know this for the future. Unfortunately it’s all legal same as fast loans with high %rates. who would think that someome would like to steal like that, we just need to be more aware. Also we can always use Wise or Revolut etc or exchange money in the country we’re coming from- I usually do combination of the two I mentioned.
Not sure if this is also available in other countries, but just go to your local bank, at least that’s how I prepare for my trips abroad. The exchange rate for USD to Euro was $1.10 : €1 when I went. Ended up paying $650 for €600 which is about right, at my local bank. Although you pay up front get your receipt then the order is placed and your money arrives within 2 days.
I fell for the same scam at a train station at Budapest 20 years ago. I have signed the paper, received the money and left the office. Outside I have realized the amount of money I have received and the super bad exchange rate that was applied. I was young and naive and never thought that people could do something like this without batting an eye. I turned back to the office and asked what just happened. The cashier just showed me the small print: “the shown exchange rates are only valid above 1000EUR transaction value”. Again, it was 20 years ago. I told her that I didn’t saw the small print, I would like to exchange at the shown rate. And guess what, she accepted my request. She probably took pity on me because I was just a kid, barely 40kg soaking wet.
Someone else mentioned this on another website’s comments but, basically, if a company’s communications says you can’t publish them you’re not bound to that. There’s no contractual agreement, they’re just telling you not to in the hopes you do what you did in this article (paraphrase or just don’t discuss it all). They can’t act on anything enforceable because there’s no proof you legally agreed to not publish anything. It’s just a scare tactic, usually to keep them from looking worse than they already do since they don’t have the high ground as it is. If someone were to paraphrase the words then they have plausible deniability that their words were twisted to suit the message.
MONZO MONZO MONZO it was a very pleasant surprise after having the card for over a year I realised they didn’t charge exchange rates, this is because they don’t exchange they use local users money.!! amazing I don’t know how well that holds up when Monzo goes mainstream but it’s my favourite at the moment for banking ( never thought i’d have a favourite bank)
In the plaza where the David replica resides I was approached by a woman to donate to people with disabilities. I declined and after another try she move away from me. It was so odd I scanned the crowd and saw a rough man scolding her and pushing her back out into the tourist throng. He saw me and and scowled darkly. I was very alarmed! He was like a mean pimp, using this woman. So sad.
After perusal this article I plan to ask questions before handing money over to do any exchange. Ask what the exchange rate is and if there are any commission and other fees for the exchange. What is the final amount I will be getting for the exchange. I would be asking that before I sign anything or hand over any money. Thank you for this article. It’s a learning experience and will be smart when I do my own exchanges when I travel. I am sure these scam exchange places are all over the world.
Why does anyone use local exchange bureaus anymore? Sure maybe change a very small amount of money before arriving in a country, but just about every country accepts Visa, Mastercard and American Express everywhere. There are banks and ATMs everywhere that also accept these cards – sure there may be a small fee, but worth it for the convenience.
I’ve traveled the entire world and not used cash. Any place that doesn’t take card will take Venmo, PayPal, or whatever their local equivalent is. I refuse to carry cash on me. France – AMEX, Apple Pay Italy – AMEX England – AMEX, Apple Pay Germany – AMEX, Apple Pay Armenia – Visa, google pay Egypt – visa, Mastercard (few places only cash, so we went elsewhere) Costa Rica – AMEX, Apple Pay Singapore – AMEX, visa …
Me and my friend asked a branch of this company in Milano in August, and they have a very good rate on the board, when we ask them they told us at the end the money we got will be much less then we expected (thank god we haven’t give them money). So when we are leaving, they shout at us and ask how much we want, I don’t know we can negotiate like this in the exchange office, that feels too scammy so we just left lol
When I was in Europe for a few weeks (Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague and Barcelona) I used my Mastercard card everywhere. Every single shop, restaurant, even the toilets in Prague all accepted Apple Pay. I only had to carry my phone. I loved the fact I never touched a single piece of physical currency. Hopefully wide spread paypass/payWave acceptance in Europe kills all these scamming places. The rate Mastercard gave me from AUD to EUR was great, and my bank does not charge any fees or overseas conversions.
your work is fantastic, keep it up, unfortunately these people are the shame of our country. just a note to people who turn to offices for money exchange, now there are so many services, which allow us to make payments and withdraw in the local currency without commissions, Revolut or N26 comes to mind. I don’t understand how many people continue to rely on money exchange offices, honestly, I have just checked out on my Revolut account, 100 usd worths 90,74 Eur
I was hoping your friend would try and ask if there are extra fees right before handing the money and see if they tell the truth or have some script to answer it vaguely. Also I think it wouldve been satisfying ig it was possible to set them up at a restaurant or cafe that they frequent and then get the managers of those establishment to pull the same trick having in fine print at the door along with many other ads or something to make it less obvious and state some additional fee for a particular sitting or something similarly ridiculous. Especially the owners maybe stalk him and do that to some establishment he frequents, and see if he gets mad, or just say it’s his bad for not noticing the fine print mixed in with a bunch of ads.
Just for clarification: the David in the Piazza della Signoria is a copy yes, but a very fine one, and it’s there for maintenance reasons (pidgeons poop a lot, some people are jerks, there’s ton of smoke and dirt… It’d be a hassle to clean the David every single time). The real David is in the Galleria dell’Accademia, always in Florence. 👍
I used to work for this company, for almost 2 years and I think you’re right for some point but they’re right for others… Like… When you go to a restaurant or a supermarket you first ask or read for the price, and then you buy… You can’t eat a steak in a restaurant without reading the menu and then complain because it’s too expensive. It’s your job to know how much that steak cost. Another point is that the change a LOT of currency more than enyone I’ve ever seen (and this has a cost ’cause they have to change that money with the banks at some point) and they reward they’re employees wery well so they have to earn very well… On the other side, it’s true: they take advantage of people who doesn’t know how much their money values, and they don’t give you a refund and they doesn’t tell they’re point of view, they don’t argue, they don’t explain them self or talk seriously, and that’s a pity… So, I think it’s right to aware people but I also think it’s right that people inform themselves on what they’re doing with their money before to do it and not after.
Hey man if you need an idea for your next article go to Croatia and film the tourist hotspots in particular Hvar, there is a “famous” bakery there that charges 50 EUR for a slice of pizza, I’m sure it will make for a great clip! – The story has been covered in national press but I’m sure you’ll be able to find out more.
Well, i travel a lot and its very simple to compare exchange rates and also you can check the official kurse of the currency. I even changed money in one of their store in Prag after i bargaining. The change rate was still not the best, but i did get 22 instead of 24 compare to the best store, which was okay for me for a smaller amount of money. They are still not fair, i agree. But if you jist inform yourself for two minutes, you should be fine.
just in case you did not know, if you did not sighn the paper the transaction is not done and they must return your money back if you ask them. That is the law and that is the resson they gave you that paper to sighn. so basicly in the moment they refuse to give you the money back you should call the police
For US based customers, the best way to avoid paying any fees or comms whatsoever, is to open a brokerage acct with Fidelity Investments, it works like a checking acct and it is paired with a debit card that not only waives local ATM fees, but it also reimburses international ATM fees which averages a savings of $10-$15 per withdrawal and there is no limit to no fee withdrawals either. That means you pay ZERO in fees or commission which is awesome when you travel as much as I do as it saves me as much as $1,500 a year. In addition they match the market exchange rate which means you don’t pay a FOREX fee either. I think that the minimum deposit requirement is around $1000 so well worth opening an account at a local branch before traveling abroad.
Well. I have been working in Exchange office in Poland at the airport and downtown. They have more offices in Europe. Even without commission and fee People were blind on the rates. The rates were bad and People were losing around 25% of the value and still were exchanging the money. The opinions were similar to those from the article.
My father was a mathematical wizard. He came out of a bank in Athens thinking about the exchange. He knew he’d been cheated. He went back to the same teller the next day. He exchanged dollars to drachma and kept signaling that she should keep the money coming until she didn’t take her personal cut. He made sure she felt uncomfortable. That made it almost worth being cheated previously.
FYI In Italy EVERY business is now supposed to accept card payment (by law), even the ice cream truck or street sellers (legal ones, of course) are supposed to accept a form of card payment…of course this might still not be true, be aware that some people might get angry or aggressive if you ask to pay by card, or say that you had to ask that beforehand (search youtube for something like tourist trying to pay taxi with card…)… If they don’t allow you to pay by card you can literally call the “Guardia di Finanza” (police who is concerned with fiscal stuff): the shop owner will have to pay a fee because he/she didn’t let you pay electronically AND, if the place doesn’t have the means to accept card payments, they will have to pay another fee as, I repeat, EVERY BUSINESS MUST accept card payments. But beware, guardia di finanza will probably take his time and ask you to do bureaucracy so consider if it is worth losing at least a couple of hours for this…
I got scammed 8 years ago when I was on a school trip in Florence at this very same office. They hid the exchange fees until the very end of the transaction which cost me half of what I was supposed to get with their very bad rate. They did me exactly like you but almost a decade ago. I’m glad there is now people calling these thieves out. Love your articles!
While these businesses are morally depraved scams I feel like the blame is partly also on people who travel without doing the basic research to find out that the place has a 1 star rating or where they can exchange money at little to no cost. I have traveled across Europe and there are scam money exchanges everywhere but there is also always some place that is honest if you do research. At very least dont go to the place with nothing but 1 star reviews they exist for a reason.
Wonderful article… for exchange, you can always find no commission. But even then you have to look at the spread between the buy and sell rate. 3% is the norm. I had my card skimmed while visiting Florence. Skimming is so rampant in Florence I would not be surprised if bank employees are not in on it. Do you have articles on this subject?
After being robbed at exchange in Prague and Warsaw I figured out how you should exchange your money: YOU CHANGE A SMALL AMOUNT (5$ or 5€) AND IF THE RATE IS GOOD, YOU CHANGE 100/1000 €/$/£. Otherwise you go somewhere else. In the worse case scenario you will loose 2-3 $\\€ which is better than loosing 150 $/€ Honestly I can’t understand how do people change 1000 in one shot 😮
At the end of the day, the point is exactly that you can exchange money at the post office or withdraw them from banks for negligible commissions. Most people used to travel knows that exchange offices are expensive, in every part of the world to some degree. The most sensible thing to do, really, is to exchange a reasonable sum of money before departure at your own bank at home and then use credit cards when possible. That’s not rocket science. Some people might go to exchange offices because of ignorance and that’s is the role of the media, to explain people things that they need to know. Other people might simply not care and find convenient to go to the nearest exchange, pay whatever and not bother with waiting lines at the post office. That’s a service that has a cost.
I could see a legit use for non-government exchange offices IF they were regulated. Maybe you need cash at night but all the government exchanges and banks are closed. But they should charge a SMALL percentage like 1-3% capped at around $10, or a small flat fee no matter the exchange total amount, like $3-$5, like an ATM machine.
been to Cancun to Los Angeles last time, I did have peso left, around 50 bucks if I remember in USD. And then I saw this little stall that selling many souvenir, but I also saw they do money changer aswell. Since I did not spotted any money changer in Cancun Airport I did ask them and its WAY better than I expected. I forgot the amount of rate but its good deal amount considering it was in the airport and I spotted it in the last minute. And seeing this article and calling them “Best and Fast” Exchange company is made me laugh my ass off because they just got beaten by small souvenir stall lol.
Honestly, I didn’t even know about this! Unfortunately, this appears to be legal. Still, there should be a way to have close up shop on moral grounds or something. It’s utterly despicable! Still, there are plenty of great reasons to get local cash, such as paying in markets and giving tips to waiters, and buskers.
There have always been crooks like this. It’s best never to use convenient places, go the extra steps to a bank, post office, etc. Always ask first before you hand over your money. Have a calculator and know currency exchange rates daily. Of course, there are minimal charges for the exchange service. Another point buy travelers’ cheques, instead of using credit cards because their rates are not that good either.
The absolute best way I’ve found to exchange currency is actually to just go directly to your bank and tell them how much you want to exchange and for what currency. They’ll usually end up giving you the best possible rate. I’ve literally done conversions where there was no loss just because I’m a customer of their bank. Only real downside is this often requires exchanging currency ahead of travel and then picking it up in person and taking it with you when you travel.
We got ripped off with a fee of almost 20% at this exchange in Florence in June 2022. This company will not give our my money back, we called the police to get our money back, and the police also supported this business as everything they do is leagal. Please ‘do not’ go near this exchange every this exchange will RIP you off
I have personally been ripped off by this place! This is great that he’s informing people how terrible they are! The huge deal is that they advertise a normal exchange rate, but do not actually give you that exchange rate instead pocketing the extra cash and saying it’s for overhead, then, before they give you the money but after they’ve taken your cash, they will not give it back when you notice how poorly your rate is and tell you you can always exchange it back for the going rate of “horseshit and go fuck yourself buddy”. Always go to legit banks even if you have to go a little further.
You arn’t doin anything illegal, and your helping make it a better place!! So, hopefully the law will continue to be in your favor. I love your articles! I’m taking notes and sharing. I’ll be traveling in about a year and a half, so I’m learning and making sure I’m prepared, and aware, and educated for my travels! Thank you! Keep up the great work!
Man, you don’t know how happy I am to see this article! Unfortunately, I fell into this trap in 2015, and Check Point didn’t want to give my money back, even though I immediately asked for it at the time. I did the same thing you did in the article, getting people out of there, but you did much better! Congratulations!
Those idiots deserve bullshit and scams like that anyway, i mean, its common sense that you should always check the actual conversion rates whenever you travel somewhere with a different currency, not only to know if the conversions are fair, but also know how much you’re being overcharged and if a place is a tourist trap…
I’m amazed with how the Czech people & country deals with you. Pretty surprised that the police didn’t arrest you, nor the store manager. They didn’t hit or hurt you as well. Even my opinion is that the business owner reacted in an elegant way by sending notice paper, not by hiring hitman/hoodlum to beat you. The results will be different in my country, Indonesia. When you do this in front of a store, either the store owner will beat the shit out of you. Or else the police will come, bringing you to police station to interrogate you. Suddenly in danger to be jailed, because you’re accused of “damaging the good name of a people/company” law. Boom! Didn’t really know the laws of Czech Republic regarding this issue though. But looking at this article, I’m pretty astounded with how the Czech people respect people and laws, seems like very humane. I like this kind of culture and mindset, less violence. Looks like justice is number one in this country. Good job though, I like you!!! p.s. correct me if I’m wrong as I’m still curious why this kind of action is not illegal in Czech laws. Would be happy to discuss!
To all the people saying that the rent is very high. Got any source, number or idea how much does it cost? Or are you just blatantly guessing? I tried to google for a bit. I did not find out how much costs a corner store like that, but to compare, one Christmas stall at the Old Town Square costs up to 3000,- per day, and an apartment in Prague 1 costs up to 100 000,- per month (and a flat RIGHT ABOVE the exchange place costs 38 000,- per month svoboda-williams.com/pronajem/byty/detail/22117-zelezna). A corner store like that could cost a bit more, but if they are earning (or rather stealing) “hundreds of thousands of czech crowns” per day, it is still absolutely nothing even if it cost three times as much as an apartment in that location.
Police (P): “You can’t hand out fliers here” Honest Guide (H): “can we show them to people?” P: “yeah, sure! Ain’t no law against showing!” H: “what if we advertised it as free white paper which happens to have some sort of weird inscription on the rear side?” P: “….” H: “….” P: “I think it would still be a flier :/” H: “okay, what if… what if we crumpled it and hand it out… technically it’s trash then…”
It’s business though, companies even up prices on items before sales or show low stock quantities so people panic buy. The cash for gold places operate in the same ways. If people are stupid enough not to check the going rates via phone, let them. In the stock market rates are constantly changing. petrol stations are never consistent with pricing but nobody complains or cares much about the difference. As I type this the rate could be 15 and in the morning it could be 17. Business running costs are much more expensive depending on the location which is why food is much more expensive compared to the outskirts.
I don’t understand the logic, there are a million businesses that charge more for the same thing…..they can price however they want based on their overhead or just how much profit they want to earn…..and if they set that price to high, they will go out of business. There is a reason I pay three times as much for a loaf of bread at the convenience store down the street from me, CONVENIENCE. I could drive ten minutes to the grocery store and pay a lot less, but sometimes it is not worth it to me so I pay for the convenience. Check cashing places exist because BANKS won’t accept that customer, usually because they owe money to some other bank and can’t get a new account without paying it off. Yes, the fees are super high, but they provide a service that other institutions won’t. They can charge whatever they want, and I can do business with whomever I want. You mentioned they have competition two minutes away…..which is the beauty of capitalism. If people care to take the time to research, and the time to travel further, and that is worth it to them, they can do that, and if too many do that, the expensive business closes. I don’t dispute that they probably charge way more than needed to stay in business, but that is their right, that is what the market dictates. If you want to charge me $30 for basic cheeseburger, that is your right, and if you can find enough people willing to pay you, good for you, anyone who does not want to pay that can find 1000 other burgers for less money if they want to do ten minutes of research or travel a bit further.
I am very thankful for all your articles related to Prague. I am able to cover maximum Prague in 3 days by following your articles. Moreover, particularly this article helped me to get better rate (around 25.5 per euro). Next time I visit, Prague, I would love to meet you. I have traveled 6 countries (Sweden, Germany, Italy, Netherland, Czech Republic and Turkey) in 3 weeks times and without any baisness, Czech Republic is best in the list.
Janek! I’m visiting Prague for the first time next month and I love your articles so much!! I wish I could hang out with you and save people from exchanging money haha You should set up tours! I’m not kidding!! This looks like so much fun and something totally unique and, best of all, it’s a good thing to do!