Want to know how I saved €21.13 on a single €167.05 transaction? Read on and you will definitely save a lot of money during your next trip abroad!

When you are traveling to a foreign country with a foreign currency you will probable have been asked if you want to pay in your own currency or the local currency. They will present this as a service to you, because this way “you know what you are paying upfront”.

Here is an example when I was withdrawing money in Croatia:

Fixed exchange, rate guaranteed and the transaction fee already included. Sounds great, right?

Well, not so fast… Because I know this offer most of the time is not as great as they make it sound, and because I used my bunq card who doesn’t charge me any exchange fees anyway, I did a rough estimation by heart and went for ‘the less promoted option’.

I could immediately see the result in the bunq app, I just saved myself a bit more than € 20!

As you can see, bunq is already saving me € 5.01 in exchange fees. But the real profit is even bigger! This cash withdrawal would have been €21.13 more expensive if I want for their seemingly interesting offer.

Sadly enough this practice is becoming more and more common when traveling abroad, so be aware!