Even for the savviest travellers, exploring new countries without overspending can be difficult. While the experiences are often priceless, costs can quickly add up.
However, there are ways to save money, and one frequent traveller has highlighted a common mistake that could be draining your bank balance.
Christian LeBlanc, a full-time traveller and YouTuber who has visited over 100 countries, recently shared a video packed with travel tips – urging his followers to change how they pay with their cards on holiday.
The content creator, who has over 10 years of travel experience, told his 2.18 million subscribers: ‘I could write a novel with all the travel mistakes I’ve made, and that’s why I want to help you avoid them.’
When visiting a new country and making a transaction on a card machine, Christian notes that you might be asked whether you want your withdrawal to be represented in your home currency or the local currency.
He asked: ‘How many times have you seen the prompt, “Would you like to pay in the local currency or in your home currency?”’
If shown this message, Christian urged his followers to ‘always choose local currency’.
He added: ‘If you’re in Bali, pay in IDR [Indonesian rupiah]. If you’re in Dubai, pay in AED [United Arab Emirates dirham].
‘If you choose your home currency, you are going to be paying a savage conversion rate to the ATM.’
According to Christian, travellers are better off paying the transaction fee to their home bank than the ‘random little payment processor’ that the retailer is using.
Essentially – they will make a profit through inflated exchange rates.
The Post Office advises the same thing, recommending to travellers: ‘If asked, go local.’ According to the Travel Money website: ‘When an ATM or retailer offers you the option to pay in sterling, they are using something known as dynamic currency conversion or DCC.
‘By using DCC, the provider is able to use its own exchange rate to convert the amount of local currency you wish to withdraw into sterling.
‘The screen you see will vary from one ATM or retailer to another, but typically you will be shown a sterling amount for your withdrawal or payment and be asked if you would like to ‘continue with conversion’, ‘accept conversion’, ‘charge my account in GBP’, ‘withdraw in GBP’ or ‘withdraw in sterling’.
‘In almost all cases, choosing any of these options will be unfavourable and will cost you money, especially if you have already loaded the currency onto a prepaid currency card.’
While travellers may be faced with this choice in many countries around the world, The Post Office advises travellers to be ‘particularly careful’ when using ATMs in either Spain, Greece, Portugal, Croatia or Thailand.’
Five top travel tips, according to Christian
Christian shared plenty of travel advice in a recent YouTube video. Here are some of his standout tips:
‘Don’t over travel’ – While Christian says he recognises the urge to ‘try to check as many countries off the list’, he claims it will lead to a ‘less satisfying experience’. He adds: ‘Pick the destinations that are the most important and get to know them well.’
‘Always clap when the plane lands’ – A controversial one that many travellers steer away from out of sheer cringe. However, Christian says: ‘The pilot is expecting it, and everyone around you will love you for doing it.’
‘Scan Google reviews’ – Christian advises clicking on ‘random pins’ on the map and finding the highest-rated places. He explains: ‘Nine times out of 10, the reviews are highly accurate and give us a really good understanding of what’s actually worth going to.’
‘Get on the plane last’ – If you’re travelling in economy and have been dealt the dreaded middle seat. Christian advises getting on the plan last. He explains: ‘It allows me to be a vulture, and I basically look around for those spare window seats or three seaters.’ If lucky enough to find an empty row, Christian will sit in the middle to ward off other vultures.’
‘Carry a hoodie’ – Even if you’re travelling to a hot country, Christian says, ‘you never know’ when you’ll find yourself on a cold bus ride or when you might need it. Plus, he says the huge pocket can be used to hide extra luggage to sneak past airport staff at the gate.
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