So.... did I get ripped off or...?

By Wolf Queen · May 27, 2009

...does the Dollar : Euro ratio fluctuate drastically from week to week, perhaps because of the stupid worldwide economic situation?

Because I swear, when I exchanged currencies in London two weeks ago, I got 93 Euros for $155, which was an exchange rate of about 1.65%, and a commission of 3%, which amounted to about 3 Euros which they deducted automatically and which I didn't count in my total.

But here I cashed some travelers checks, $150 and received 103 Euros, minus the commission (4 Euros), and an exchange rate of 1.4 dollars to the Euro.

So did I get ripped off in London or is that really how the currency fluctuations are going from week to week?

I suppose it's not THAT much of a difference, but in a way it is, because this trip has broken me.

P.S. I can tell from the noise outside earlier that Barcelona won the match. I could also tell how the match was going all night from the noise of the fans here. It was kind of funny.

Comments 6

Halon May 27, 2009

You probably got ripped off. It changes pretty much daily but it's very rare that the change is even close to significant. A lot of exchange places will rip you off so when you're in a situation like this it's best to stay up to date on the exchange rate so you know who is trying to rip you off and who is honest. You can find all of this info on google.

If you exchange once a year or so it shouldn't be a surprise if there is a drastic change in conversion rates but there shouldn't be for a week. A lot of places will try to rip you off and attempt to make big profits from this, both in the United States and abroad.

Also, even though I wanted Manchester to win I won $100 on Barcelona!

Felix_Arabia May 27, 2009

Not only does the rate change daily, but you're also likely to find (miniscule) fluctuation in exchange rates at different currency exchange places.

JANUS2 May 28, 2009

Where did you exchange the dollars in London? There can be significant variations between different banks.

What was the bet, sportsman? I had £1 on United to be 3-1 up at half time. Unfortunately that didn't happen because they were absolute rubbish.

wolfqueen001 Blogger May 28, 2009

I exchanged at the airport there. When I did it here yesterday, I did it at a bank. So now I´m debating whether I should ever exchange in London again or just never exchange at an airport anywhere again and instead use banks.

EDIT: In a way, I'm kind of glad Barcelona won last night because today, everyone was ridiculously happy. It made the day a really good day. Except for the part where I started falling asleep in class again because I only got five hours of sleep last night, but that's OK.

JANUS2 May 28, 2009

The exchange rate is 1.38. I suspect whoever you went to at the airport charged you more because they know they can get away with it. You can't exactly shop round in the middle of Heathrow.

Banks should offer you a more "honest" rate, but you still need to shop around for the best deals. Generally, the best rates come from specialist travel operators, such as Harvey World Travel (in the UK).

Halon May 28, 2009

It was just a bet with a friend. I get $50 if Barcelona won and $100 if by 2 or more. I was actually rooting for Manchester and hoped they would pull it off but really doubted that it would happen.

Predicted the score would be 3-1 actually, so I got the difference right at least.