What realistic exchange rate should I choose?
When you look up an exchange rate — on Google, XE, or your bank's app — you're seeing the daily rate (also called the mid-market rate): the "true" rate banks trade at. It's almost never the rate you actually get when you exchange money, withdraw cash, or pay overseas. Quick Currency's Realistic Rates let you add a small, sensible markup so the figure you see is closer to what you'll really pay. Here's how to pick the one that fits you.
Daily FX rate
0%The mid-market rate, with no markup — the same number you'd see on Google or XE. Use it when you just want the reference rate, or when you'll be exchanging at very close to mid-market.
Savvy traveller
2%Use this if you've done a little homework and stick to a few simple habits: pay with a card that has no foreign-transaction fee, always choose the local currency (never "pay in your home currency" — that lets the shop set a worse rate), withdraw cash from ATMs and decline any on-screen "conversion", or order currency online in advance. Plan around a 2% loss versus the daily rate.
Everyday traveller
7%Use this if you're a normal, unfussy traveller: a standard card with the usual foreign-transaction fee, some cash exchanged at a bank or bureau in town (not the airport), and the occasional "pay in your home currency" prompt slipping through. A reasonable default if you're not sure how you'll pay. Plan around a 7% loss.
Convenience first
12%Use this if you're prioritising speed and convenience over getting a good rate — exchanging at a hotel front desk or airport counter, or letting an ATM do the conversion for you. Perfectly reasonable for last-minute or emergency cash; you just pay for the convenience. Plan around a 12% loss.
Exotic-currency trap
18%Use this if you're doing convenience-first exchanges and dealing with a less-traded currency — say the Turkish Lira, Indonesian Rupiah, or Vietnamese Dong rather than euros, pounds, or yen. Thinly-traded currencies cost more to exchange everywhere, and that stacks with the convenience premium. Plan around an 18% loss.
Quick decision guide
| If you're… | Use |
|---|---|
| Using a no-fee card and declining every "pay in my currency" prompt | 2% |
| A typical traveller with a standard card and some cash exchange | 7% |
| Exchanging at a hotel or airport, or accepting ATM conversion prompts | 12% |
| Doing the above in a currency like TRY, IDR, or VND | 18% |
How these were worked out
These figures come from a small modelling exercise, not a live feed of real transactions (no such public dataset exists), so it's worth being transparent about the method. We modelled 9 payment and exchange channels — from fee-free card payments to airport-kiosk exchange — each with a typical markup range drawn from published consumer-finance research (including a UK Competition and Markets Authority study of airport kiosk pricing). Applying those ranges across 15 location and currency combinations, with an adjustment for the wider spreads on less-traded currencies, produced 135 data points. Running k-means clustering and scoring each result pointed to four natural groups; their centres — 2.31%, 7.05%, 12.13% and 17.70% — round to the friendly 2%, 7%, 12% and 18% used here.
Because this is a modelled dataset rather than observed transactions, treat these figures as planning heuristics, not guarantees. Actual markups vary by bank, card issuer, ATM operator, city, and date — for exact amounts, always check with your provider.