Ian

I have been confirming with our hotels (for our upcoming trip in early May) & asking for the discounted cash price in TRY. One hotel gave me the TRY price but said "it depended upon currency fluctuations". Hmmm. I was going to use TRYs via ATMs at airports etc to refill but this sounds like Euros might as well or better . . . but I was hoping to avoid currency juggling in the wilds of Anatolia & Cappadocia.

What say the experts?

Thanks

Ian

otherchelebi

I hope i am not crowding other posters out. Here are some answers:

- Many hotels and possibly some car rental agencies prepare their tariffs in USD or Euros. When you pay by credit card, they may need to convert at that day's exchange rate to TL (YTL is not used anymore) for accounting and fiscal purposes. If you pat in cash, they will still have to convert it to TL in their books.
- All currencies fluctuate during the day on the free market and everyone who deals in any kind of trading follow these changes. Almost all major web sites will give the current exchange rates for USD and euros and most for Gold and Silver. I usually follow www.doviz.com which gives the new exchange rates every 15 minutes.
- These fluctuations are based on both international and local movements.
- Hotels in Turkey, as in most other countries will give a bad exchange rate because it is not their job to take fx risks. Also, they are required to use the daily published Central Bank rate for their accounting records rather than follow the free market.

The moral of the story:

- either pay cash in USD if that is your native currency or in Euro if that is the international currency you prefer to use.
- or pay by credit card and you may lose and gain on the fx fluctuations but not by much hopefully.
- or exchange cash USD to TL at an fx shop near the Silver street of the Grand Bazaar where you see people milling about (they are buying or selling fx in huge figures for the actual dealers) or at the Tahtakale fx shops, as you walk down from the Grand Bazaar towards the Spice Bazaar and take a left one or two streets before reaching the Spice bazaar, at an area where they have small electronics, watches and chinese costume jewellery shops. The margin between buying and selling prices will be tiny at these places and there will\be no commission.
Then, you can pay most costs in TL rather than carrying an fx risk.

Another note, you will get the best rates in istanbul.

alanRow

Alternatively you can go to an ATM and get TRY out of a machine rather than having to carry cash USD / EUR around just to change it.

If you pay in EUR and you aren't from a EUR country then you have the expense of converting from your currency to EUR. If the hotel is set up to accept EUR (and many are as most of their visitors are from Euroland) then presenting another currency may cost you money as they do the conversion - at THEIR OWN RATES - to EUR or TRY.

ellen75005

We got TRY out of the ATM machines and used that for cash. Otherwise we used our VISA card. I don't remember paying in Euros at all in Turkey as opposed to some other countries, such as Croatia, where we did from time to time.

I agree with alanRow, with the Euro/dollar exchange rate right now, I wouldn't want to convert to Euros if I didn't have to.

Ellen

Ian

Oh, I am well versed in currency exchange. I live in Canada, work in the US (I'm a dual) & get paid in USD & I sell products from France & Britain.

One long day I exchanged the same $100 into three different currencies. I exchanged our remaining Forints for Euros at the Budapest airport in the morning, changed them into Zlotys at the Warsaw airport for taxi fare & lunch in Old Town & then into Canadian dollars back at the airport just before the flight home. (Don't ever fly Lot btw)

I guess what was confusing me were the rate quotes in Euros, when they expect TRY at the front desk. On the ground I will use TRY. Thanks for the Istanbul exchange tips OC (my offer for dinner still stands: cab87 (at) rogers.com)

Thanks all

Ian