Ed

This is kind of a travel question. My daughter has been in Switzerland for the past 8 months working as an au pair. Has been a marvelous experience for her( we have found out this is not the case for everyone) and us, as we took it as an oportunity and excuse to visit her and travel europe ourselves. The question is: she will be returning in three weeks and has a couple thousand in pay that she needs to convert to US dollars. What is the best way to do this. Exchange there(where) or after she gets home(where).<BR>Surely some of you travelers have worked overseas or have had to convert this amount upon returning.<BR><BR>The wrong aproach could cost her quite a bit of college money.<BR>Thank for any assistence<BR>

Gaia

Send an E-Mail to a Swiss Bank and ask them.

xxx

If she has a Swiss bank account (I assume she does to deposit her pay), perhaps the account comes with a debit card. Then over the course of time, as there are withdrawal restrictions, she could withdraw the money at a US ATM. She would have to check the fees charged on the Swiss side, the US bank would not be allowed to charge for these withdrawals because she is using a card issued on a foreign bank....in general you get the best rates on ATM withdrawals with only a small mark up by Cirrus or Plus but in many countries, the local bank puts an additional charge of 2.5% on foreign currency transactions.<BR><BR>Still it might well be the cheapest way to go.

ed

Great idea but she dosent have an account. She only has the little money left over from her pay from the fam\ily. Is it difficult for someone to set up an account with a bank there?

ed

top

CHF

Ed~ Actually, no I usually spend it all on my trip ;-)<BR><BR>I just returned from 3 weeks in Montreux Switzerland. How about if she goes to a bank (even without an account) explained the situation, and asked what kind of fees would be involved to exchange that amount to US dollars and what rate she could expect??<BR><BR>You do the same at your home bank. Then compare results.

Leslie

Could her employer wire the money to her US bank account? Of course, you're going to have to absorb the cost of the wire, and there is still going to be an exchange fee, so you might just have to bite the bullet and sell the Swiss Francs in the US to an exchange place, such as the American Express Travel Office. <BR><BR>Another possibility, if it exists in Switzerland is to buy a Visa cash card -- the ones that parents buy for their kids. It works like an ATM/debit card, and after she exhausts the funds, then you could cancel the account. I believe that it works similarly to a gift card in a store, but I don't know if it is available in Switzerland.<BR><BR>Also, have you considered possibly selling the Swiss Francs to someone that you know is traveling to Switzerland in the near future and might want to pay a reasonable exchange in US $. Neither party would incur any fees.<BR><BR>