There are many exchange booths in lots of countries that do have as good a rate as a bank or around 3 pct, for example. They do make money on their exchange rate, but they have extremely low overhead and can make a profit on that. I've encountered that in various countries including Mexico, France, the CR and England, in fact. They often offer better rates than banks because that IS their business and they have low costs.

So there are no rules, just look at the rates/fees and figure it out. I think that may not be so easy for the OP, though.

Jill02, call your bank and your credit union and ask about international fees (aside from any "foreign" ATM charges). My bank charges a flat 3% fee + any ATM charges for all international transactions. My credit union charges nothing other than ATM charges. So, when we travel internationally we always use the credit union ATM. (And, of course, you should investigate your credit card international surcharges; Capitol One famously has no international fees, but if you don't have Capitol One and don't want to go out and open up another credit card account, call each of yours to see who has the best rate.)

"have as good a rate as a bank or around 3 pct,"

What exactly does that mean? My Capital One account charges no foreign conversion fee and no ATM fee, so I don't see how a bureau de change is going to beat that.

otherchelebi,

The rate is then comparable (I googled $1 equals turkish lire, which gave me the rate I quoted). But do the exchange bureaus accept anything but cash? And if they accept credit cards, is it worth the interest on the loan? I suspect that for tourists, the no fee ATM card is the way to go.

Michael,

all the rates you will get on any internet site will be spot rates and will have to be based on cash or bank transfer at that moment. These rates change by the minute depending on interntional supply and demand at over one hundred markets as well as local deals.

by the way, i mis-typed the site above. It should have been, www.doviz.com. This site also gives current gold prices in TL and can be a good basis for buying gold jewellery at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul because you can find 18, 22 and 24 carat gold values there.

There are shops on your left as you go up towards Mercan from the Golden Horn which sell small digital jewellery scales. Buying a reasonably priced one can be a good idea before going to the Grand Bazaar for pure silver or gold items.

<i>all the rates you will get on any internet site will be spot rates and will have to be based on cash or bank transfer at that moment. These rates change by the minute depending on interntional supply and demand at over one hundred markets as well as local deals.
</i>

No argument there, and that will be the rate that I will get out of an ATM machine. When I transfer money to Europe with www.xe.com, I have one minute to decide if I accept its conversion rate or not.