currency app
 

Favorite App for currency conversion for iphone?

I don't need an app . . . just google the currency and you get the rates instantaneously.

yeah i agree that you can use google for this, but if you really want an app you may want to check this list http://www.howtoisolve.com/6-best-cu...one-ipad-2015/

We're in Iceland now.
I must be a very old fashioned girl, because I just typed about 20 amounts in ISK and their equivalent in US$ on a piece of paper, taped it to an index card, and keep it in my pocket. Works great, and quicker than getting out my phone.

I did the same as abram in Chile and Argentina, because the currencies there were so different, but in Europe and the UK it's such a minor adjustment I just estimate in my head.

xe

I've done the same as abram does if it is a currency I'm not used to. But when I'm jumping from country to country/currency to currency just a quick look up is easy peasy.

i also make a hard-copy currency chart online in advance and just stick it in my wallet

Well, I use the XE App. Before each trip I just select the currencies of the countries I'll be visiting - very easy to use.

suze, please do indicate that you do what you do because you don't own a smartphone. It puts your advice into context as a limitation rather than a preference.

I have used XE, but I also usually memorize the approximate conversion and do the math in my head. If I need to be more specific, I use the calculator on my phone.

Well NewbE, thanks again and as always for monitoring what I post (not)...

BUT even IF I HAD a smartphone, I would use the little printed chart in my coin purse instead, because I'm not pulling out an iPhone when bartering in Jamaica or Mexico just to check exchange rates.

Not monitoring, just reading. It doesn't matter what you think you would do if you had one, does it?

Doing the math in your head isn't difficult, and there's no need to pull out anything, from a coin purse (??) or anywhere else.

I use xe.com by far the best app on the market. When in a new country I just check the rates periodically, memorise them and then use the apparently lost art of mental arithmetic to work out whether I am getting ripped off or not and, if so, by how much. Googling the fx rates is a very long winded way of getting the information. A hard copy of the rate tables is of use only as a guide as rates can move so fast these days that it would be out of date as soon as it leaves the printer..

What crellston said, times two.

NewbE - OK... in your head, no cheating, the clock is ticking...

How much is 5,895 Jamaican dollars in USD? $____

How much is 3,650 Mexican peso in USD? $_____

<from a coin purse (??)>

Yes "coin purse". Where do you carry your Mexican coins?

If you need the exact current exchange rate you have to use an app or google. But that means pulling out your smartphone, sometimes in places where there are pickpockets around.

A printed chart, with approximate rates, is good enough for most situations. If the sum is large enough that a few cents make a real difference in exchange rate I'm likely to be in a nicer shop and feel slightly more secure about pulling out the smartphone.

Doing math in my head may be easy with some currencies. With others it's impossible. And on some trips there have been more than one currency to keep track of.

As for a coin purse, I usually put my coins in a pocket. If a pickpocket wants to take them, well, they're usually worth less than the equivalent of ten Euro.

Why have a smartphone if you're too afraid to use it?

It is not "afraid to use it" to know you may find yourself in certain situations or particular destinations while traveling where it may not be the best idea to flash something of value like that.

Everyone has a smartphone these days. Taking it out and using it is not like "flashing" a diamond encrusted watch. Have phones been stolen out of people's hands? Sure, but that's no reason not to use one, just as the fact that bags have been snatched does not deter women from carrying one.