Travel expert Mark Wolters have visited over 100 countries, but he is now urging travellers not to make one mistake when swapping their holiday money
Mark Wolters urged people to ‘pay attention’ when getting out travel money(Image: Wolters World/YouTube)
A travel expert has warned holidaymakers there is one thing they should “never, ever do” when they are exchanging their money. Mark Wolters, known as Wolter’s World online, has visited over 100 countries across the years.
And Mark says he increasingly finds himself travelling with very little cash. This he explains is because he knows he can “take cash out” from an ATM in a majority of destinations he visits.
However he urges travellers to “make sure you pay attention” if you are drawing out money at the airport. In a video, he explained: “They will often have a higher fee or they’ll say, ‘Oh, do you want to do the conversion in your home currency?’
“‘Yes, because then I know how many dollars I’m taking out in Euros’. No, no, no, never take that conversion, take it out in Euros so you have some cash. Honestly, I never fly with much cash with me, because I can get it wherever I go.”
Mark suggests that many travellers would be better off getting their cash exchanged in a local city. He says the rates at the airports are “not good”.
He explained: “You’re better off keeping your cash and going to exchange it in the city, you’ll get better rates there, but honestly, I would just take your debit card from home and get cash out from an ATM.”
Mark went on to explain that frequent travellers will be aware that prices at airports “suck”. Describing the prices as a “way of life,” he says there is simply “no point complaining about it”.
He added: “If you don’t want to pay $7 for water, bring your reusable water bottle and fill it up after you go through security, bring some snacks with you. If you hit that gas station on the way to the airport, you’re getting your Snickers for a buck instead of $2.50.”
Mark also warned that regular travellers will soon realise that access to the airport lounge “isn’t always worth it”. He says that while he gets in free of charge from his credit card, he often travels as a family, meaning he would have to pay for his wife and children.
Instead he urges travellers to spend some of the money they would spend accessing an airport lounge in one of the restaurants, opting for a meal instead of a sandwich or another snack option.
When considering “unwritten rules” of travel, Mark also turned his attention to hand luggage. He says many travellers often believe they can “beat the rules” when it comes to flying.
He added: “I’m not going to lie to you man, if you’re in an airline that charges for carry-ons, or they say, ‘Hey, we have a limit on size’, some of them actually give little bonuses to their employees that fine people who try to cheat to the system, so they’re looking at you.”
He urges travellers to always “accept” what airline staff say when it comes to hand luggage. And finally, Mark stresses that it is important to “keep your cool” with the staff.