Currency Converter
Last Updated:
Convert between 17 major world currencies instantly. USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CAD, AUD, INR, CNY and more.
Converted Amount
0.00
Rates are approximate reference values. For live rates, check a bank or XE.com.
📐 Formula
Converted Amount = (Amount ÷ From Rate) × To Rate, where all rates are expressed relative to USD
How to Use the Currency Converter
Select the base currency
Choose the currency you are converting from — typically your home currency or the currency you currently hold. The most traded pairs involve USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, and CAD.
Select the target currency
Choose the currency you need. For travel planning, this is the currency of your destination country.
Enter the amount
Input the amount you want to convert. The result updates instantly using the reference exchange rate.
Note the spread for real transactions
The calculator uses mid-market (interbank) rates. Banks, airport exchanges, and credit cards apply a spread of 0.5–5% above mid-market. Use the result as a reference, then compare actual transaction rates from your bank or a service like Wise.
Understanding Exchange Rates
An exchange rate is the price of one currency expressed in another. If USD/EUR = 0.92, one US dollar buys 0.92 euros. Rates fluctuate constantly — driven by interest rate differentials between countries, inflation expectations, trade balances, political stability, and market sentiment. Major currency pairs (EUR/USD, USD/GBP, USD/JPY) are among the most liquid markets in the world, trading over $7 trillion daily.
The mid-market rate (also called the interbank rate) is the midpoint between buy and sell prices in the wholesale currency market. This is the rate shown in financial news, Google, and this calculator. It is not the rate you receive from a retail bank or exchange bureau — every institution adds a profit margin (the spread) ranging from 0.5% (specialist transfer services) to 5–10% at airports and tourist exchange kiosks.
Getting the Best Exchange Rate for Travel
Ranked from best to worst for real exchange rates: (1) Specialist transfer services (Wise, Revolut) — closest to mid-market, transparent fees, best for large transfers; (2) Your home bank's travel card or multi-currency account — moderate spread, no ATM surprise fees; (3) Local ATMs at your destination — use your bank's international card and decline dynamic currency conversion (DCC) if offered — always pay in local currency; (4) Airport currency exchange bureaus — worst rates, highest spreads, avoid for anything larger than emergency cash. Never exchange currency at the airport if you can avoid it — rates can be 8–12% worse than mid-market.
Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC): Always Decline It
When paying by card abroad, merchants and ATMs sometimes offer to charge you in your home currency rather than local currency — this is Dynamic Currency Conversion. It sounds convenient but universally delivers a worse exchange rate than letting your card network (Visa/Mastercard) handle the conversion at their rate. The DCC rate is set by the merchant's bank and typically includes an additional 3–5% markup over the card network rate. Always select "pay in local currency" when prompted abroad.
How to Calculate a Currency Conversion by Hand: Worked Example
Converting $500 USD to EUR at an exchange rate of 0.92: $500 × 0.92 = €460.00.
Now add a typical 3% foreign transaction fee, charged by many cards on international purchases: the effective amount converted is $500 × (1 − 0.03) × 0.92 = €446.20 — the fee alone costs €13.80, money that never shows up as a separate line item on most statements, just a slightly worse effective rate.
How much does Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) actually cost?
When a foreign merchant offers to charge your card "in your home currency for convenience," they typically apply their own exchange rate — commonly 3–7% worse than the rate your card network would use. On a €500 purchase converted back at a rate 4% worse than the market rate, the extra cost comes to roughly $20.90 compared to simply letting your card charge in the local currency and letting your bank apply its own (usually much closer to market) rate.
How Do You Actually Get the Best Rate While Traveling?
Why do airport currency exchange counters offer such poor rates?
Airport kiosks operate in a low-competition, high-convenience environment and commonly build in a spread of 8–15% below the market mid-rate — meaning $500 exchanged at an airport kiosk might yield €40–€70 less than the same amount converted through a fee-free travel card. They're a reasonable option only for small amounts needed immediately upon arrival, not for the bulk of a travel budget.
Should you always decline "conversion to home currency" at a foreign card terminal?
Almost always yes. Choosing to be charged in the local currency (declining DCC) lets your card issuer apply the wholesale exchange rate, which is nearly always better than the merchant-offered conversion rate discussed above — this single choice, repeated across a trip's worth of purchases, is one of the most reliable ways to avoid unnecessary currency-conversion costs.
Does the exchange rate change throughout the day, and does timing a conversion matter?
Exchange rates float continuously based on global currency markets, but the intraday movement is typically small — well under 1% in most short windows — for major currency pairs under normal conditions. Trying to "time" a currency conversion for a slightly better rate rarely outweighs the 3–7% typically at stake in fee structure and rate-source choice covered above.
Frequently Asked Questions
These rates are approximate reference values for common conversions. For live, up-to-the-minute rates used for actual transactions, check your bank or a service like XE.com or Wise.
Banks add a spread (markup) to the mid-market rate — typically 1–4%. This is how they profit on currency exchange. Services like Wise or Revolut often offer rates much closer to mid-market.
The most traded currencies are USD (US Dollar), EUR (Euro), JPY (Japanese Yen), GBP (British Pound), and CNY (Chinese Yuan). These five account for the majority of global forex volume.
Sources & Methodology
Calculations are based on the most current publicly available data from authoritative government and industry sources: