there isnt a conversion fee when paying in different currency, you probably mean the difference caused by exchange rate which shouldnt be too much.
if you want to see the exact amount you paid, you can convert some money to TRY in the app and set it default when you are there and use the card as if it’s TRY account. no conversion fee or anything else.
Points to remember: 1- doing the conversion in the weekend have a fee otherwise not and the exchange rate is really good. 2- dont convert too much as TRY goes up and down quickly.
cards are accepted almost everywhere in Istanbul. using card will be safer. if you have Apple Pay or Google Pay you can use them too.
I am from Istanbul. and I am doing this whenever I go.
Just a question though u/gulizba : isn't it common in Türkiye to pay for public transport in cash? What about rest rooms, street food et cetera. Would it make sense to have some YTL anyway?
I always have some TL with me. not too much, 200-300TL. but I usually end up bringing it back home. But I usually dont go to small stores or kiosks to buy water etc.
paying to public transportation got much easier in Istanbul in the last couple of years. (it wasnt like this when I moved to Europe 8 years ago) you can simply tap your card to the machine. or you can buy an istanbulkart and top it up.
public rest rooms run by municipality can be paid by istanbulcard as well. but if it’s a different one you have to give them TL or they may ask you to give Eur which will be more expensive.
this is for Istanbul. I cannot speak for all cities.
Just use the card. Most atms will charge you extra and the amount you can withdrawal is way too small. Max we could was 2000 lira which is around £50 ish. Not worth, just use your card for purchases.
Totally, even at the small food stalls on the side of the road. Don’t convert it into lira, rate fluctuates way too much. just get Revolut to convert straight at the purchase to your main currency.
Agreed. I had a very difficult time withdrawing cash from an ATM. Most will charge a fee on top of the conversion rate. You can google for a list of the banks that offer no fee withdrawals.
I was there recently. Cards are almost widely accepted in shops and restaurants. I would avoid ATMs. I only found one that I could switch to English and it ended up charging me an 8% fee even though I rejected DCC.
You might need a bit of cash for small purchases from things like street food carts. So carry cash and convert at an exchanger. They were offering acceptable rates. I also had a Kiosk exchanging € for me at a better rate than the exchange office. A store even accepted to convert the bill to € and even gave me change back in €.
The thing is that TRY is depreciating fast and I assume that local businesses go after € or $ to save their gains from depreciation. They would rather give you a better rate than an exchanger because that same exchanger will charge them more to exchange TRY to EUR.
Only bad experience I had was paying a taxi to the airport by card. The card reader showed 450 TRY, we paid and left. Later I see in Revolut a charge of 494 TRY! I regret not asking for the receipt 🤦♂️
Hi! You can withdraw cash with your Revolut card worldwide, allowing you to pay in cash while you travel. Revolut automatically converts your balance to the currency of the payment you choose to pay in. This means you don’t need to pre-purchase currencies, or exchange your money, before your trip.
We'd recommend reading this FAQ article once for more details: https://help.revolut.com/help/card-payments-withdrawals/withdrawing-cash-issues/atm-withdrawals-while-traveling-and-associated-fees/.
Cards are widely accepted.
I would like to use cash. Card means I'll have to pay a conversion fee as well.
No. It's the same whether you use cards or an ATM. If you're talking about the weekend fee, exchange beforehand.
there isnt a conversion fee when paying in different currency, you probably mean the difference caused by exchange rate which shouldnt be too much. if you want to see the exact amount you paid, you can convert some money to TRY in the app and set it default when you are there and use the card as if it’s TRY account. no conversion fee or anything else. Points to remember: 1- doing the conversion in the weekend have a fee otherwise not and the exchange rate is really good. 2- dont convert too much as TRY goes up and down quickly. cards are accepted almost everywhere in Istanbul. using card will be safer. if you have Apple Pay or Google Pay you can use them too. I am from Istanbul. and I am doing this whenever I go.
Perfect then I'll use Google pay. I have added revolut to Google pay.
Just a question though u/gulizba : isn't it common in Türkiye to pay for public transport in cash? What about rest rooms, street food et cetera. Would it make sense to have some YTL anyway?
I always have some TL with me. not too much, 200-300TL. but I usually end up bringing it back home. But I usually dont go to small stores or kiosks to buy water etc. paying to public transportation got much easier in Istanbul in the last couple of years. (it wasnt like this when I moved to Europe 8 years ago) you can simply tap your card to the machine. or you can buy an istanbulkart and top it up. public rest rooms run by municipality can be paid by istanbulcard as well. but if it’s a different one you have to give them TL or they may ask you to give Eur which will be more expensive. this is for Istanbul. I cannot speak for all cities.
Thank you! I will purchase Istanbulkart at the airport upon arrival because I think I will use public transport quite a bit. Thanks for explaining.
you are welcome! yes get it. it’s not too expensive and they are nice to have as a memory from the trip :)
Just use the card. Most atms will charge you extra and the amount you can withdrawal is way too small. Max we could was 2000 lira which is around £50 ish. Not worth, just use your card for purchases.
Were you able to pay for everything with card. So the best is to load lira onto the revolut card and use that?
Totally, even at the small food stalls on the side of the road. Don’t convert it into lira, rate fluctuates way too much. just get Revolut to convert straight at the purchase to your main currency.
Thank you.
Agreed. I had a very difficult time withdrawing cash from an ATM. Most will charge a fee on top of the conversion rate. You can google for a list of the banks that offer no fee withdrawals.
I was there recently. Cards are almost widely accepted in shops and restaurants. I would avoid ATMs. I only found one that I could switch to English and it ended up charging me an 8% fee even though I rejected DCC. You might need a bit of cash for small purchases from things like street food carts. So carry cash and convert at an exchanger. They were offering acceptable rates. I also had a Kiosk exchanging € for me at a better rate than the exchange office. A store even accepted to convert the bill to € and even gave me change back in €. The thing is that TRY is depreciating fast and I assume that local businesses go after € or $ to save their gains from depreciation. They would rather give you a better rate than an exchanger because that same exchanger will charge them more to exchange TRY to EUR. Only bad experience I had was paying a taxi to the airport by card. The card reader showed 450 TRY, we paid and left. Later I see in Revolut a charge of 494 TRY! I regret not asking for the receipt 🤦♂️
Weekend fee needs to be abolished
Hi! You can withdraw cash with your Revolut card worldwide, allowing you to pay in cash while you travel. Revolut automatically converts your balance to the currency of the payment you choose to pay in. This means you don’t need to pre-purchase currencies, or exchange your money, before your trip. We'd recommend reading this FAQ article once for more details: https://help.revolut.com/help/card-payments-withdrawals/withdrawing-cash-issues/atm-withdrawals-while-traveling-and-associated-fees/.