# Travel Exchange Fee Calculator

> Compare what cards, ATMs, DCC and exchange bureaus really cost abroad vs the ECB reference rate. Enter what you spend abroad and the terms of your payment options – foreign transaction fee, exchange-rate mark-up, ATM fees, “pay in your currency” (dynamic currency conversion) and exchange-bureau spreads. The calculator converts at the ECB reference rate (or your own rate) and shows the effective rate, total cost and extra cost of each option, cheapest first.

Part of usefulweb.site (https://usefulweb.site/). Results are deterministic calculations from the inputs and the listed assumptions; the API returns exactly what the web page shows.

## Use it
- Human interface: https://travelexchangefeecalculator.usefulweb.site/ (interactive tool at https://travelexchangefeecalculator.usefulweb.site/tool)
- JSON API: POST https://travelexchangefeecalculator.usefulweb.site/api/v1/calculate with a JSON object of inputs (schema: https://travelexchangefeecalculator.usefulweb.site/api/v1/tool)
- OpenAPI: https://travelexchangefeecalculator.usefulweb.site/openapi.json
- MCP (Streamable HTTP): https://travelexchangefeecalculator.usefulweb.site/mcp - tool `travel_exchange_fee_calculator`

## Inputs
- amount (number, required): Amount spent abroad - In the local (spending) currency.
- spendCurrency (text, required): Spending currency
- homeCurrency (text, required): Home (account) currency
- rateSource (select): Reference rate
- manualRate (number): Manual rate: 1 home-currency unit = - …units of the spending currency (e.g. 1 EUR = 1.10 USD → 1.10). Used with "Enter a rate manually", or as fallback when the ECB is unreachable.
- options (table): Payment options - Example values – replace them with your own card’s and provider’s terms. EU card issuers must state their conversion mark-up over the ECB rate.
- atmWithdrawals (integer): Number of ATM withdrawals - The fixed fee of ATM options is charged per withdrawal.

## Method
- Reference cost = amount ÷ reference rate (the ECB euro reference rate, cross-calculated via EUR for non-euro pairs, or your manual rate).
- Each option: cost at its own rate = reference cost × (1 + mark-up %); plus the percentage fee on that amount; plus fixed fees (ATM fixed fees × number of withdrawals). Effective rate = amount ÷ total cost; extra cost = total − reference cost.
- Dynamic currency conversion (DCC, “pay in your currency”) means the shop’s or ATM operator’s provider converts instead of your card issuer; its mark-up is entered as a rate mark-up. Under Regulation (EU) 2019/518 DCC providers and card issuers in the EU must express their conversion charges as a mark-up over the latest ECB reference rate before you pay, which is the comparison this tool makes.
- The default rows are illustrative example values, not market data. Replace them with your card’s published terms and the mark-up shown on the terminal or at the exchange counter.

## Limits
- An estimate: the rate your card network applies on the booking day and any fees not entered here change the final amount.