The easy guide to managing your finances during your Holiday in Hurghada
Dreaming of traveling abroad is a vision for many people around the world. One word can turn this vision into a nightmare, which is “THE BUDGET”!
It is a normal practice for all frequent travelers to consider the budget that they are willing to use during their holiday and plan carefully their spending patterns to ensure that their expenses are within the boundaries of their set budget. Wise travelers work on enjoying their time without getting indebted.
Yet, when we travel to another country, our pre-set budget can be easily miscalculated, especially if we do not know the different currency bills of the country we are visiting. When we do not know the real value of services versus the country’s currency, this can be misleading.
During your visit to Hurghada, you will need to deal with different service providers: Supermarkets, bars, pubs, restaurants, taxis …etc. Most of these places deal with credit cards, yet sometimes the POS machine is not working or is not available, which requires the place to deal with hard cash. Payment in your currency can be confusing if the service provider does not provide a price list in foreign currencies. Therefore, paying in Egyptian Currency Bills is more convenient in these cases.
In order to get Egyptian Currency Bills, you can use the following services:
Banks:
They are open from 08:30 am to 02:30 pm every day from Sunday to Thursday. If you have cash in your currency and you want to exchange it, you can easily visit any bank in Hurghada and get Egyptian Pound based on the announced rate of the day. Most of the local and international banks are gathered in an area called “Banks’ District” in Al Kawthar settlement. Also, you can find branches of different banks in Sheraton Road. You can also use the ATM machines all day long in the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) or Banque Misr (BM) or Commercial International Bank (CIB) to perform the exchange transactions.
Currency Exchange Offices:
They are open from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. These are small offices all around Hurghada. They are distinctive by the signs of different currency bills on their façades. You can exchange your currency according to their announced rate per day, which is nearly the same rate announced by the banks.
ATM Machines:
If you are more comfortable not carrying a lot of cash with you while traveling, then you can easily use your credit card to withdraw cash money from any ATM machine in Hurghada. You can find them in the bank’s area, and also as stand-alone machines in restaurants, hotels and in the streets. Be careful that sometimes, debit cards do not work on ATM machines unless you have clearly instructed your bank in your country to make your Debit Card functional abroad. Based on your bank’s policy as well as the Egyptian bank’s ATM daily limits, you can withdraw from a minimum of EGP 3000 per day to a maximum of EGP 8000 per day. The bills you get from the machine are usually EGP 200, 100, and 50. Very rare that you get a bill of EGP 20 or 10 .
It is recommended to use the machines of the national banks (National Bank of Egypt and Bank Misr) to get the optimum rates on the day.
Once you get your money, it is important to know the distinction between each bill and know an estimate purchase power for each.
Currency bill of EGP 200:
This is the equivalent of approximately 10 Euro. You can have a quick snack in a coffee shop for EGP 200. You can also buy groceries (chips, chocolates, juices) for a day for 2 persons with this same amount. You can charge your mobile phone (local line) and internet mobile with this amount and it would cover calls and internet usage for a around 5 days (depending on your consumption rate).
Currency Bill of EGP 100:
This is the equivalent of approximately 5 Euro. You can have a juice or coffee for EGP 100.
Currency Bill of EGP 50:
This is the equivalent of approximately 2,5 Euro. You can have good quality cheap Egyptian street food like fool or falafel or koshari. You can get like 3 to 4 big bottles of water. You can get 1 to 2 cold beers with this amount (depends on the place you get it from) and you can charge some internet to your mobile that can help you surf the net for a day or 2 (depending on your consumption)
The above-mentioned bills are of a fairly high value. Be careful not to mix it up with the change, or the lower value bills like EGP 20, EGP 10 , EGP 5, EGP 1 and EGP 0.50 , which are like the following:
EGP 20:
EGP 10:
EGP 5:
EGP 1:
EGP 0.5:
So, remember, once you start dealing with the Egyptian currency bills, be careful what you pay and what you take back to ensure that your budget is on track!
Dalia Saleh - Clients Relations Manager