During my recent lost luggage challenge I had two stopovers at Ataturk Istanbul Airport in Turkey. It’s an airport I’m used to. I have flown directly in and out of it a few times when backpacking in Turkey and I have also had multiple stop overs here before.
In 2015 on one of my stopovers, I noticed a machine called “Travelers Box”. There are several of them here at Ataturk Airport and at other airports around the world. It’s a cool new idea so I had to share it with you. This is a brilliant way to make use to that last bit of foreign currency you have so that you don’t return to your home with extra un-needed currencies.
Here’s the deal with Travelers Box – you get to Ataturk Airport with say $25 dollars worth of Turkish. And if you’re a cheapskate like me, you’ll try to avoid buying food, drink and duty free at the airport as they are almost always a rip off. TravelersBox offers a smart and innovative way to make use of leftover foreign currency.
Instead of taking spare foreign currency home where it’ll become useless, deposit it at a TravelersBox kiosk and make use of it in many ways – to redeem gift cards from your favorite brands, add it to your PayPal account or make a donation. Personally when I got here to Ataturk Airport, I decided to use up my extra Turkish Lira by depositing it into my PayPal account. So that’s exactly what I did and it was very easy to use!
So next time you end up in one of these airports, check out the service from Travelers Box. As a long term traveller on a crazy journey, this was the first time I had seen and experienced this and I hope it goes from strength to strength and shows up at more airports. You can currently use Travelers Box at these airports (as of June 2016):
- Toronto Pearson, Canada
- Ataturk Istanbul, Turkey
- Ben Gurion, Israel
- Malpensa, Milan
- Manila, Philippines
- Tbilisi, Georgia
- Ensenborga Ankara, Turkey
- Adnan Menderes Izmir, Turkey
If you have more money than me you may prefer a foreign currency account from HSBC or the Ulster Bank.
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They have them at Pearson Airport? Interesting. Will have to take a closer look the next time I fly out from there.
Ray recently posted…Backpacking Banff – Dinner at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
Hi Ray, according to the Travelers Box website they have it at Toronto Pearson airport, though I haven’t been back there since 2007 so I can’t confirm as haven’t seen it myself. If you find it, it’s a great way to stop spending silly money in the airport and just pop it into your PayPal account. Safe travels. Jonny
Very great idea.
I have gained many things.
Hi Allan, thanks for the comment and sorry for the delay. I was suffering from depression and only now I am checking all comments, meesages and blog emails. I hope you enjoyed my currency stories. Stay safe, Jonny