AFEX – Associated Foreign Exchange

I went to the one on 870 7^th ave, their new location. Right next to Park Central Hotel. Very nice, friendly staff, got 620 Euro for $ 700 today, don’t know if it’s the best rate but I think it’s pretty good… no fee, didn’t need to mention Unilocal or anything, it’s just no fee.

Absolutely the best exchange rate I could find around. In that time of the day the exchange rate taking by me from the Internet was 1.00 US dollar equal 18.2 of Mexican peso.
The AFEX lady gave me 17.7 peso for $ 1.00. And no usual exchange fee of $ 5.00 charged by every exchange place. I can not see how better it could be. So in exchange for $ 100.00 bill I got 1770 Mexican peso in denominations I was asking for.
I have to go to Mexico-​city for 3 days and was wondering if I should to make the initial exchange by using the ATM machine directly on arrival at Mexico-​city airport as was suggested by some of the travelers due to the most favorable exchange rate (as they claimed).
Is it so? Let see — on every use of ATM machine — your bank would charge you $ 5.00 on any amount being withdrawal. Next charge your bank would impose on you — will be 3% of «foreign transaction fee» on the amount you withdraw in your country currency.
If you have to withdraw equivalent of $ 100.00 of USA in foreign country currency your bank would charge you $ 5.00 for use ATM and $ 3.00 «foreign transaction fee». The amount of $ 8.00 you would pay for this single transaction would be equal 8% of the entire amount of your withdrawal. This percentage would be much more if you withdraw $ 20.00 and less if you withdraw larger amounts.
In some countries are not recommended to withdraw from ATM the big amounts for not attracting the attention of criminal elements.
So the AFEX was the best answer to my quest.
The AFEX — Associated Foreign Exchange is just the 12 floor window with very nice friendly ladies. The lady who told me about their exchange rate even was able to promise me to hold this rate until I could come in couple of hours.
Do not forget to take your ID — for security people on main floor and for exchange itself.
I was told that they are moving soon in downtown area (if I am not wrong on it).
Lucy

I gotta thank Unilocal for this one and everyone else’s reviews. So I’ve been looking at several currency exchange spots, and gone in a couple yesterday, to which I felt like I was being axed. The conversation rate between the u. s dollar and Canadian dollar was so despicable… it made me want to spit at the fumbled numbers. This was around 30^th up to 42^st… understandable…tourist areas. But don’t entrap them like this! One particular place wanted to sell me Canadian dollar at 73 cent the U. S I simply stared at him for 20 sec. Online currency exchange have rates of $ 1.45 conversation, and around here they want to employ a $ 0.73 exchange rate. Unacceptable. So I found this place to have reasonable exchange rate, gave them a call in the morning to which they gave me my total estimate. Reasonable exchange so I trekked my way here. This place is on the 12^th floor of the building, the girl by the window was nice and assisted me with courtesy. Bottom line is I got my currency exchanged at the rate I wanted, with no fee, I’m ready to go to Montréal next week: D and F those tourist trap exchanges. Please don’t go there and get robbed… do more research before heading to Nyc.

Very friendly people, excellent rates. Not like the normal exchange in the back of some store; rather in a nice building (although I hear they are moving, probably to a similarly nice place.)

Lowest rates of all the places I checked in midtown for Mexican Pesos. Very professional and nice customer service. Will definitely go back to exchange money for my future travels.

I had a couple currencies to convert back to U.S. dollars after a trip to Southeast Asia. I found the people here friendly, albeit a little aggressive in asking for Unilocal reviews. My only real complaint is that their fees are completely hidden. They gave me $ 135 for my 5370 Thai Baht, for example; based on prevailing FX rates at the time – which I’m sure many other customers wouldn’t know to look up – those Baht were worth ~$ 147.91. The receipt actually lists «Fee:» and «Transaction fee:» in a couple places followed by «0.00», which is of course not exactly true; they collected the bulk of the hidden $ 12.91 spread. Sure, they’re a business, this is how they make their money, and this price is perhaps fair for the service they provide. But I value transparency and I’d like to know what I’m paying for something. If a restaurant asked you to sign the bill blindfolded, you’d probably think twice.

The staffs here are so friendly and helpful! Wish I could give six stars! Since I’m leaving for London in two days, today is my last day to get change of USD to GBP and I arrived AFEX around 4:40pm. At first they told me the place is closed due to currency balancing, but once they learned about my schedule, they helped me with the exchange right away without any hesitations. Plus, the rate is really nice! I’ll definitely come back whenever needed!

Easy and fast, the absolute best place in NYC to change foreign currency. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes, and I got a fair rate. Mala took great care of me. I’ll use AFEX every time.

Worth the effort! Very helpful, fast and more importantly great exchange rate and no fee! Great find!

Really pleased with the service. Located in midtown in a large corporate offices building where the front security will inform the AFEX staff of your arrival. I had called multiple banks for comparison — chase, capital 360, BOA — and here, was quoted a rate more favorable than others in town. The lady on the phone took note of my name so that when I arrived to find that the rate had changed, they were able to honor the originally quoted exchange rate. I also needed $$ the day before my departure date. Other banks required at least 2 days to get a hold of the currency. Here, it was immediately available. Did not need to wait. Excellent ! Highly recommended !

Afreda was very helpful in answering my questions. It was safe, speedy and when you check in with Unilocal you save some money! Thank You!

Very pleasant currency exchange experience!

Perfect experience. Best rate I could find in town. Super friendly service in a conveniently located office building. What more can you ask?

Best rates. Ray to get to location. Although they are moving locations in January according to the girl behind the window. No fees at all ever !! Go here for your monies

Great friendly service, ask for Ms. Monica when you get there. Not only are the rates great, it’s also super secure, no has to know where you are coming from. Give them a try you won’t be disappointed.

They’ll wave any fees with a Unilocal check in, they have good rates, and they take a variety of currencies. I came in trying to exchange Euros, Zlotys, British pounds, and Danish Kroner (I came back from a long Euro trip, what can I say). They were fairly fast, there was no line, and they gave me a good deal.
Note that it’s in the 12^th floor or so of a building, you have to take the elevator up. Just tell the doorman where you are going– you’ll also have to show ID. But it’s worth it to avoid the scammy money changers that cater to tourists in midtown. This place is legit. Actually, money exchange is only part of their business. I think they focus on currency trading on a larger scale, but they still operate this window. Why not take advantage of it?

I had some SGDs with me and needed to get those translated into USDs stat. In my search on Unilocal AFEX was listed as a place with no transaction fees so I was the first through the door. It’s actually located in an office building on the 12^th floor, you have to go past the security counter where you see the ‘meredith’ sign. No transaction fees, good rates to boot and the service was excellent and quick. The only unfortunate thing is that this is their only outlet in Manhattan.

The exchange rate they gave me was different than the one I was quoted for over the phone. Felt a little like a bait and switch, though I’m sure that it was a simple mistake. Make sure you get the name of the person you speak with over the phone, but it shouldn’t have to come to that when all you want to do is make a simple exchange. Yikes!

This is such a wonderful find. I called all major foreign exchange places and they all had ran out of Colombian pesos, so I finally gave in and headed to my bank. My bank didn’t give me a good quote, but my banker was nice enough to refer me to AFEX which apparently is where most banks order their currencies from. The place has a great location, right on 3^rd av and 49^th in an office building. The gave me a great rate and didn’t charge any fees. Most importantly, they gave me an even selection of large, medium and small bills. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes.
This will definitely become my go-​to spot before any overseas trip.

Yes, you can call to get quotes, but they go by the market as do others, so don’t wait too long after you get you desired quote. They did offer a slightly better rate (which works for you with the more notes you purchase) than a few other places i looked into.
It’s in an office building. You check in at the lobby (ID required) and head up to 12. It felt secure throughout (I have a serious paranoia of getting mugged after exchanges as others are around and overhear the transaction). It was quick and easy.