What currency to use for Egypt visa on arrival at Hurghada airport — do they give change?

A recent case from early October 2026: a family who landed in Hurghada on 29 September said they were asked for $33 for the visa at the airport, with staff explaining that $30 is the price of the online visa. Check the current visa-on-arrival fee in official sources before you travel.

A family can pay for their visas together at one window: in September 2026, asked about three visas paid with a $100 bill ($10 change), a participant confirmed this works and that change is given in dollars. Check the bills you receive straight away and refuse torn, crumpled or stamped ones.

If one window has no change, try another. In September 2026 travelers reported that the left window said it had no change, while the far-right window, which had no queue, gave it. A couple with an old-style bill was turned away at one window for lack of change, but another window accepted it anyway.

According to travelers who bought the visa in July 2026, there is no commission: the price was $30, posters with the price cover the airport walls, and it is announced over the loudspeakers. Participants recommend paying at the windows marked Bank on the right; in August–September 2026 they described three or four such windows.

Change from $100 is not guaranteed. In August 2026 a traveler paid $100 for two visas and received two $20 bills in change, while a woman ahead of him who offered $100 for a single visa was turned away because there was no change.

To get through faster, participants in September 2026 suggested having exactly $30 per visa: people often stand waiting for change from $100. A participant in July 2026 likewise wrote that change is given in foreign currency, but paying the exact amount is best.

Old-style dollar bills, in a traveler's experience in July 2026, are accepted at the bank when buying the visa: she handed over an old $100 bill and received change without any problem. In September 2026 a couple with an old bill was refused at one window over change, but another window accepted it.

Buy the visa only at the official window marked Bank, not from guides or tour operator touts: according to participants in June–July 2026, guides offer to help and even fill in the forms, but then ask to be paid for it. After paying, you go to passport control with the visa and the migration card.

Change is usually given in dollars even if you ask for pounds: in June 2026 a traveler wrote that her request for Egyptian pounds was refused, and in September a participant also confirmed change in dollars. According to another participant, pounds are given as change when the cash desk has them.

People pay for the visa in different currencies — dollars, euros and Egyptian pounds, a participant wrote in June 2026; in July another participant confirmed that visas and excursions are paid in dollars or euros.

Change depends on what the cash desk has at that moment: if someone ahead of you paid in pounds, the cashier may hand those to the next passenger. That happened to one traveler in Hurghada in December 2023 — the pounds she paid for the visa were immediately given out as change. For local spending, a participant in June 2026 later withdrew pounds from her hotel's ATM with a UnionPay card.