Late arrival in T1 and no CZK yet?
Change Group in Terminal T1 sits airside near passport control, and most people hit it only when they land in Prague without a card-ready plan. Reviews on Google Maps note that the buy/sell spread here is significantly worse than downtown offices on streets like Kaprova, and worse than bank ATMs in the arrivals hall. Think of it as the “I landed at 23:30 and need cash now” option, not your main exchange strategy.
Opening hours vary with flight banks, but recent visitors report the T1 desk open for late-evening arrivals past 22:00. The board shows multiple currencies beyond CZK and EUR, including USD and GBP, but reviewers say the markup on those non-local currencies climbs even higher. One regular comments that they only swapped a token 200–500 CZK here for the bus or a snack, then did the rest in the city.
Change Group pushes “no commission” on signs, yet several reviews explain that the effective fee sits inside the rate itself. People compare the difference at roughly hundreds of CZK lost on a 100 EUR change versus a good Prague city office. Complaints also mention confusing rate boards and unclear final amounts, so read the slip carefully before signing anything.
Frequent PRG flyers on Reddit and Google say they now rely on contactless card and ATMs in arrivals T1 instead, using Change Group only if a bank card fails. If you do use it, exchange the minimum you need for a taxi or PID ticket, then sort the rest at a proper city exchange the next morning.