Shopping & Style0 min ago
Foreign Currency
14 Answers
I want to buy some foreign currency (euros) and the local source I have used for some years now has closed, their exchange rates used to be quite competitive. The banks are unattractive because their exchange rates are consistently among if not actually the worst. Locally/within reach the banks need to order the money (none regularly kept in branch) so I am now thinking of using one of these internet vendors one hears about, including on AB. I notice that there are several possible sources of foreign currency.
Has anyone used these (I have not), which, how does the delivery work (secure), etc. ? I assume delivery is not by SWAT team style heavies travelling in an armour plated van. Any advice, recommendations would be very welcome.
Has anyone used these (I have not), which, how does the delivery work (secure), etc. ? I assume delivery is not by SWAT team style heavies travelling in an armour plated van. Any advice, recommendations would be very welcome.
Answers
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have you checked out these?
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Post Office Money is worth considering for getting better rates online than you do on 'walk in' basis. You order online and then choose between getting your money sent by Special Delivery or using the Click and Collect service from your local post office branch:
https:/
Services such as Travel FX (which offers one of the best rates but where you have to pay by bank transfer and not by card) also use Royal Mail Insured Special Guaranteed Next Day Delivery.
https:/
https:/
Services such as Travel FX (which offers one of the best rates but where you have to pay by bank transfer and not by card) also use Royal Mail Insured Special Guaranteed Next Day Delivery.
https:/
I don't know how their current exchange rates compare, but I've ordered online from John Lewis and collected from my local Waitrose (last year)....
https:/
https:/
Is it really worth all the hassle anyway? At the current exchange rates shown by the links above, £500 would buy you €547.10 using the Post Office's online service or €550.00 with John Lewis. Travel FX looks better, nominally offering €553.50 but the first fiver of your money goes towards the postage, so you actually only get €547.97. So there's not really that much difference anyway.
I prefer to just use my debit card abroad, rather than carrying cash. (It's safer, for a start). I don't use cash in the UK and I've no real desire to go back to the age of the dinosaurs abroad. Yes, I probably don't get such a good rate by using my debit card (although I've never really been stung by doing so) but I'll happily accept getting a few percent less for the sheer convenience of being able to use my card and not carry cash. (Quite a few places abroad don't accept cash nowadays anyway. e.g. if you're at Brussels South Charleroi airport, the only way to pay for your onward transport by bus or rail is by card; they don't accept cash).
I prefer to just use my debit card abroad, rather than carrying cash. (It's safer, for a start). I don't use cash in the UK and I've no real desire to go back to the age of the dinosaurs abroad. Yes, I probably don't get such a good rate by using my debit card (although I've never really been stung by doing so) but I'll happily accept getting a few percent less for the sheer convenience of being able to use my card and not carry cash. (Quite a few places abroad don't accept cash nowadays anyway. e.g. if you're at Brussels South Charleroi airport, the only way to pay for your onward transport by bus or rail is by card; they don't accept cash).
Have used Sainsburys for the past few years because you could ask for the cash breakdown that suited you best. Ordered £1000 online to be delivered free of charge next day which it was. When I opened the envelope I had 800 euros in 16 x 50 euro notes and the rest in 20's. Not a lot of use in the small country shops we used on our holiday. Bit like offering £50 notes in your corner shop. It would br frowned upon. As it is Sainsburys seem to have closed down most of their instore travel shops so I'll be going to the Post Office and collecting it myself.
For the combination of best rates and very low cost debit card convenience, I cannot recommend the TransferWise 'Borderless' card highly enough. (https://transferwise.com/gb/borderless/card).
Living on the continent (France & then Spain) but with a UK account & pension, I found out years ago that Transferwise was the best outfit to transfer one currency to another.
More recently, they started a system called a 'borderless' account, which allows you to hold a balance with them in a number of currencies, should you wish. This comes with a Mastercard debit card that can be used wherever they take Mastercard and is perfect for taking on holiday. You can get cash at local ATMs, spend in shops, hotels & restaurants & all with much lower fees than almost anyone else in the market.
It is a prepaid card, so is probably not best used for car-hire deposits, but you can simply do a bank transfer to your Transferwise account in pounds before you leave. It's all automatic and you can always top it up on your bank app or Internet banking whilst you're away. If you want to save even more, and/or protect your budget against currency fluctuations, you can transfer some of your money into your desired currency in advance. Spending in that currency then gets no further charges.
As with most cards, it's never a good idea to allow the merchant to charge you in Pounds. The rate they use is invariably a rip-off & you're already getting the best rate possible through TransferWise.
Sorry if this sounds like an ad for TransferWise. I've been using them for over ten years and have used my debit card in Spain, the US, Dubai & Switzerland & it works a treat.
Living on the continent (France & then Spain) but with a UK account & pension, I found out years ago that Transferwise was the best outfit to transfer one currency to another.
More recently, they started a system called a 'borderless' account, which allows you to hold a balance with them in a number of currencies, should you wish. This comes with a Mastercard debit card that can be used wherever they take Mastercard and is perfect for taking on holiday. You can get cash at local ATMs, spend in shops, hotels & restaurants & all with much lower fees than almost anyone else in the market.
It is a prepaid card, so is probably not best used for car-hire deposits, but you can simply do a bank transfer to your Transferwise account in pounds before you leave. It's all automatic and you can always top it up on your bank app or Internet banking whilst you're away. If you want to save even more, and/or protect your budget against currency fluctuations, you can transfer some of your money into your desired currency in advance. Spending in that currency then gets no further charges.
As with most cards, it's never a good idea to allow the merchant to charge you in Pounds. The rate they use is invariably a rip-off & you're already getting the best rate possible through TransferWise.
Sorry if this sounds like an ad for TransferWise. I've been using them for over ten years and have used my debit card in Spain, the US, Dubai & Switzerland & it works a treat.
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