Airport Currency Exchange & Collection

snips86x

snips86x

snips86x

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I'm heading to Turkey tomorrow for 2 weeks and was looking to use MoneyCorp to collect my LIRA from Heathrow by ordering online. However, they don't have a desk at that airport, they also have a decent exchange rate of 4.0963.

Are there any other services like this which I could use? I don't have time to get to the post office and their exchange rate isn't as good either.

Suggestions?
 
Do you need cash or could you use a credit card?

e: what is the comparable exchange rate? Unless you're talking about huge margins of difference and huge amounts of cash it's not worth worrying about.
 
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McGray said:
Find what desks they do have and use one of those.
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I did look and found TravelEx but their website doesn't seem to have LIRA in their currency list.

JOSH86 said:
Get it over there dude, much better exchange rate. They also like accepting Sterling.
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Yeah, I don't think I have a choice really. My dad came back with 400 LIRA so I think I'll take that and exchange when I get there.
 
snips86x said:
Yeah, I don't think I have a choice really. My dad came back with 400 LIRA so I think I'll take that and exchange when I get there.
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I can't remember the exact rate I paid but it was a decent amount more that here in the UK. Stick to doing 50/50 (lira/sterling) is the advice our rep gave us.
 
Taking loads of cash is crazy.

Change what you need to pay for small things like drinks, put the rest on a Visa Credit card - the Visa rate is way better than anything you'll get from a currency changer and it's a lot safer than carrying cash.

I actually never change in advance now. I just use an ATM once a week while I'm abroad and suck up the small fee. with Visa exchange rate it works out roughly the same as changing cash with a bank etc. As above plus also pay for meals/trips etc with the Credit Card as no fee plus the best exchange rate available.
 
Grab £50-100 worth (order online for pick up at the airport) so you have enough to get by once you land. You might have to get a cab, or tip your bus driver on the transfer to your hotel etc.
 
covenantuk said:
Change what you need to pay for small things like drinks, put the rest on a Visa Credit card - the Visa rate is way better than anything you'll get from a currency changer and it's a lot safer than carrying cash.
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The Visa and Mastercard rates are indeed excellent (Mastercard rate is better than Visa) but most credit and debit cards apply multiple fees to each transaction, typically a per-transaction fixed cost *and* a 3% loading on the exchange rate which erodes the good rate you get.

It can still work out better than the ridiculous tradition we seem to have of buying hundreds and hundreds of pounds worth of physical cash at a crap rate from a travel agent (only to bring half of it back and get conned on the buyback) but be aware of the fees.

There are, of course, credit card products which have none of these fees but it's too late to get one for this case.
 
everywhere wanted Euro and Sterling the last time I was over there, they almost looked at you funny if you tried to hand them Lira.
 
Thanks for your help but I don't own a credit card and don't really intend to. I may try EuroChange if I can get there before I close. I've left it rather late really, but hey ho!
 
You're better off withdrawing it there. Even on a debit card. Banks get much better exchange rates and you are charged a small admin fee for each transaction so just withdraw your total spend when you get there. That's what we did and worked out much better than getting it from rip off airport agents
 
snips86x said:
Post Office I think is 3.9 and I need cash.
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funny thing, you know those little machines you see in the wall next to banks - well they have them in Turkey too and thanks to the wonders of modern technology you can use your debit card from the UK in them and withdraw local currency - you may even find that they have them at the airport
 
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