Exchange rates?

Cosmic182 · 12 Apr 2016 at 12:44

Hi

Was just after a bit of insight as to when the best time to exchange a bit of money would be? GBP to US Dollar.
I now have a Halifax Clarity card but plan on taking a small amount of cash for certain things. At the moment the dollar stands at 1.43, is it best to exchange now or hold out and see if it rises at all? Or will it make much difference, at all...

Cheers

Semple · 12 Apr 2016 at 12:48

The problem you have is that the clarity card uses the mastercard exchange rate which i have never seen their rate beaten by any currency exchange shop. So by waiting on a rate shift, any potential gains is likely wiped out by the rate you could have gotten just by withdrawing dollars in the US.

If you wish to keep the additional fees down, ensure you're able to log into your bank whilst away to pay off cash transactions. Although i'm not entirely sure how this would work if you have a mixture of card and cash transactions.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 12 Apr 2016 at 13:10

US really is card culture, how many dollars are you thinking of taking and what for?

In all seriousness I would take very very few, maybe just $50 or something if I was tripping in the US. For that sort of amount either just get them in the post office, or tesco or something, or you can even withdraw from a cash machine in a lot of airports.

If your planning on taking more than about $50 the question really is why, what are you planning to need cash for?

Cosmic182 · 12 Apr 2016 at 13:12

Sorry maybe I confused matters. I plan on exchanging GBP to US dollars via my visa debit ( at the likes of an M&S) just to have a bit of cash in my wallet.

DB_SamX · 12 Apr 2016 at 13:26

For just a few dollars, doubt it will make much difference where you exchange it. But as others said, spend as much as possible on your clarity card. I always get a better rate on it (10% better wouldn't be far off) and no fees.

Zogger · 12 Apr 2016 at 13:28

Cosmic182 said:
I plan on exchanging GBP to US dollars via my visa debit ( at the likes of an M&S) just to have a bit of cash in my wallet.

Watch out with that one. Most banks will charge a fee for this as a foreign transaction on a debit card. But if it's just "a bit of cash", like $100 in advance then the rate is probably not that significant and will amount to a few dollars either way.

edit: just looked it up an apparently they stopped doing that...

tom_e · 12 Apr 2016 at 13:29

Zogger said:
Watch out with that one. Most banks will charge a fee for this as a foreign transaction on a debit card. But if it's just "a bit of cash", like $100 in advance then the rate is probably not that significant and will amount to a few dollars either way.

Not if he's changing it in this country they won't it's treated the same as any other card transaction AFAIK.

For such small amounts it really doesn't matter you're talking pennies difference.

dowie · 12 Apr 2016 at 13:31

Cosmic182 said:
At the moment the dollar stands at 1.43, is it best to exchange now or hold out and see if it rises at all?

so you need to consult a fortune teller essentially?

if it was obvious where it would be in future then the current price would have already moved to reflect that information now... unless you're under the impression that there are massive inefficiencies that some random forum poster can point out to you to in order to save a few % on your holiday money but which various PhD types actively speculating in these markets for a living have completely missed

in reality that isn't how the world works

Zogger · 12 Apr 2016 at 13:45

tom_e said:
Not if he's changing it in this country they won't it's treated the same as any other card transaction AFAIK.

For such small amounts it really doesn't matter you're talking pennies difference.

Ah apparently they stopped doing it a few years ago. I paid about £2.50 for it once though!

Ekim · 12 Apr 2016 at 13:53

Cosmic182 said:
Hi

Was just after a bit of insight as to when the best time to exchange a bit of money would be? GBP to US Dollar.
I now have a Halifax Clarity card but plan on taking a small amount of cash for certain things. At the moment the dollar stands at 1.43, is it best to exchange now or hold out and see if it rises at all? Or will it make much difference, at all...

Cheers

Unless the rate changes drastically if you are just changing a small amount the difference it will have on you will be negligible.

You'd be better of either way waiting until you get there and withdrawing the cash you need at an ATM using your Clarity card. You'll get a better rate that way than buying over the counter in this country.