Best place to chance currency?

phill

phill

phill

Associate
Joined
25 Nov 2005
Posts
419
Hi all, need to change some pounds into Euro's before I go away at the end of the week. Just wondering where the best place is to change them up? Post office? Bank? Travel agents? I know some places charge commision etc..

tia!
 
Post office may be comission free but it is built into the exchange rate spread


travelex.co.uk is almost always the best rate ( pre book and collect at airport ) , if you don't pre book and just go to a travelex counter you will not get a good rate though


Euro today

Travelex 1.4136

Post Office 1.3981


moral of the story , Rotty knows best :p
 
Rotty said:
Post office may be comission free but it is built into the exchange rate spread


travelex.co.uk is almost always the best rate ( pre book and collect at airport ) , if you don't pre book and just go to a travelex counter you will not get a good rate though


Euro today

Travelex 1.4136

Post Office 1.3981


moral of the story , Rotty knows best :p
Click to expand...


super! just ordered from there :} thanks.
 
Can't work out why everyone recommends the post office , their rates are crap


Here are some rates I just looked up

Travelex Post Off

1.4136 1.3981 Euro
1.6922 1.6651 US$
2.2741 2.2426 Aus$
13.077 12.816 HK$
65.92 63.46 Thai Baht
39.69 38.45 Czeck Kr
2.238 2.192 Turkish Lira

These aren't selective rates, these are all the ones I looked up , the Post Office are not good value
 
I have a Nationwide account for this.. all i do is withdraw the money from an ATM abroad they give you no bank charges and the best possible exchange rate.
 
Rotty said:
have you any examples of the rates nationwide give ? sounds quite good if the rates are genuinely good
Click to expand...

It'll depend on the bank rates in use at the time, as they don't load on the Visa Debit attached to their current account.
 
If they are just using the bank ( or visa ) commercial rates for the transactions then these are generally not good , typically having a 6% + spread
 
Rotty said:
If they are just using the bank ( or visa ) commercial rates for the transactions then these are generally not good , typically having a 6% + spread
Click to expand...

On the contrary, I rarely bother changing cash when I travel in the "first world" because I get a much better rate out of my bank/visa for cash withdrawls and purchases than I do out of any currency exchange, even with the surcharges.

The Nationwide account is a good deal and one that I should really look into doing.
 
Just realised we ( my wifes old account )have an account with Nationwide so gave the local branch a call to see what the todays rate was for US$ ATM withdrawals , it is $1.6706 with no other charges , unfortunately this is not a good rate

this represents a spread of 7.9%

shame really as we travel abroad about 8 times a year and it would have been a good idea seeing as we already have an account with them
 
Last edited:
I was wondering if anyone had any advice about changing very large quantities of currency?

I'm going to spend a year at an American University next year and I'll need in the region of $15,000 throughout the year. The problem is I can't get a bank account before I get out there and HSBC require a minimum deposit for an offshore bank account, which I just can't afford.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom