Holiday Money to Thailand
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:j Wahey! I think I've found them. :j0
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Sorry, my bad. Didn't read your post properly, I thought you meant take the £100 to change at the airport. Got it wrong."An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" - Mahatma Gandhi0
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I'm off to Thailand in a weeks time and dont have a Nationwide account, I'm with Barclays (Connect Debit Card).
I'm trying to figure out whether or not to take travellers cheques (in sterling) or my debit card??.
Can anyone advise whats the best option??0 -
American Express Sterling Travellers Cheques will be slightly better value, though the debit card will be convenient.0
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Thought as much, just wanted to confirm. Barclays slap quite a bit of a charge on it dont they...0
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edwardandtubs wrote:... Barclays slap quite a bit of a charge on it dont they...Charge for Barclays handling costs and any VISA processing fees (included in the sterling conversion on your statement) 2.75%
Additional charge for all foreign transactions via a cash machine
or in a bank over the counter .... 1.5% (min £1.50, max £4.50)0 -
Remember in Thailand there is a 50 baht fee per TC you cash in."An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" - Mahatma Gandhi0
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pin wrote:Remember in Thailand there is a 50 baht fee per TC you cash in.
Grumbler, Pin.
If I take a £50 Sterling Travellers cheque with me (for example) and cash it and get 72.78261 Bahts to the £1 (according to oanda.com) and pay the 50 baht charge which is about 68p, isnt this better than withdrawing £50 and getting charged 2.75% (£1.38) and 1.5% (min £1.50) in total £3.88?
I'm confused...0 -
edwardandtubs wrote:If I take a £50 Sterling Travellers cheque with me (for example) and cash it and get 72.78261 Bahts to the £1 (according to oanda.com) and pay the 50 baht charge which is about 68p, isnt this better than withdrawing £50 and getting charged 2.75% (£1.38) and 1.5% (min £1.50) in total £3.88?...
2. Yes, with £1.50 fixed charge it is not a good idea to withdraw such small amonts as £50. If, for example. you withdraw £250 it will be just extra 0.6%, as compared to 3% for £50.0 -
50 baht? It was 33 baht the last time I looked.
The rate you will receive in Thailand; http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/Personal+Banking/Foreign+Exchange/FX+Rates/default.htm
I can't remember if it is the 'sight bill' or 'TT' rate that applies to TCs, but it's at least 72.15 baht.
Compare that was the mid market rate of 72.44 baht on https://www.xe.com yesterday.
You will note that the figures are quite close to each other.
Also, you will note that the rate you get for TCs in higher than you get for cash, effectively covering the extra cost of obtaining the TCs, other than the 33 baht(less than 50 pence) extra charge.
TCs are CLEARLY better value.
Grumbler, your example is wrong. The £1.50 is not a fixed charge, it's a minimum charge(according to the link that you have posted).
So the extra charge for withdrawing £250 would be £3.75. That's 1.5%, not 0.6%.
Then of course, there is the stealthy 2.75% Forex commission of £6.875.
That's a total of £10.62!!
TC cost? Up to a possible 1.5% from AmEx or your bank. So that's £3.75 for your £250 example. The difference in the exchange rate you receive is as little as 0.4%. So, that is £1. Plus the cost of cashing three cheques, 2 x £100 plus 1 x £50. 50 pence each, that's another £1.50. Total of £6.25.
Of course the cost is less if your bank charges less for Sterling TCs.
The cost differential is even larger when you require smaller amounts of cash. ie less than £100. The TC cost is yet lower (as there are less per cheque charges), whilst the debit card cost is higher because the £1.50 minimum charge per withdrawal.0
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