MSE News: The pound hits an eight year high buying €1.43 – here's how you get that ra

This is helpful, but...

In practice, if you're just the average Joe or Judy tourist and want cash (for example, if you're going to Greece, or, if, like me, you prefer a reassuring little wad of dosh) it will depend on where you live and when you're travelling.

Martin's money maximiser tool on this website
( http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/ as mentioned in the article above )
is really ace as you can choose to collect from a bureau near you, or at the airport. And by pre-ordering you'll get a much better rate than walk-up customers.

There are lots of graphs out there which show how many Euros you get to the pound; I use http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=EUR&view=1Y as you can look at trends over the day, week, month, year or longer (if you're a nerdy travel geek like me, that is!).

This shows that even since the euro hit its recent run of lows in March (so you get more to the pound), there have been a sereis of significant ups and downs. These fluctuations, week on week, can make a tenner's difference if, say, you're buying 700 of 'em.

I tend to track the rate in the weeks prior to a holiday and, if I have time, buy just after a peak. I've have got lucky on the last two; in mid March and last week, since when the rate has got a couple of quid worse.

But overall, a bit of time spent on pre-ordering online can save you 20-25 quid (or more) on the rate you'd get if you just rocked up to your local bank, bureau or post office.

Which will buy two of you a decent meal on the Greek Islands these days!

again misleading infomation from MSE

i have people come in on a daily basis quoting MSE saying i read on MSE blah blah blah that the rate is balh blah blah

agree totally with Alexmac