Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

antenna

Eddyia wrote: »

I understand that the main focus of this thread is about obtaining foreign currency before or during a holiday abroad but does anyone know the best way of exchanging money back to pounds sterling when you have returned home.

I have kept a sizeable amount of US Dollars (when the exchange rate was greater than 2 USD to 1 GBP) and I bought quite few extra USD because the exchange rate was so good, anticipating the pound would slump significantly over 6 to 12 months and this would help me pay off some of the previous holiday costs.

Also are there any tax implications of doing this?

Look on Ebay.........buyers are paying crazy prices for euros,someone in greece is selling "left over holiday money"........50 euro notes and getting well over £1 per euro.........crazy when the exchange rate here in spain was 108 to the £......................so perhaps you can do the same with your dollars

antenna

Check out this site's Travel Money Maximiser click thru to foreign currency dealers and get a quote for your dollars.....some good deals available

benfowler

Hi

I travelling to thailand in june but im a bit confused wether to buy my thai baht now before the pound becomes any weaker. Does anyone now or have any experience on what i should do?

Thanks

Ben

enne2288

hi ben, i have a similar question to you as well that i posted on another thread, hope you dont mind me jumping onto the bandwagon and asking it also to htse incredibly knowledgable people...

my husband and i are going to thailand on 13th february 2009. we went two years ago when it was 68 baht to £ but now its gone down below 50 as already mentioned. but by reading a few threads, i just wanted to clarify what is going to be best... we are taking £1000 with us as spending money (i know its not much but we will be backpacking) and we will want to take about 400 in cash. so just to confirm, would it be better to take that £400 in pounds to thailand and get it changed there into thai baht? or shall we just get it changed to bath here? also would it make a difference if it was cash or travellers cheques we were taking with us in terms fo the exchange rate?

I also have another question i have is where is it best to exchange money? last time we changed it in the MBK. is there a better place we can get better exchange rate?

look forward to hearing from someone and thanks in advance

enne x

RogerG_3

As of Jan 10th WaMu were not charging to use their ATMs in NYC. They have been taken over by Chase so it will only be a matter of time before they also charge. Don't know if there are any WaMus in FL but it is worth looking at several different bank ATMs as they do not all charge the same in the US. There is normally a notice on the outside saying what the charges are.

HG66

I plan to visit Australia in August and wondered if it is worth buying my AUssie Dollars now? Any advice gratefully received. Thanks

dealsearcher

benfowler wrote: »

Hi

I travelling to thailand in june but im a bit confused wether to buy my thai baht now before the pound becomes any weaker. Does anyone now or have any experience on what i should do?

Thanks

Ben

The Thai Baht basically follows the US dollar. The dollar appears to be recovering a little at the moment therefore I would think the advice would be to wait. Of course the recovery of the pound may just be a bounce back from it being sold heavily. However according to inspector monkfish the expectation is for a further recovery of the pound:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1445973

I am also looking to go to Thailand in February / March and am looking at this closely. I would not however buy any Baht from Travelex or other bureau de change because their rates are very poor. I would be using my Nationwide debit card at ATM's in Thailand and taking a small amount of sterling with me just in case my card has a problem when I am there. There are many currency exchange booths in Bangkok and resorts which provide currency exchange at a much more favourable rate than UK banks or bureau de change.

dealsearcher

enne2288 wrote: »

I also have another question i have is where is it best to exchange money? last time we changed it in the MBK. is there a better place we can get better exchange rate?
enne x

Further to my reply above. I have been to Bangkok many times. MBK is an excellent location to change money. You will find many other currency exchange booths around in tourist areas. They all provide similar rates of exchange but I have found some differences between them. It can pay you to wander around the areas you go to to find the one that provides the best deal. Bear in mind that they change their rates around midday and overnight in general. I have also found that the airport exchange banks provide a good rate as well. So you can get Thai Baht on your arrival at a reliable rate at the airport. The banks are immediately outside the airport arrival area.

dealsearcher

adwalton wrote: »

The advice on the site is to get a Nationwide Flex account because its debit card is best for using abroad. But as the account is not the best current account in other respects, it is recommended to have it as a second current account and use only to put money in before travelling abroad. But the Nationwide website, which is linked, requires anyone applying to open a current account to confirm that they will use it as their main current account and transfer regular payments ans cerdits from my existing bank account. So how does one manage to get a nationwide current account as a second one?

I have always been with the Abbey. However I had some trouble with them when taking out money abroad when my card was stopped. They also charge for taking money out abroad. I therefore opened a Nationwide account for the insurance of having another card and for the benefits they provide for taking money out abroad. I just opened an account and that was that. There were no other requirements. I did transfer some money into an esavings account, but it was not a requirement and the flex account was already open when I did it. In fact the flex account had to be opened first before I could open an esaving account.

dgjlee

yaddayadda wrote: »

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#topcards

Thanks but I was asking if you could post a link to the Abbey site thats shows the t&c's you mention?