Cheapest and best place to get foreign currency???

alared

photome wrote:

So by your calculations if I spend £2000 while in the states i am going to be about £60 better off. As this site is all about moneysaving then surely the answer is YES it is worth ALL THE HASSLE of opening an extra acoount

Don`t forget that we are talking about a DEBIT card here.
You need to have the money in your account before you can draw it.

hammy_the_hammer

alared wrote:

https://www.travelex.co.uk

Buy it online with a debit card and pick it up at the airport when you go.
Can`t be beaten.
Todays rate 1.4222 as against the post office of 1.3955

the deal with travelex requires having a certain kind of debit card. mine with a major uk bank would have charged me for using the travelex service making it more expensive than going into marks and spencers and getting currency paying by cash

photome

alared wrote:

Don`t forget that we are talking about a DEBIT card here.
You need to have the money in your account before you can draw it.

Yes i realise that...i wouldnt spend £2000 while on holiday unless i had the money in the first place.

I assume you do agree about saving the £60 though

Southpaw

Thought the Post Office were the best?

photome

Southpaw wrote:

Thought the Post Office were the best?

As previously mentioned ...on the high st. M and S will nearly always be better than the post office, and travelex is better than both online.

The nationwide flex account is best of all

alared

photome wrote:

Yes i realise that...i wouldnt spend £2000 while on holiday unless i had the money in the first place.
I assume you do agree about saving the £60 though

Of course I entirely agree about saving £60.
The OP just asked opinions about getting a good rate for euros.
I replied what I always do regarding travel abroad which is to get it via https://www.travelex.co.uk and any other I may need whilst on holiday I just change using GBP (cash) in local (no commission) exchanges.
I also take my Halifax visa debit card with me for dire emergencies, who incidently do not change a fee when paying travelex for the transaction.
If I were going to USA or anywhere else and thought I was likely to need to withdraw anywhere in the region of £2k I may think it worth appyling for yet another current account to get their DEBIT card.(highly unlikely)
The rate I got the other day for using my CREDIT card was still higher than the tourist rate,so I`m quite satisfied.
I still believe the hassle involved for ordinary trips (not a once in a lifetime as you seem to be planning)getting the NW card is not worth it.
I do hope you have a very enjoyable stay in the states as I have done many times in the past (without a NW card.)
BTW did you know the yanks treat travelers cheques exactly the same as cash over there?

photome

alared wrote:

Of course I entirely agree about saving £60.
The OP just asked opinions about getting a good rate for euros.
I replied what I always do regarding travel abroad which is to get it via https://www.travelex.co.uk and any other I may need whilst on holiday I just change using GBP (cash) in local (no commission) exchanges.
I also take my Halifax visa debit card with me for dire emergencies, who incidently do not change a fee when paying travelex for the transaction.
If I were going to USA or anywhere else and thought I was likely to need to withdraw anywhere in the region of £2k I may think it worth appyling for yet another current account to get their DEBIT card.(highly unlikely)
The rate I got the other day for using my CREDIT card was still higher than the tourist rate,so I`m quite satisfied.
I still believe the hassle involved for ordinary trips (not a once in a lifetime as you seem to be planning)getting the NW card is not worth it.
I do hope you have a very enjoyable stay in the states as I have done many times in the past (without a NW card.)
BTW did you know the yanks treat travelers cheques exactly the same as cash over there?

Thanks for the reply.

A couple of points, It is not a once in a lifetime trip, I go to Vegas as often as I can afford to and in the past have always used travellers cheques(so yes I do know they treat them as cash)

The last time I went to lanzarote (3 months ago) I took sterling cash (as I normally do) to change over there in their commision free places and ended up getting 1.4 to the pound, If I had changed it in M and S before I went it would have been 1.43.

I will open a nationwide flex account this week and let you know if it is a lot of HASSLE, If it takes me less than half an hour I wont consider it hassle.

bestyman

Opening a nationwide account is less hassle than replying to a post on here .
To save some people valuable time here is a link to save typing
https://www.nationwide.co.uk

hostertlady

Sorry for any misunderstanding but i have opened a nationwide flex account and got the Credit card purely as recomended on this site, but does it matter what ATM's you get the cash from? if there is no charge for getting cash out abroad on the flex debit card then i damn well dont want to pay charges by making a silly mistake.. thanks

Rikki

Crowncurrency have a good rate of 1.43 at the moment. HERE