The Cheapest Way to Spend Overseas Discussion Area

angeldelite

i really do think there shud b a sticky on currency exchanges ( as i'm sure its been mentioned b4 n as i'm also sure pin wud appreciate!)

well neway... i thought i'd just report bak for ppl who dont hav time to buy online like me..i took all of this advice on board n went euro shoppin today.. our co-op branch dint hav a foreign exchange till!! n after readin on here that m&s do currency exchange (1st ive heard) went there to c if they did it in store n this guy sed only in the big stores... so neway... went to every bank, travel agents etc (i think post office is the only thing that comes under 'etc') n found nearly everywhere was 1.39/1.38.... hsbc n travelcare were the only 1's to do 1.4 so just as i was bout to get it from 1 of them i passed a local travel agents called tony iredales (i dont think theyre national but tell me if i'm wrong) n they had a hate of 1.41...

btw... hsbc were the only ppl who sed that they'd match for me or even try to beat... the lady sed 1.391/2 n wen i sed the post office were doin 1.395/6ish she bumped the rate upto 1.4 so....

come on fri morn!!!!!!!!! i'm sooo ready for my hols!

pin

My thread got stickied!!! Cool!

RT7

Can anyone tell me if you buy your currency at Tesco's you will get your points still?

Thanks

ynot2005

what does the panel think about the new post office travel money card?

apart from the security benefits because its not a credit card, is it really worth having

1.5% commisson when loading the card
£2 charge for withdrawls abroad
£10 to set up an account

i am trying to work out if £1000 spent at marks and spencer for euros is a better deal than using a travel money card ignoring the £10 set up fee, i expect the exchange rate to be a lot better because its a visa electron card, but does the other charges from the post office wipe out any benefits

would you get one?

jenniferpa

I think the primary benefit of this sort of card is the security issue - if the card is lost you can get the money back. However, you can get the same sort of security with TC, which are cheaper. If I had a child travelling outside the country, I'd consider it (since it can, I believe be remotely loaded) but otherwise no.

greenishfingers

Great thread, many thanks for all the pointers.

In the past I've always bought currency when travelling, but I think I'll try and get the nationwide debit card instead and load that up... wish me luck!

**purpleprincess**

RT7 wrote:

Can anyone tell me if you buy your currency at Tesco's you will get your points still?

Thanks

I'd like to know this too, any ideas anyone???

pin

http://www.tescofinance.com/personal/finance/finance/travelmoney/index.jsp
Call up and ask

monceri

According to the American Express website, it is possible to find American Express partners all over the world who will cash your travellers cheques without charging a fee/commission: http://www143.americanexpress.com/tcintl/feefreelocator/request?request_type=default&country=uk


My story:

I bought Euro travellers cheques from the Post Office in preparation for going to Barcelona for a month. I chose travellers cheques over plastic because I didn't have time to set up an account with eg Nationwide, and my own bank (HSBC) has rather high percentage fees for foreign plastic withdrawals. The commission-free TCs offered a better deal overall, even though they have a worse exchange rate.

I wasn't expecting to have to pay commission to change them into cash in Barcelona. Twice, staff at the Post Office said that foreign banks etc shouldn't charge commission to cash them, and that if they did I could claim the money back. I didn't pay much attention at the time, but I wish I had now! The banks I went into all wanted to charge me flat fees for exchanging the cheques, varying from 15 Euro to 3 Euro. The more I look into this, the more it sounds like complete nonsense that the Post Office will somehow credit the commission charges back to me when I return home.

I also just read on another thread in these forums that Portugal and Spain are well-known for charging fees for cashing TCs. Wish I'd searched for that earlier, but the trip was a last-minute decision. Anyway, on Monday I'm going to check out one of the American Express partners from that link I posted above. (There are three banks in Barcelona which are listed, and they all seem to have tons of branches around the city. I think it was just bad luck that I went into different banks originally!)

wilsons

Hi,

Heading to Croatia for a few weeks at the end of July. Just wondering what’s the best visa card to take with us for purchases, cash withdrawals etc?

Thanks in advance…