Best currency to use in Egypt

gordiegem

Going to Egypst shortly for a week. Will be staying AI but wondering whether it is best to bring sterling, travellers cheques, cash passport or Egyptian currency?

stephb34

Depends on if your thinking of spending it or just incase money and how much your taking. I would take a little egyptian to get me started as the general concensus on here is the exchange rate is better in egypt, some sterling but no more cash than my insurance covers ie £300 per person. Definitely not tcheques cant stand the things sterling are generally 3% in commission to buy but if you bring £200 back you get £200 back in cash, euro tcheques are free to buy but you lose approx £15 per £100 when you bring them back. Cash passports are good but not really for egypt as egyptian £ is better value than the euro and i would take my nationwide debit card to use and my credit card for emergencies. BUT where are you going in egypt because in Marsa alam we have on our errata to tell customers that the cash point machines out there are unavailable how true this is i dont know but we do have to inform customers of this so presume its true. Sharm, Hurghada and Luxor i dont know about cash points, but im sure someone who's been will tell us.

hollie.weimeraner

According to tripadvisor there are a number of cashpoints readily available in Sharm. This is ok if you have a Nationwide Flex Account as they charge a fee of .84% now on all transactions and cash advances. If you prefer TCheques then again Nationwide are very good as the cheques are free but there is a special delivery charge for the delivery. Still works out cheaper than the fees charged by other issuers.

Not sure about other locations though. If no one on here can help trip advisor forums are a useful source of this sort of information.

It's definitely better to buy currency when you're there and also remember to take £10 notes with you for visas (and £1 coins for tipping) if you are travelling outside Sharm El Sheikh area. Additionally if you require visas buy them from the Egyptian desks and not the tour operator desks at the airport as they're £3 cheaper

payless

US dollar bills are great for tipping in Sharm

for the rest - most places will accept E£ , UK£, Euro or US$ , although generally I would take some E£ for the more obscure shops / bars

Lil_Me_2

I went to Sharm at the end of July and I'd recommend you take lots of $1 bills for tips. In our hotel we didn't need to tip at the start to get good service, but you want a couple of dollars for the airport transfer/bell boy and low $ bills are perfect.

I'd check tripadvisor.co.uk to see what other people say about how much you need for tips. Cash points were a plenty both in Naama bay the local town and also the hotel lobby.

I think the £-$ rate is pretty good at the moment, so it's easy and cheap to stock up on $1 for tips. I'd also get some Egyptian Pounds.

If you're going AI then you don't need much, but it depends where you're going, what's included and whether you want to go on any trips out. If you're going to Sharm I can give you a rough idea of the cost of the normal trips so you can get a better idea of how much you need.

machiavelli27

What is the average cost of an average bottle of beer or pint in sharm. what is the price for a standard meal here also...i am thinking of going but would like to understand the prices

kindofaverage

I usualy take sterling and change it up over there with a much better rate.