How to buy travellers cheques or foreign currency

newfoundglory

nmealey wrote:

I agree with martins advice regarding spending on your credit card, giving better rates, but with the US $ at 1.82 to the £ I can get $2000 for £1093.02 at travelex. Tis is guaranteed. I'm not going to the satates until late august, and cant say what I will get my money for at that time.

If the rate goes to $1.70 to £1 then I get $1858.10 for my £1093.02 - a difference of $141.90 which I would not have accrued in interest had I left it in the bank.

Does it still make sense to pay on CC. I don't think so unless I have missed something, which I usually do !

Ah yes, but you are assuming that the rate will fall between now and then; when in fact you are no more likely to lose than you are to gain - but thats the 50/50 risk.

No one can say for sure whats going to happen to the markets that far in the future! I'm no speculator, but its definitely not impossible that the rate could hit more than $2 to the £.

If you want no risk, then go ahead and buy currency now at whatever rate you believe is "fair".

Or, you could try to reduce the risk - buy some currency now... then buy some more in a few months time... then stick the rest on your credit card when you get to the US!

Jockie_2

Does anyone have a recommendation to make. I've been looking at Travelex - decent rate but order in advance & collect at airport - pain. Also onlinefx, gives better rate but £4.95 delivery charge but to your door. What's peoples experiences with these two?

scoot_2

I have used onlineFX a number of times - very easy, very efficient & good rates. Obviously the delivery charge adds to the overall cost, but worth it for the convenience.

niff_noff

I have also used OnlineFX numerous times, but have avoided the delivery charge by accessing them via this link
http://www.1stholidaystore.co.uk/foreigncurrency.htm
I have occasionally found Travelex to have a slightly better rate, but I would rather avoid the possibility of not having time to collect from their office at the airport if I am running late for a flight.
:T :T :T

ler01kjh

Nationwide was great for me. Until 1st March, I got 1% cashback on all transactions as well. If you're heading to a developed country, I'd open and account, and stick to nationwide. You can withdraw as many times as you want.

stackhouse

I've read through this thread with interest. I need to take $300 with me to China and looked at Travelex. When you convert the $300 into £ it shows £146 but to buy them puts the price upto £165, a bit strange (unless I missed the charge info).
They also don't seem to sell Chinese Yuan.
Just a comment...

grumbler

I read original article and searched this thread. I have not found anything related to the fact that many (most of?) banks charge you 1.5%+ for using debit card to buy currency or travellers cheques (see posts #18,21-22 in the 'best exchange rate for Euros-please ' thread). I think this important information needs to be added to the original article.

MarkyMarkD

Jockie wrote:

Does anyone have a recommendation to make. I've been looking at Travelex - decent rate but order in advance & collect at airport - pain. Also onlinefx, gives better rate but £4.95 delivery charge but to your door. What's peoples experiences with these two?

I almost always use Travelex. I can't see what's a pain about collecting at the airport - you've got to go there anyway! If you have it delivered to the house, the chances are you won't be there when the postie rings (or in our case, normally, knocks quietly and then runs away) and will have to troll to the Post Office/delivery office/whatever. Also avoids you the risk of carrying a pile of cash around with you prior to the airport.

vinylmusic

I usually wait till I get across to Europe and change my pounds to Euros over there. In most cases I get a better rate there than I do here. The advantages can vary from country to country and bank to bank so you need to shop around. In France I find the post office best.
If you go to the same country on a regular basis opening a bank account in that country can be an advantage. Some banks give better exchange rates to customers depositing to their account.
Also you can leave your unspent Euros there for next time possibly gaining interest in the process

Munki_2

I've just taken a look at the travelex website, as I'm wanting to get some Cypriot £'s for when we on holiday on Sunday. However I can't see if they offer commision free buy-back or not. They have a tick box for their 'Buy back plus' service, but it costs £3.50, which is a rip off. If I don't choose this option will travelex buy back the money at the going rate at that time, or is the only way to have commission free buy-back to pay £3.50 (which in my view defeats the whole object of it being commission free from the average punter!)

Cheers,

Munki.