Tourist Exchange rates - website?

becva

I regularly have dollars that I want to exchange for sterling (obviously not the best way around for me!). I wanted to find a good website that does a comparison of the high street bank/post office/Marks and Spencer rates for currency.

I wondered if there was a reason for this - but banks publish their rates so how would they stop another website collating them?

If there is such a site I'd be glad to hear of it - I don't have enough to need a broker and checking them all takes ages. Though I've foung good old M&S to be the best on several occasions.

What is the best way to check all high street tourist rates?

Thanks!
Bec
PS - this is my first post after week of reading so be gentle with me!

MarkyMarkD

Hi Bec and well done on your first post!

I can't think of, or find, a site which does what you want. It's a shame because there would be money in it for the provider - if they could get link income from the forex providers. I think that the only way to do it is the laborious route you use at present.

Are the amounts you are exchanging so great that it's worth the effort of finding the best deal each time? If you find M&S are generally the best (for example) couldn't you just stick to them?

I know that is not a very money saving suggestion, but if the amounts are relatively small it might save you a bit of fruitless searching.

You are obviously going to lose out on the bid/offer spread and will end up giving away a lot more dollars per £ than someone would buy those dollars for. So the only way to save a substantial amount would be to sell direct to an individual who actually wants dollars for a holiday or whatever. I'm sure that if you advertised on here, someone would take up your offer at the right price! You'd be vulnerable to losing the money if anything went wrong though ... so I'm not sure that you would consider that a good idea. It would work OK if you could do a direct exchange with someone in person, rather than posting them the money.

Anyway, I'm meandering now, so welcome to the site once again, and hope you can find a solution to your conundrum.

becva

Thanks for your advice - I know that you're probably right, the searching around is time consuming and usually fruitless, I guess it's more for my own peace of mind - so that I can be sure I've got the best deal and not that I'll see a better rate the moment I leave M&S - however unlikely it is!

Exchanges with friends off to th states though is a good ideal - we could split the buy/sell rates and save us both some cash.

I'll keep looking for a good comparison site - hopefully someone with the know-how will see your post and realise they could do it and make some money! If anyone does see one though, please post the details!
Thanks!

Bec

robnp

Hi, I periodically have to exchange pounds into US dollars, & in the past I have found The Royal Bank of Scotland to be very competitive. However, recently I went in & the cashier said that to avoid the wait for the dollars (usually 24 hrs), I should go to the Post Office as they keep foreign bills on hand. I did, the service was brilliant, & not only did I get immediate US money, but in the denominations I wanted & at an excellent rate of exchange. I shall always use their service in the future. Robin.

pin

Hi, if you changing US$'s into £'s quite often, have you looked at opening a Citibank Dollar account with an associated pound sterling account? The rates are very competitive and there is no charge to change the money. However you must maintain a certain balance on the account.