is this sensible or not

kerri77

going to tenerife on tuesday for a fortnight... and was thinking of going to bank on monday withdrawing £1200.00 then going to the post office and buying the euros to that amount

therefore not using any debit card abroad

is this sensible or not??

thanks

Donnie

Not sensible. But you've left it too late for much else.

kerri77

hi can i ask why its not sensible apart from the obvious of incase it went missing?.. kind regards

dmg24

kerri77 wrote: »

hi can i ask why its not sensible apart from the obvious of incase it went missing?.. kind regards

To take that amount of cash would be asking for trouble, and I would be surprised if your insurer covered you for that amount of cash.

It is likely that, even with the loading charge, your debit card will give you as good an exchange rate as the Post Office (if not better).

Alias_Omega

The base rate for the £ to € is 1.20 at the minute.

I would advise to take say, £200 in Euros (€), which would be €440, then take £1000 in sterling travellers cheques, where you should be able to find 1.17/1.18 at the resort.

If you dont use all the travellers cheques, you can bank them when you return to the UK. If any are lost stolen you can have them replaced..

When you arrive, i would also suggest trying to upgrade to some form of All Inclusive package, prices for the Euro are still based on it being €2 per £1. So pretty expensive.

I know this, as i came from the Uk with work to live in Cyprus

kerri77

Alias_Omega wrote: »

The base rate for the £ to € is 1.20 at the minute.

I would advise to take say, £200 in Euros (€), which would be €440, then take £1000 in sterling travellers cheques, where you should be able to find 1.17/1.18 at the resort.

If you dont use all the travellers cheques, you can bank them when you return to the UK. If any are lost stolen you can have them replaced..

When you arrive, i would also suggest trying to upgrade to some form of All Inclusive package, prices for the Euro are still based on it being €2 per £1. So pretty expensive.

I know this, as i came from the Uk with work to live in Cyprus

200 euros.. is 240.00 i think !!
wheres best place to buy the travellers cheques.. kind regards

dmg24

Alias_Omega wrote: »

The base rate for the £ to € is 1.20 at the minute.

I would advise to take say, £200 in Euros (€), which would be €440, then take £1000 in sterling travellers cheques, where you should be able to find 1.17/1.18 at the resort.

If you dont use all the travellers cheques, you can bank them when you return to the UK. If any are lost stolen you can have them replaced..

When you arrive, i would also suggest trying to upgrade to some form of All Inclusive package, prices for the Euro are still based on it being €2 per £1. So pretty expensive.

I know this, as i came from the Uk with work to live in Cyprus

Why would you take Travellers Cheques? They are rarely (ever?) better value than spending on a debit card.

Heliflyguy

£200 = EUR440? try closer to EUR241
EUR200 more like £166.00

TC's may not be better value but do offer better security if stolen.

You would have to order TC's I dont think you have enough time if you are going next Tuesday but check with the PO or your bank, otherwise if you are taking cash do use the hotel safe and hide the money on/around your person in several places when travelling out, some of the money belts you can buy are good for this.
Dont let people see you checking the money and change small amounts (a couple of days worth) at a time when you get there.
I would also take the Debit card only for emergencies or maybe half the cash and use the Debit card.

Donnie

Another option open to you would have been the my Travel Cash Multi-Currency PrePaid Mastercard via moneysupermarket , if you had an extra day or so.

Rates here.

ailuro2

I'd get a couple of hundred euros to go, then use my debit card to withdraw.

It's foolhardy to walk around with £1200 of Euros on you in any country.;)

Tourist rate is normally 5% worse than business rate so the 2.75ish % charge for a foreign transaction should be wiped out by getting a better rate...

In future do your homework earlier and you could bag a really good rate buying currency online and using the right credit card once you're there.;)