US Dollars - Best Place for Cash Only?

leew

Hi,

I need some Dollars, what are my best options?

I'm thinking Tesco/Thomson or bestforeignexchange.com (£5 fee?)

Would i be right?

I will be using a Post Office card for most of my spending but will need a small (ish) amount of cash.

HappyMJ

How much is small? Wouldn't the post office be a reasonable place for $100 or less?

leew

HappyMJ wrote: »

How much is small? Wouldn't the post office be a reasonable place for $100 or less?

Less than £500 really, think Tesco are better than Post Office over the counter just after some pointers and to see what my best options are.

Voyager2002

At the five hundred pound mark, delivery is free with the mail-order services like Currency Express. They generally offer a far better deal than over the counter places.

dzug1

catokelly wrote: »

Post Office offers the worst rates, for each £100 you will lose around $5 compared to getting it elsewhere. Best thing is check Martin Lewis www.travelmoneymax.com

Don't knock the PO too much - you can easily do worse. (Travel agents, many banks) They have become more competitive recently, though I still hate their NO COMMISSION claim

They were recently the best buy for me on 'order online to pick up locally'. I'd left it too late for home delivery. Maybe luckily - if I'd been more organised I'd have ordered it from Crown Currency just as they were folding......



Shopping around is the best policy

leew

dzug1 wrote: »

Don't knock the PO too much - you can easily do worse. (Travel agents, many banks) They have become more competitive recently, though I still hate their NO COMMISSION claim

They were recently the best buy for me on 'order online to pick up locally'. I'd left it too late for home delivery. Maybe luckily - if I'd been more organised I'd have ordered it from Crown Currency just as they were folding......



Shopping around is the best policy

I'm a bit wary of that now since the collapse.

Anyone used The Change Group or Best Foreign Exchange online? they seen to come top on the https://www.travelmoneymax.com link catokelly posted.

catokelly

leew wrote: »

I'm a bit wary of that now since the collapse.

Anyone used The Change Group or Best Foreign Exchange online? they seen to come top on the www.travelmoneymax.com link catokelly posted.

Crown operated a totally different business model to other currency companies, Crown were offering artificially high rates in order to entice customers (higher than the live interbank rate) and held onto customers money for a minumum of 10 days and up to 12 months.

With other currency companies, they despatch the currency as soon as your payment hits their account, so the risk is much less. Personally I have used www.thomasexchange.co.uk for years, knowing that they have been established since the 1970s I feel it is safer than using a newer company, you can get the currency posted for £5 or they have 2 offices in london that you can order in person and collect from if you are wary of getting the currency posted.