What's the best way to arrange and collect US$ for pickup at T5, Heathrow?

KevinM

I have organised a very last minute trip to the US (tomorrow), and need to arrange £500 worth of US$ for my trip.

What is the best way (best rate) to organise these for me to pick up at T5 tomorrow before I fly out.

I will be paying in cash when I collect them.

Is there actually any method to do this, or will I simply have to pay the going rate at the currency place at T5 tomorrow? (which, no doubt will be awful).

Thanks.

dmg24

Can you pay by card? If so, you can order online at Travelex and collect them at T5.

prosaver

Ill do it for you just give me your bank details (Nigerian accent)

KevinM

dmg24 wrote: »

Can you pay by card? If so, you can order online at Travelex and collect them at T5.

Unfortunately, I took the £500 out of my current account earlier today, with a view of picking them up in town, but organising a v last minute trip took more time than I thought and I didn't manage to get to the travel agent, so I only have the cash to use to pay for them now.

Probably limits my options, I would think.

stilltheone

If you are in London, LinkFx or Thomas Exchange Global. Both in Victoria. Though Thomas has outlets in the Strand and Hammersmith too.

KevinM

Unfortunately, flying into and out of T5, with a 2 hour connection. So only able to pick up curreny at T5.

Looks like I am going to get a pretty poor rate, if I am forced to buy on the day at the airport.

stilltheone

and Liverpool Street. Hammersmith is open until 9pm. So, if you already have a Travelcard.

Oops! Too late.

stilltheone

Why not deposit the cash back into your account via ATM and then look at the Travelex or the Cash Passport Globe solution? Of course this depends on you having enough money in your account to cover the time your bank takes to re-credit your cash.

My advice? Go with Cash Passport Globe

CountryGoose

stilltheone wrote: »

Why not deposit the cash back into your account via ATM and then look at the Travelex or the Cash Passport Globe solution? Of course this depends on you having enough money in your account to cover the time your bank takes to re-credit your cash.

My advice? Go with Cash Passport Globe

Better still - order Cash Passport Globe online for collection at T5 tomorrow and pay cash for the card when you collect.

stilltheone

CountryGoose wrote: »

Better still - order Cash Passport Globe online for collection at T5 tomorrow and pay cash for the card when you collect.

Can you order without paying upfront??

Have you tried it before? I think it may not be possible.

When collecting your Cash Passport, please ensure you bring your valid Passport and the credit/debit card you used to pay for this order. If you intend to use your full/provisional UK photocard driving license or an EU ID card as a form of identification, you must bring this also.
In order to collect your Cash Passport, please download and complete your registration form. You will need to provide this at collection.
Your order value may have been rounded up to provide you with the nearest available currency denomination.
Your order will be available for pick up on the selected date of Friday, 19 Nov 2010.
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KevinM

Yes, I thought it looked like I had to pre-load the card with money first, and pay for it before I collect it.

However, it looks like I could pre-load it with £1 (there is a £1.99 admin fee for anything under £100 though), and collect it tomorrow.

When I collect it, will I then be able to simply pre-load £500 cash to it there and then? or do you need to pre-load it from a card, even at a travelex outlet?

Also, not too sure that this will be cheaper than simply getting cold hard cash, as there is a 1.5% fee for every transaction, so it all depends on what rate this is based on.

As an example, the current cash buy rate with Travelex is 1.552 today. What rate, for instance, would I get for a Passport Globe purchase today? And what do thay base this rate on?

Thanks for all the help, by the way.

Much appreciated.