Sainsburys exchanbe deal - am I missing something??

steptoe_and_son

Hi All

I am off to Paris for a week on Saturday morning and need to get some Euros. I am not exactly a seasoned traveller and haven't had to mess around with currency exchange for 12 or 13 years! I need to take at least 800 euros to pay for accommodation and transport and then some spending money. I also have a Halifax Clarity card thanks to advice on MSE.

Its too late to exchange sterling online and not sure I want to anyway. I have a wad of £20 notes to take in and change!

I have looked at Cooks, Tesco and Post Office etc and then came across the following deal at sainsburys. Its open to Nectar card holders and I think its called Nectar Plus.

Basically, you buy your Euros at their day rate, which is ok, not quite as good as the online rate but not enough to worry about and comparable to Tesco and the PO. When you buy your euros (minimum of £600) you pay a fee of £3.99 and then if you return your unspent Euros within 31 days, and have your receipt, they will buy your Euros back at the rate you purchased them.

These seems like an excellent deal to me.

Am I missing something here??



regards



Dudley

dzug1

steptoe_and_son wrote: »

Hi All

I am off to Paris for a week on Saturday morning and need to get some Euros. I am not exactly a seasoned traveller and haven't had to mess around with currency exchange for 12 or 13 years! I need to take at least 800 euros to pay for accommodation and transport and then some spending money. I also have a Halifax Clarity card thanks to advice on MSE.

Its too late to exchange sterling online and not sure I want to anyway. I have a wad of £20 notes to take in and change!

I have looked at Cooks, Tesco and Post Office etc and then came across the following deal at sainsburys. Its open to Nectar card holders and I think its called Nectar Plus.

Basically, you buy your Euros at their day rate, which is ok, not quite as good as the online rate but not enough to worry about and comparable to Tesco and the PO. When you buy your euros (minimum of £600) you pay a fee of £3.99 and then if you return your unspent Euros within 31 days, and have your receipt, they will buy your Euros back at the rate you purchased them.

These seems like an excellent deal to me.

Am I missing something here??



regards



Dudley

Not really - except that there are other people offering the same deal who may have better (or worse) rates.

And unless it's likely that you will bring a lot back the guarantee would cost more than the saving - you'd need to do your sums

steptoe_and_son

From memory - I sat down and did a quick calculation at the weekend, i only need to bring back more than 60 or 70 Euros to cover the £3.99 fee. It is quite likely that I will have several hundred euros when I get back, as I have no idea how much cash I will need I have changed way more than I could possibly need and have the back up of the Halifax Clarity card as well as a few hundred quid on a cash passport card (my just in case of disaster contingency)

Thing is that no one else I spoke to or whos web sites I looked at, actually mentioned a buy back scheme to me. Sainsburys were THE ONLY people to ask me if I were interested in the deal.

dzug1

Well there have been complaints on here that people have been sold the buy back guarantee without being asked - so at least you know what you are letting yourself into.

I think Travelex offer it too

Biggles

The whole point of getting a Halifax Clarity CC is that you use that for goods, accommodation and cash when you are abroad instead of buying cash over here. You save all round that way instead of paying Sainsburys (twice) for the privilege.

bagand96

First Choice and Thomson travel shops offer a buyback scheme.

ferf1223

steptoe_and_son wrote: »

From memory - I sat down and did a quick calculation at the weekend, i only need to bring back more than 60 or 70 Euros to cover the £3.99 fee.

I'm a bit thick mathematically...how do you know how much you would need to bring back to recover the £3.99 fee without knowing what the exchange rate will be on the day you want to change the EUR back to GBP?

Or do you mean the difference between their selling rate and buying rate now, and based on the variance there you would need to bring back 60-70 EUR?

I am genuinely asking as I'm not sure I understand, not picking holes.

steptoe_and_son

You just have to assume that the exchange rate will be the same as it is now - it quite likely won't be but its not likely to move too far in a week or so - or lets hope not anyway!

simongregson

As someone else pointed out, the cheapest option is to pay/take out cash on your Halifax Clarity card. Do you need to pay in cash, or will they take a card? You might only need cash for small expenses - bus tickets, coffee etc.

Biggles

steptoe_and_son wrote: »

You just have to assume that the exchange rate will be the same as it is now - it quite likely won't be but its not likely to move too far in a week or so - or lets hope not anyway!

Er, why? If you're having it changed back at the same rate you bought it at, what difference does it make what happens to the exchange rate in the meantime?

To be honest, I still can't work out why you want to pay Sainsbury's nearly £30 (their markup on €800), plus £3.99 to change back your remaining money, when you could use the Halifax Clarity card and pay nothing (well, maybe a pound or so in interest, depending on how much cash you withdrew (you would pay your hotel by card, and meals where possible) and how soon you cleared the balance when you got home.

kronenbourg

i work for sainsburys/travelex

they have a new rates structure now on euros

nectar
nectar over £300
nectar over £600

although you dont need a nectar card just u wont get the points

if you order online for collection instore http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/travel/ins_travelmoney_tmo_skip.shtml over £500 you`ll get 1000 nectar points as well

the £3.99 fee is as you know the buyback plus its just an add on that some customers take to safeguard losing there money , what you have to realise is that not everyone is as savvy as the majority of posters on here and dont realise how much money they lose out on exchanging its around 10-15%

our rates at generally the best on the high street , we have a price checker thru everymorning which has tesco ( also travelex ) M&S , post office and thomas cook and 99% of the time we have the better rate

yes you can get better prices online but around 85 of people will pick up there money on the highstreet or airport


just a quick one 1st april - 21st of april is the EURO sale at sainsburys giving everyone better than average rates