holiday money Danish Kroner from ACE-FX

moonblossom

Hi we are going on holiday to denmark in 2 weeks and i will have to decide where to get money exchanged. i just had a look at the ACE-FX exchange website and it looks ok to me, i just wondered if anyone had money exchanged and delivered from them, would hate to loose my money..thank you for reading

NFH

Do not change cash between currencies; instead use cards for purchases and cash withdrawals. An electronic form of payment is inherently cheaper than changing banknotes because extraterritorial cash is expensive to handle. When you use a card, Visa or MasterCard obtains a wholesale interbank rate and no money crosses borders. GBP is paid between UK bank accounts and the foreign currency is paid between bank accounts within the foreign country. When you change cash, either in the UK or abroad, one currency will always be extraterritorial, i.e. outside its home country. If you change cash in the UK, the foreign cash will be extraterritorial, or if you change your cash abroad, the GBP will be extraterritorial. Physical cash is inherently expensive to handle, extraterritorial cash even more so.

In the wholesale banknote trading markets, cash is consequently traded at a premium or discount compared to electronic funds, and the premium or discount depends on several factors. For example the physical state of the banknotes is relevant; in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe a pristine state is expected. The denomination is also relevant because smaller denominations are more expensive to transport. Another factor affecting some currencies is the issuer of a banknote; for example there are multiple issuers of GBP and HKD banknotes, and Scottish banknotes have a lower wholesale value than Bank of England banknotes. Added to these wholesale costs are the retail costs incurred by bureaux de change, such as employing staff and the potential movement of the wholesale interbank rate while a bureau de change holds the cash. Forget taking cash between countries unless you want to pay unnecessarily for these many costs through a worse exchange rate.

Although Visa and MasterCard obtain a wholesale interbank rate, many UK card issuers subsequently add a percentage fee (often up to 3%) for non-GBP transactions. Given that the card issuer does not partake in the foreign exchange element of the transaction, any such fee is not for foreign exchange but a fee for nothing, feasible because many consumers are less sensitive to or observant of fees when the transaction currency and billing currency are different. You can avoid such fees by getting one of the top cards for overseas spending, e.g. Halifax Clarity.

catokelly

Oh my goodness!!

Moonblossom only asked a simple question and got an essay in return which didnt even answer their question!!

WelshSun

catokelly wrote: »

Oh my goodness!!

Moonblossom only asked a simple question and got an essay in return which didnt even answer their question!!

Yes it did.

He said it would be far better value to use a card, than to exchange cash. This is correct.

Best cards-
Halifax Clarity Credit Card. MetroBank Debit Card.

Best Pre-paid card (As you are short of time)-
Travelex Cash Passport Globe (The pound sterling card)

The Travelex Cash Passport Globe will be much better value than exchanging cash, even at the best rate. You can pick it up at the airport (If it has a Travelex), if you buy online before in just four hours.

mdavid

catokelly wrote: »

Oh my goodness!!

Moonblossom only asked a simple question and got an essay in return which didnt even answer their question!!

I guess answer is fairly straight forward, see the use of money exchange is always expensive than using a card, because with the baking of Visa or Maestro you will be able to use the card as medium of exchange rather than paper money which will never be exchanged at cheaper rates than cards, the transactions with the help of credit cards will not only provides a cheaper money but also less risky to handle, because you don't want to lose your paper money due to any mishap by yourself or somebody else, still if you want to carry paper currency than credibility ACE-FX can be found on money exchangers ratings in Denmark, you can also get complete details from their webpage or contact numbers, simply evaluate the options and go for it.

budgetflyer

or you can go to the post office. rates aren't great but there is always a Q so they must be doing something right. Handy for picking up over priced travel insurance too.

benjus

NFH - while all that is true, I would say that:

1. Two weeks probably isn't enough time to get one of the top cards, unless the OP lives in London and can get to Metro Bank.
2. Rates for exchanging cash at the top-pick bureaux de change are often comparable to, or even cheaper than, rates for electronic transfers via FX brokers, at least for relatively small amounts. So handling foreign cash isn't always more expensive.

moonblossom -

To actually answer your question - I've used the Ace FX branch in Canary Wharf a couple of times and had no problems.

In the two-week timescale you have, you might also want to look at this prepaid card, which will most likely work out cheaper than buying currency notes: http://www.travelex.co.uk/uk/cash-passport-globe.aspx

NFH

benjus wrote: »

Rates for exchanging cash at the top-pick bureaux de change are often comparable to, or even cheaper than, rates for electronic transfers via FX brokers, at least for relatively small amounts. So handling foreign cash isn't always more expensive.

True. That's why I said "inherently" rather than "always" more expensive. However, you'd be very lucky to find such a bureau de change in the UK.

WelshSun

budgetflyer wrote: »

or you can go to the post office. rates aren't great but there is always a Q so they must be doing something right. Handy for picking up over priced travel insurance too.

Because lots of people are stupid/ like being ripped off/ are stuck in their ways from the 70s/80s.

Like I said above.

Get the Travelex Cash Passport Globe.
You can order it four hours before you fly and pick it up in the airport. Or they will send it through the post in 3 to 5 days.
Better than the cash deals you will get in 99.9999999999999999% of the time.