Travel Money Maximiser Discussion Area

budgetflyer

LALALA wrote: »

Hi,
I checked the maximiser tool yesterday and it gave me 1.98 USD for thomas global exchange and 1.94 for Travelex. It would have cost me £6 to travel to Victoria to get the money from TGE, so I decided to go with Travelex for my £200 worth of 'instant cash' when I arrive in the US on Monday. I can pick this up at the airport on Monday morning, which is definitely more convenient. I paid with my Bank of Scotland debit card - hopefully it has the same T&C's as Halifax - ie. no extra charges.

When I went on to the Travelex site I noticed their 'price guarantee'. Dropped them an email with the details of the TGE rates, and got an email back from them today confirming that they would be sending me a cheque for the difference! Result! :j I get the best rate AND the convenience of collecting the cash where it suits me.

Be aware, the travelex price guarantee is only good up to a MAX GBP 50 lifetime refund. They do keep records so once you have had your 50 thats it, get the wife to order.

As a side note
if you just want small amounts , maybe putting so many euros cash away at a time,then http://www.chequecentres.co.uk/ offer excellent rates and they are in most towns . I got 1.439 today. Only beatable by TEG.

You could go in there with as little as 50 GBP and get the best rate on the high street. Thereby building up a nest egg of Euros without getting ripped off at PO or TAs
Its a great way to save without temptation if you convert your hol savings to euros weekly

CyberSauzee

PaulalMorgan wrote: »

Has anyone used this company before?? I am unsure about using them as I have not heard of them, can anyone advise??

Thanks!!!

Thanks to the advice on this forum, I used TEG at Victoria last week for the first time. Small shop frontage, but you'll find it easily by the queue outside! Allow yourself at least 10 mins if visiting in person. Will definately use them again.

Tracyk_2

I HAVE read the guide for foreign spending - but cannot get my head around it.

Off to Spain for 7 days. Buying meals and snacks - no major purchases (I hope). Do I use Post Office credit card or use my Bank of Scotland or Clydesdale bank card to lift Euros when we get over there. Or take Euros from home. I'm sure we'll only spend about £300. (again - I hope!)

dzug

Tracyk wrote: »

I HAVE read the guide for foreign spending - but cannot get my head around it.

Off to Spain for 7 days. Buying meals and snacks - no major purchases (I hope). Do I use Post Office credit card or use my Bank of Scotland or Clydesdale bank card to lift Euros when we get over there. Or take Euros from home. I'm sure we'll only spend about £300. (again - I hope!)

If you use your PO credit card to purchase things you will get the best possible exchange rate and should have no charges of any sort.

If you use it to get cash you will still get a good rate - but you will also pay a cash advance fee and interest on the money borrowed - so not really advisable.

Cash is more complicated - if you can get it from a good source here (eg M&S) then it's not going to be a lot different from using your debit card in an ATM there. If it's not a large sum I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it.

lfc84

I went there on Saturday to order US Dollar travellers cheques.

I was told that I would have to come back today (Monday) to collect them.

Since I was only in London for the weekend this wasnt an option and I will now have to use Travelex.

So, be warned, that although the Thomas Exchange Global implies that there is instant availability of US $ travellers cheques, this isnt the case (in my experience).

I didnt want cash sine i am not travelling for the US for another few years but I want to take advantage of the current exchange rate. Also, I'm not sure what happens IF the notes change design between now and in a few years time....and they are no longer valid by the time i arrive in the US....

dzug

lfc84 wrote: »

Also, I'm not sure what happens IF the notes change design between now and in a few years time....and they are no longer valid by the time i arrive in the US....

AFAIK $US notes never expire.

RDCM

I posted this earlier but think it would be better placed in this discussion topic.....
Even though people have advised me against using travellers cheques I still like the security of seeing exactly what I have left to spend in front of me and the security of travellers cheques, plus I didn't have time to set up a Nationwide flex account. The travelex/going places/Post Officecards now in circulation charged silly fees such as 2% just for loading. So I searched for the most cost effective way of purchasing Traveller cheques.
I immediately ruled out Euro traveller cheques as you are charged twice, once with the UK fudged exchange rate the best I could find was 1.44 Euros per pound sterlingwith Travelex on a day when in Spain I emailed an operator who would give 1.46. Then you can be charged anything from 1 to 10% to cash them abroad.
Hence I decided to purchase Sterling Traveller cheques,
I visited numerous sites/bureau de exchange. I was told nobody would do Sterling Traveller cheques 0% commision, HSBC charge 1.5%, Thomas Cook 3%, Going Places 2%.
The Post office 1.5% if you collect from a Post Office.........but if you purchase online through the Post Office for Home Delivery 0% commision is Charged, (although i think you must spend over £500 to have free delivery, via special delivery). I even emailled them twice to confirm this is the case and had it confirmed twice.

charlieheard

RDCM wrote: »

I posted this earlier but think it would be better placed in this discussion topic.....
Even though people have advised me against using travellers cheques I still like the security of seeing exactly what I have left to spend in front of me and the security of travellers cheques, plus I didn't have time to set up a Nationwide flex account. The travelex/going places/Post Officecards now in circulation charged silly fees such as 2% just for loading. So I searched for the most cost effective way of purchasing Traveller cheques.
I immediately ruled out Euro traveller cheques as you are charged twice, once with the UK fudged exchange rate the best I could find was 1.44 Euros per pound sterlingwith Travelex on a day when in Spain I emailed an operator who would give 1.46. Then you can be charged anything from 1 to 10% to cash them abroad.
Hence I decided to purchase Sterling Traveller cheques,
I visited numerous sites/bureau de exchange. I was told nobody would do Sterling Traveller cheques 0% commision, HSBC charge 1.5%, Thomas Cook 3%, Going Places 2%.
The Post office 1.5% if you collect from a Post Office.........but if you purchase online through the Post Office for Home Delivery 0% commision is Charged, (although i think you must spend over £500 to have free delivery, via special delivery). I even emailled them twice to confirm this is the case and had it confirmed twice.

The reason that you can't get £ TCs with 0% commission is that you are paying for a service when you buy TCs. Thomas Cook has an office of several hundred people in Peterborough with a 24-hour call centre dealing with lost and stolen TCs, and that doesn't come cheap... If you buy TCs with 0% commission, how are they to keep that office running?

s000zie

just to let you all know you can no longer collect money from manchester airport as one of the holiday companies has taken over that side of money exchange .a pain i know as i have to travel to liverpool if i want to change cash, but the nice people at travelex did say that they are working with tesco to do on line cash exchannge ....what rates i dont know but be woth a look if you used to get your money at manchester i did coz i work ther and they were the best rates around...

angiek

Hello, sorry to be a pain because I know this has all been discussed but I cannot really get my head round it with so many different suggestions from people!
I am visiting Peru next month and have been told to use mainly US dollars and will also need some Nuevo Sol for flight/airport charges etc within the country. PLEASE someone just tell me whether I should
1. Take cash US dollars with me (all I need for duration)and change these for some Nuevo Sol as and when I need
2. Take small amount of dollars and use either an Alliance & Leicester Debit card or Goldfish Credit card (mastercard -so not as widely accepted in Peru)
3. Purchase a Post Office visa travel card (free at moment)and put all the money I think I may need onto this -but don't know if charged anything when take out any unspent money on return
All advice gratefully received -but please keep it very simple (like me!!)
Many thanks.Angie K