Travel Money Maximiser Discussion Area

shebanjoed

Relatives in Canada are visiting soon and have asked me whether they should bring £s or Euros. Can anyone advise?

dzug

shebanjoed wrote: »

Relatives in Canada are visiting soon and have asked me whether they should bring £s or Euros. Can anyone advise?

Well it depends where they are visiting...... If they are going to need both, bring both. You don't want two sets of conversion fees.

However the standard advice about using ATMs and credit cards applies - any charges levied by their bank will be less than the cost of changing cash here. Most outlets charge 8% (buried in the 'commission-free' exchange rate) to buy foreign currency. Some are worse - most skew their rates in favour of Brits buying foreign currency and pile it on when buying back.

mr_forward

BBVA - Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

Moneysavers in the square-mile may like to know that their rates are better than M&S. 1.44 euro and 2.01 dollar. compared to 1.438 and 1.988 at M&S.


It's comission-free for cash and they only do euros and dollars. They shut at 3pm

There's a knightsbridge branch too.

Main Branch
108 Cannon Street
London EC4N 6EU

Knightsbridge Branch
142 Brompton Road
London SW3 1HY

Clara_m_2

Some great tips on here guys, I'm hoping to get my travel money this weekend, so will be using this advice!

ailuro2

I watched this site for weeks, using the money maximiser etc, making sure I got the best bang for my buck...got $2.062 for my pound for Canadian Dollars im M&S...walking down Broughty Ferry- a little town on the outskirts of Dundee...spotted a new cheque cashing shop selling Canadian for $2.096 !!:eek:

So make sure to keep your eyes peeled in the least obvious of places.:D

LazyMoney

I too have eagerly been checking this site for weeks in anticipation of buying currency at a great rate. My newly opened Nationwide Flexaccount debit card at the ready, I chose Tesco to purchase my currency. Ordered before 2.00 pm, delivery next day, Wednesday, great!

Oops, wrong Wedneday, not so great. Several calls to Travelex later, no flexibility, no money. Now my Nationwide account is £500 lighter and I have no holiday spending money as it will be delivered the Wednesday I am away :-(

(I had foolishly assumed that the date was a default setting, but it must have set by a slip of the scroll and I hadn't noticed before I pressed the fatal "buy" button...sniff, stupid or what)

M4RKM

i've found a local place called chequecentre that is doing US$ @ 2.003 -> £1


their exchange rate €1.45 -> £1

no commission..

Plenty of branches around the UK

check http://www.no1currency.co.uk/ which is where it all comes from

the website looks terrible, but i actually spotted the exchange rate in the window of the ossett, wakefield branch..

LazyMoney

I am happy to report that, in response to a last resort e-mail to Travelex customer services, a nice lady has today sorted out delivery of my currency.

gardner1

why would you want to buy from travelex with n/wide debit card when you will get 5-7% more from atm when you get there

jcumpsty

I have just posted this on under another topic, but think that it deserves recognition here as well, because in my case the Travel Money Maximizer was WRONG!

It lists a rate of 2.02 for Canadian Dollars.
However when I booked the cash I got a rate of 2.0544.

Furthermore, at the post office you can book the money for collection, pay by cash, and avoid the hefty debit card fees that some FORCE you to pay.