Travel Money Maximiser Discussion Area

Bykerlass

I dont seem able to access HSBC to check whether I can buy Euros direct from the bank at the same price as ordering online. Does anyone know if this service is available? I am an HSBC customer.

Thanks

mat19

Heres the link http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/travel-international/travel-money

I am with LloydsTSB and they allow me to buy online and pay no charge on my card but there rate is low compared to others.

There rate today is: 1.415160 this is not all that good but worth keeping an eye on it.

Also foreign currency can change upto twice a day. usually the second change is after 6PM also never buy currency at end of week as it is low, usually Wednesdays currency rates can be higher than any other day as it middle of week.

Bykerlass

Thanks for the info mat will keep a look out.

Interesting about the currency rates at different times of the week. :beer:

mat19

Yes it is interesting.

Even thou i am rubbish at percentages etc i used to work in a Post Office (thanks to computers it is all calculated for us) and as i sold foreign currency all the time i was able to indentify when the best rate seemed to be and that was always middle of week. Plus when the summer holidays come i notice that it sometimes drop as they know people who is going on holiday with there familys will pay the rate.

jamwis

Hi all,

just to reiterate that you need to carefully consider fees before buying. HSBC Mastercard charged me £25 cash handling fee on a £1000 foreign exchange with SAGA - puts quite a big hole in your saving!
This actually pans out at £1028.40 for €1445, a true exchange rate of 1.405, nowhere near the 1.440 I thought I was getting, in fact, it was exactly the same as I would have got from the Post Office.
You still need to do a lot of homework before buying online - and buying with a debit card is not an answer as some Banks have a £300 limit on this type of transaction (I assume they are treating them the same way as a cash withdrawal from an ATM).

Once again it is a case of caveat emptor and read all of the page before using the Travel Money Maximizer. I think the site should be amended to show the warning at the top of the page, not offscreen below the tool.

mat19

That HSBC Mastercard is it a credit card?

As if it is then they would class it as a cash withdrawal and you will pay interest from the date you have made the purchase for foreign currency.

If buying online it is best to use a switch card which carrys no charge (got info from this site) or use a debit card and the fee is usually no more than £4.50.

Also this site says that HSBC does not charge so must be credit card

NH_Lokomotiv

has anyone any advice on changing foreign currency back into sterling? (i've searched through the forums and a few people have asked but had no replies so far).
i'm presuming that i should just pay it into my bank account (not loads to be honest - around 1000 danish kr, just under £100 so probably not gonna save myself much by asking this!), but if anyone has any tips it'd be good to know.

catokelly

OnlineFX (www.onlinefx.co.uk) usually offer very good buyback rates (the best I have been able to get) you can ring them or email them and either send the currency or bring it to the admin office and they will pay you by cheque or directly into your bank account.

catokelly

dzug wrote: »

I mean 1.5% of £300 is £4.50.

Multiply 300 by one and a half - answer 450. Divide by 100 - 4.5

If you take more than £300 it will still be £4.50, coz that's the maximum they charge. If you take less then it will be less than £4.50 - it will be the percentage.

An easier way to calculate 1.5% is simply that 1.5% is £1.50 in every £100 you spend which is equal to £15 in every £1000 pounds.

As for Lloyds card charges they charge a maximum of £4.50 no matter how large the amount of currency that you order. Hope this helps!

charlotte99

just check out who charges you on your debit card for buying travellers cheques and there sits my own bank, Lloyds TSB. How dare they charge me for using my own money !!!. Been thinking of changing to another bank for a while ...this has just confirmed that I need to get onto it asap. Cant believe how greedy some banks are.