Taking English notes abroad?

r2015

Do people still take a couple of hundred pound of English notes abroad for emergencies or do they now rely on debit and credit cards?


I've been doing this for years.


Euro destination.

pmramsay

Personally I would rather find the best rate for euro in the uk, pick up my euros and use them in an emergency, you may be in a situation where you cant get to somewhere to exchange the english notes. I always tend to have £20-30 on me anyway when I go away so I am not caught short when I land back.

r2015

Personally I would rather find the best rate for euro in the uk, pick up my euros and use them in an emergency,

I do buy euros in the UK, this is for emergencies.

You can always find someone to take English currency, came in handy when we were about to board a plane and the flight was then delayed for 23 hours and no pesetas or cash machines to get money to buy booze , other passengers sold us pesetas.

And no compensation.

skid112

r2015 wrote: »

I do buy euros in the UK, this is for emergencies.

You can always find someone to take English currency, came in handy when we were about to board a plane and the flight was then delayed for 23 hours and no pesetas or cash machines to get money to buy booze , other passengers sold us pesetas.

And no compensation.

you've answered your own question then

r2015

you've answered your own question then

Am I the only person who does this?

InsideInsurance

It depends on the country.

Anywhere in the Eurozone isnt going to be a backwater country and so will take whatever I happen to have in my wallet in terms of GBP and EUR but would rely on cards.

Certainly been to some countries in the world where ATMs are either rare or wont work with foreign cards or its a controlled currency where official exchange rates are worse than you get via other channels etc where its prudent to take a hard currency like USD, GBP, EUR etc

zagfles

I usually take some, maybe £50-100 or so. After all doesn't cost anything (except perhaps a few pence lost interest).

With Euros I always overdraw when I'm in Euroland so have some left for next time, and take it even if I'm going to a non-Euro country so I can use it as emergency cash like I do with GBP. Not that I've ever needed it, I've yet to land an a foreign airport without a cashpoint.

peachyprice

No, never done it.

I would usually take £50 cash for the airport so will always have some sterling on me, but that's all. I can't say I've ever been in the positing where I've thought 'I wish I had some £'s with me'.

But I don't rely entirely on cards, I travel with a good amount of local currency so that I'm not searching for ATM's at the start of my trip.

Doshwaster

zagfles wrote: »

I usually take some, maybe £50-100 or so. After all doesn't cost anything (except perhaps a few pence lost interest).

With Euros I always overdraw when I'm in Euroland so have some left for next time, and take it even if I'm going to a non-Euro country so I can use it as emergency cash like I do with GBP. Not that I've ever needed it, I've yet to land an a foreign airport without a cashpoint.

Same here. For years I used to carry around an emergency US$50 bill hidden away for emergencies but I never needed to use it - until I found myself thirsty in an airport bar during a flight delay.

Now I just take sufficient cards to cover all eventualities. Main travel card is Halifax Clarity, backup to that is a Caxton FX with about £50 on it and backup to that are regular HSBC debit and credit card - but I haven't used them abroad in years.

I can't remember that last time I changed money before leaving the country. Like you I've never found myself in an airport that didn't have a cash machine and I usually have a float of Euro, Dollars and Thai Baht from previous trips.

agrinnall

Doshwaster wrote: »

Like you I've never found myself in an airport that didn't have a cash machine

You need to get a bit more remote, for instance, I'm pretty sure that Kirkwall Airport doesn't have an ATM, and as far as I can see there isn't one at Inverness Airport either.

benjus

I never take English money with me (unless I happen to have some in my wallet when I travel) and I never get foreign currency in the UK unless it's bought from a friend or colleague at the mid-market spot exchange rate. Generally I use cards for everything abroad.

I plan in advance how I'm going to get from the airport to my destination. In most cases I will either be hiring a car (which can of course be paid by card) or using public transport (which can often be bought and paid for in advance, or if not can often be paid for by card).

I've been travelling like this since the 90s in various parts of the world and have never been stranded with no cash.