should we change all our money to Euro's before we leave UK?

lisaab70

LesD wrote: »

I love these questions (NOT)! We don't know when the travel is, how much is going to be budgeted, what the risk of loss (through theft or accident) is likely to be, what alternatives are available to the traveller, whether 'credit' is an option, etc.

How on earth are we expected to advise seriously?

I suggest we just leave it at Victors Bruvver's advice above.

I'm sorry if I didn't provide enough details to be advised seriously (NOT!). But thank you very much to the people who have managed to give me some very helpful advice, for which I am very grateful.We will be travelling at the end of September so I don't know if there is enough time for changing banks etc (forgive me if I sound rude but I don't think it is any business of anybody else how much we are budgeting for on our holiday).Credit is not an option as we don't use credit cards we would rather use the cash and if we don't have the cash we don't use credit cards to get into debt (call us old fashioned but thats the way we are).Thanks for all your replies, most of them have been very helpful but I think my phone call with the bank this afternoon has put me off withdrawing money from an ATM each day.

hammy_the_hammer

lisaab70 wrote: »

I'm sorry if I didn't provide enough details to be advised seriously (NOT!). But thank you very much to the people who have managed to give me some very helpful advice, for which I am very grateful.We will be travelling at the end of September so I don't know if there is enough time for changing banks etc (forgive me if I sound rude but I don't think it is any business of anybody else how much we are budgeting for on our holiday).Credit is not an option as we don't use credit cards we would rather use the cash and if we don't have the cash we don't use credit cards to get into debt (call us old fashioned but thats the way we are).Thanks for all your replies, most of them have been very helpful but I think my phone call with the bank this afternoon has put me off withdrawing money from an ATM each day.

lisaab70 ...no one will know who you are as your anonomous so your budget is a consideration before people can advise...
as this question gets asked time and time again the answers are all within this forum.
in the past people have worried about what rate they are going to get and it turns out they want to change about £100 ...when you're dealing at that level you have to start factoring in shoe leather etc to tell you which the best deal is.
when visiting paris the exchange rate is the least of your worries about being ripped off

skintmostofthetime

Get yourselves £100 ( in euros)to get you through the first few days - it'll give you a chance to look about for any exchanges - you won't pay any fees @ the post office HERE in U.K. - if in doubt get a bit more.
You don't mention if in a hotel/self catering etc - most places will let you have a safe etc and that can be worthwhile - for passports/tickets etc so don't need to worry about them and put rest of money in there too and you don't have to carry more than you think you need. Ask about the safe/security box etc. It's worth the bit you might need to pay for ease of mind.

claireb

hammy_the_hammer wrote: »

when visiting paris the exchange rate is the least of your worries about being ripped off

too true!

lisaab - tbh I think with most banks using ATMs abroad is pretty mush the same as using travellers cheques- cost wise. I think it comes down to style - using ATMs or cashing in TCs which varies from country to country in terms of ease to do. When I went to Paris we just took cash (euros), but we only went for 3 days.

Have a great time and bon voyage!! :hello:

lisaab70

skintmostofthetime wrote: »

Get yourselves £100 ( in euros)to get you through the first few days - it'll give you a chance to look about for any exchanges - you won't pay any fees @ the post office HERE in U.K. - if in doubt get a bit more.
You don't mention if in a hotel/self catering etc - most places will let you have a safe etc and that can be worthwhile - for passports/tickets etc so don't need to worry about them and put rest of money in there too and you don't have to carry more than you think you need. Ask about the safe/security box etc. It's worth the bit you might need to pay for ease of mind.

Thanks very much, I think that sounds like a good idea.We are staying in a hotel, so a safety deposit box would probably be a good solution, then I wont have to carry too much with me each day if I do change it all to Euro's before we leave UK

budgetflyer

Have you seen the Post Office rates?They are terrible!! If you cant use Travelex online,(see my guide on getting up to £50 cashback too) it is worth going into Thomas Cook or Thomsons and asking them to match Travelex.
It has also been suggested that you can get a superior rate at the likes of Cash Convertors or local cheque cashing/pawn shops.

You can also work out exactly how many Euros or other currency you will get for your money from an ATM abroad by inputting the data at

http://www.corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp?src=home

In your case you would input £100 + bank % fee = xyz Euro
Therefor £100 + £4 = xyzEuro
It is worth playing around with the figures. £4 per transaction is 4% of £100
but only 2% of £200 etc so Bank cost reduces the more you draw out in 1 transaction.
Obviously the other % charge will remain the same so you would need to add the 2 together to get an accurate total % off the interbank rate.

With the Nationwide(debit card - their cash currency over counter rates are different) £1 = 1.47 Euro
If you drew £200 from an ATM your bank (using your info) of £4 per transaction(2%) + 1.5% = 3.5%
£1 = 1.42 euro

Thomas exch Global - £1 = 1.45 euro
Travelex £1 = 1.43 Euro
THE POST OFFICE £1 = 1.40 Euro:eek:

So even though your bank is mugging you, the Post Office are worse !!