Two part Q: Pound to Euros/How to carry cash?

Cliecost

Hi,

Part 1:

With the pound currently circling the pan, how can I lock in a rate?

To explain further - My family and I are going abroad for a couple weeks in July to Paris. With the pound going down in value each day that passes. What would be the best way to lock in a rate now without paying now?

Part two: what's the best way to carry money abroad? I am thinking of taking about £1400 in Euros so don't really want all that on me. Any ideas?


Thanks if anyone can help.

(repost from another section, wasn't sure if it's in the right place)

eDicky

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-travel-cards

gardner1

"With the pound going down in value each day that passes".....is it

callum9999

gardner1 wrote: »

"With the pound going down in value each day that passes".....is it

No. Looks like it's been going up in value almost every day for the past couple of weeks!

agrinnall

callum9999 wrote: »

No. Looks like it's been going up in value almost every day for the past couple of weeks!

My experience bears that out, EUR100 withdrawn in Cork on 11th April cost me £80.65 while the same amount taken out in Amsterdam on the 18th cost £80.18.

Cliecost

This is a 1 year graph from the past year from XE. Although the pound has gained some ground in the past few days you can still see it has lost a lot of value over the past year -



If anyone can help me with my original queries I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks.

(The image is pretty crap quality, click on it for a better picture)

benjus

Cliecost wrote: »

This is a 1 year graph from the past year from XE. Although the pound has gained some ground in the past few days you can still see it has lost a lot of value over the past year -



If anyone can help me with my original queries I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks.

(The image is pretty crap quality, click on it for a better picture)

I think the first answer to your post answered your question. If you want to lock in a rate but not carry cash, a EUR prepaid card is your best bet. Opening a Euro account would be another option, but probably overkill for your requirements.

The Revolut card is recommended on here a lot. I don't use it myself as I have other options (I did install the app but had some problems with it). A quick scan of the FAQ suggests that you could top up in GBP then change it to EUR and leave a EUR balance before spending it later. However I'm not 100% sure this is possible.

eDicky

The link I posted was intended to answer both of your queries. If you want to lock in a rate and don't want to carry cash, get a prepaid card. I use Revolut.

Your chart shows the low value of the pound against the euro compared to the highs of last year (mostly due to a weak euro) and a steady rise over the last couple of weeks.The variation in strength of the euro is also a factor. Speculation is best left to the professional forex traders.

eDicky

benjus wrote: »

A quick scan of the FAQ suggests that you could top up in GBP then change it to EUR and leave a EUR balance before spending it later. However I'm not 100% sure this is possible.

This is correct, you can exchange in seconds at any time between the three balances, at the interbank rate at that moment (slightly spread at weekends). So if you succeed in predicting currency trends you can make some money, or lose if your prediction is faulty.

mgdavid

£1400 in euros isn't a huge amount of cash but if you want to be cautious just split it amongst the family members.

Cliecost

What about this card? http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/redir/4ffa7e35

It's on this site but it's really new. Any thoughts?