Change British pounds to Euros in Germany

SORN

Thank you for reading

I was given about £2.000 cash on a Friday night and I could not put it in my bank in UK
I brought this money with me in Germany, since I thought I could exchange them in Euros and pay my bill with them.

I can see now the exchange rate is every British sterling is 1.14 I went to a bank here and they offered me 1.094 as exchange rate, so I will be loosing 100 euros

I told the bank I will have a think about that, is this exchange ate acceptable?

Any suggestion will be very appreciative

Thank you very much in advance for your support

OceanSound

Its not acceptable. I always check the rate at more than one bank. Also, ask a few local currency exchange bureau's (currency exchange shops) then compare with the mid-market rate published online.e.g. on xe.com. If the difference is as much as 100 euros, then clearly the bank has given you a horrible exchange rate.

Like i say check other banks and currency exchange shops.If you are in Berlin this link has some places for exchanging currency:
https://transferwise.com/us/blog/currency-exchange-berlin

eskbanker

SORN wrote: »

I can see now the exchange rate is every British sterling is 1.14 I went to a bank here and they offered me 1.094 as exchange rate, so I will be loosing 100 euros

I told the bank I will have a think about that, is this exchange ate acceptable?

The bank-to-bank exchange rate may be 1.14 but tourist rates for exchanging physical currency will always fall short of that - if you turn up at a UK bureau de change today then chances are you'd be offered no more than 1.10.

If you pre-order from one of the limited number of specialist converters you might get 1.12, but as with many things you'll benefit from pre-planning and ordering in advance after shopping around - your flight ticket to Germany probably cost you a lot less weeks or months ago than if you'd bought it at the airport....

OceanSound wrote: »

If the difference is as much as 100 euros, then clearly the bank has given you a horrible exchange rate.

Not really - the offered rate is less than 5 points off the 'true' exchange rate and (as above) probably typical of walk-up tourist rates but because OP is talking about £2,000 this multiplies up to nearly 100 euros....

Postscript: in my local Tesco today the walk-up rate is 1.09 (i.e. slightly below OP's quoted figure) but online advance order is 1.1168.

SORN

Thank you very much I am not in Berlin I am in Balveria

SORN

Thank you very much I think I am going to go back in that bank and exchange the money with the exchange rate the offered me

eskbanker

SORN wrote: »

Thank you very much I think I am going to go back in that bank and exchange the money with the exchange rate the offered me

....which may not still be on offer when you return tomorrow of course, given that exchange rates are dynamic in nature.

And just to be clear I wasn't necessarily advocating accepting that rate, just highlighting that it didn't seem outrageous to me - you may find better if you have the time and inclination to shop around....

OceanSound

SORN wrote: »

Thank you very much I am not in Berlin I am in Balveria

Where is that?...surely you mean Bavaria, as in the part where Munich and Nuremberg is.

SORN

Yes sorry Bavaria Thank you

SORN

Thank you very much