Sending a non-trivial sum abroad - UK-USA

Glenno150

Hello, and sorry if ithis belongs in a different forum
I want to send a not-insignificant sum of money from the UK to my friend in the USA.
(Want to gift them funds for a nice holiday to the UK upfront).
I'm talking somewhere around £2k.
My first thought is to send it via paypal which I use often, but I don't know how they deal with international fees. Less fees more better.
However, I want to keep this as simple as possible for the recipient as it's going to be a surprise.
[Perhaps I'll allude to gifting them a smaller amount for a different thing] [I'm with RBS]

Thank you for your guidance.

NedS

Glenno150 wrote: »

Hello, and sorry if ithis belongs in a different forum
I want to send a not-insignificant sum of money from the UK to my friend in the USA.
(Want to gift them funds for a nice holiday to the UK upfront).
I'm talking somewhere around £2k.
My first thought is to send it via paypal which I use often, but I don't know how they deal with international fees. Less fees more better.
However, I want to keep this as simple as possible for the recipient as it's going to be a surprise.
[Perhaps I'll allude to gifting them a smaller amount for a different thing] [I'm with RBS]

Thank you for your guidance.

If it's a surprise, how about you just book the holiday/flights for them online and pay for it when you book it?

Ben8282

NedS wrote: »

If it's a surprise, how about you just book the holiday/flights for them online and pay for it when you book it?

A very good idea bur probably unwise without some sort of prior consultation.
It is very generous of the OP to wish to give this gift to his friend, especially as according to his other thread he is on a low income, homeless and living in a B and B, but I would seriously suggest that sending this money/booking and paying for flights should not be undertaken as a surprise and without prior consultation.

Glenno150

indeed, I'd rather leave the ball in their court, and I'll guide them on logistics

Ben8282 wrote: »

especially as according to his other thread he is on a low income, homeless and living in a B and B,

Got about £12k in savings friend, and am in employment, but thanks for your concern.
I have plans for the majority of my savings which should put me on the road to a degree of prosperity, and can justify this gift to my friend (of at least £500, the upper limit only if they want to do longer term travelling, and besides some of that money will go towards my own travel/accommodation costs too) just fine :j

jonesMUFCforever

If the OP does book flights as a surprise I would try to find out first whether the American friend actually has a passport.

According to Google only 42% of Americans have a passport (UK 76%).

eDicky

Do these funds need to be in US$ for your friend to book flights, or in GB£ to use while in UK, or both..?

kazwookie

Contact your friend first and get the correct bank details, then do a test payment of £50 or so to check the details are correct, if the money goes through and arrives in the correct account, then you are / should be safe to send the rest of the money.


Contact your bank to make the relevant arrangements, unless you already have a currency bank account, at the same time ask them how much in charges it will cost / how long it will take / exchange rates.



I generally get charged about $20 for USA$ to USA$ transfer in the UK, this is a business account.

Glenno150

Thank you for the above answer - so doing a direct bank transfer will be *significantly* cheaper than using the likes of PayPal?

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

If the OP does book flights as a surprise I would try to find out first whether the American friend actually has a passport.

According to Google only 42% of Americans have a passport (UK 76%).

We've discussed passports and tentatively made plans, and I shouldn't have used the word 'surprise', I just mean that I want to contribute more to our trip upfront than the other person expects.

eDicky wrote: »

Do these funds need to be in US$ for your friend to book flights, or in GB£ to use while in UK, or both..?

That's an important point, as a portion of the funds will be used to pay for travel/our accommodation/stuff in the UK. I've used skyscanner to keep an eye on cheap flights, and figured it'd be just as simple for them to do it from over there.

sal_III

I think the best option is for both of you to get a Transferwise account and you transfer them £X then they can pick and choose what portion to convert and use in USD and what portion to keep in GBP.

greyteam1959

Transferwise is the way to go.

Glenno150

Thanks, this matches the advice of my friend who has an American wife