Euro (€) Currency Thread

phatbear

The euro is rubbish at the mo, consider I got 1.46 at one point last year, however if you intend to go to euroland you have no real choice but to grin and bear it, my toptip's are as follows:

find a friend who had come back from euroland and try and strike a deal, that way they dont loose selling em back and you dont loose buying them from the post office etc.
Ignor euroland and go to places that accept dollars, trust me its the way forward.
Use dubloons they are international and no hastle with exchange rates.

all the best

the bear

davetrousers

silkyuk9 wrote: »

how much is a euro worth at the moment.

BBC show exchange rates. link

Remember this is not the rate you will get on the High Street

Lou-la-belle

I have 200 Euros worth of travellers cheques left after a trip to Cyprus and I'd like some advice on the best way to cash these in.

I was advised by the foreign exchange that Euro Travellers Cheques were the best thing to take (above Sterling TC's, cash and using debit card) but since coming back their buyback rate is so high (1.39, bought them at 1.15) that I'm losing over £30 :mad:. Since there was no board up at the time, I had no idea that there was such a difference between the sell and buyback rates (currently 1.20 and 1.39).

My question is, what is the best way of cashing them in so I minimise the money lost? Is there any way around having to pay them into my bank or back to the travel agent?

I don't want to keep them as I'm not going back in the forseeable future.

Thanks

dzug1

Lou-la-belle wrote: »

I have 200 Euros worth of travellers cheques left after a trip to Cyprus and I'd like some advice on the best way to cash these in.

I was advised by the foreign exchange that Euro Travellers Cheques were the best thing to take (above Sterling TC's, cash and using debit card) but since coming back their buyback rate is so high (1.39, bought them at 1.15) that I'm losing over £30 :mad:. Since there was no board up at the time, I had no idea that there was such a difference between the sell and buyback rates (currently 1.20 and 1.39).

My question is, what is the best way of cashing them in so I minimise the money lost? Is there any way around having to pay them into my bank or back to the travel agent?

I don't want to keep them as I'm not going back in the forseeable future.

Thanks

You'll need to hunt around for the best exchange rate - M&S may be worth trying.

If they were cash you could sell them to a friend but that's not possible with TCs.

You were misadvised on taking TCs - it's rarely a good idea these days, particularly in Europe. (However you probably took the right ones if you insisted on having them)

Lou-la-belle

dzug1 wrote: »

You'll need to hunt around for the best exchange rate - M&S may be worth trying.

If they were cash you could sell them to a friend but that's not possible with TCs.

You were misadvised on taking TCs - it's rarely a good idea these days, particularly in Europe. (However you probably took the right ones if you insisted on having them)

Thanks for this. I presume then that I can take my TCs to any foreign exchange and cash them (not just the one I bought them from)?

dzug1

Lou-la-belle wrote: »

Thanks for this. I presume then that I can take my TCs to any foreign exchange and cash them (not just the one I bought them from)?

Correct - though check they don't charge a fee before committing yourself.

bryanb

Sorry, almost got egg on face suggesting the obvious, have deleted it.

spiro

When to buy currency is always a gamble. If the trend is downwards then unless there is something likely to happen to change it then sooner is better, if the trend is upwards the reverse applies. Most travel shows are predicting a ad rate for the euro this summer.

Teahfc

Buy half now and half before you go, If you are changing £1000 a 2 cent swing either way makes or loses you £13.00 not a life changing amount !

olly300

From some of the stuff I've read in the business pages they predict the Euro to reach a higher level against the pound this summer.

This link shows a graph of the trend of the pound against the Euro:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/fds/hi/business/market_data/currency/11/13/twelve_month.stm

To be honest when I go away on holiday I don't worry so much about the exchange rate as it varies very little month to month. I tend to get a small amount commission free before I go, then use my Nationwide credit card (large purchases) and debit card (to obtain cash) to get a bank rate of exchange which is a normally a better rate.

However when I've lived aboard and had to exchange larger sums of money it was more of an issue.