Euro (€) Currency Thread

richardw

birtles1010 wrote: »

At £20 a throw this is not cheap and will happen again when I settle up the remainder of the cost of the reservation next year.

BUT what is the cost per person and how much is the total saving compared to booking through an agent who accepts £ sterling? Probably very good, so you're still saving money.

richardw

Kauptd wrote: »

I know not every thread on this forum can answer every question, but one which is said to cover all aspects of the Euro is disappointing when it so plainly does not.

Don't think it claims to cover all aspects of the Euro.

belfastgirl23

I don't think, as richardw says, this is the definitive answer to everything on the euro. It's just a place where you can post questions - if anyone knows the answer they'll reply. If they don't then they don't - your query being a case in point kauptd. It's simply a place where people can exchange info - sorry if you were expecting more but it is great that you are also contributing info. The moderators simply ensure that nothing offensive is posted etc, they don't have all the answers (though they do have a lot of them )

When I've done payments in euros I've always just drawn a euro cheque on my nationwide account but it does cost over twenty quid....

birtles1010

You have the same problem as me except that this person doesn't even accept paypal - a bank mandate is a set £19something whether it's £1 or £1000 - as far as I can see the only answer is to open a euro a/c tho they seem to incur charges or demand a regular monthly input - eg a wage - into the a/c. I have got a feeling that the 1st couple of payments per year with paypal are free??? There must be an answer - as I say I am seriously looking into opening a euro a/s with a French bank - hasn't anyone got any suggestions??
This is not a travel agent type holiday it is a reservation made online with a private person who does not accept paypal or credit cards and has a French bank account

Kauptd

A quick reply because I have already logged in, thanked some posters here, and then written a reply only for the MSE page to change to "you are not logged in", even though I am, and with the 'remember me' box ticked, and then I'm not taken back to my reply but a blank page with no sign of my text at all.

Just to answer some of the earlier points.

The first post in this thread says "Please use this thread for all queries related to Euro Currency conversion, rates and the best time to buy."

My question certainly relates to Euro currency conversion as well as the even more important issue of making Euro payments to a mainland European bank account from a sterling credit card / debit card / bank account in the UK.

It would be nice if this issue could also be referred to in the opening post or thread title as I do feel anyone coming here would rightly believe this thread was about all matters Euro.

An earlier post here said that even if a transfer fee has to be paid it's still likely to be cheaper than going through a travel agent.

Not true, sadly. High costs are incurred on every transfer, and as holidays are traditionally booked with a deposit first, balance later, then the transfer cost doubles.

Of course people could pay everything at once, many months in advance, but most of us budget for our holidays and certainly don't have the total costs sitting there, ready to be paid out so far in advance.

Of course we could always leave it until nearer the holiday to pay for everything, but by that time the accommodatioin will very likely have gone, so that's pointless.

I will continue to look for more information on the Internet about this issue of costl;y Euro transfers and if I find anything more in the way of useful information will post it here.

Although this thread is about holidays / Euro currency, it has more than sufficient information about what to do about Euro payments when at a holiday destination, but nothing about what to do about Euro payments that have to be paid first so as to secure a holiday at that destination.

birtles1010

belfastgirl23 - perhaps there is no solution then. I am sure I am not the only person who finds themselves incurring these costs

belfastgirl23

I guess you could consider looking at a bank that operates between Northern Ireland and republic of ireland if you make euro payments regularly? though not sure how it works in practice...it hasn't been worth my while pursuing it because it's only a couple of payments a year but it might be worthwhile if you're doing it more often. I'm thinking especially of First Trust and Bank of Ireland but I don't know if they offer cross-border banking or not...

birtles1010

It all adds up - if I rent online 2 flats for a week each - that's 2 deposits & 2 final payments so £80 - perhaps Northern Ireland does have links with Irish banks - there must be a cheaper way. Oh to be in the Eurozone...........

belfastgirl23

Yeah we're lucky we use the same company all the time so they don't need a deposit, just a final cheque. When we go to republic of Ireland for a weekend break they'll often take sterling cheques - I guess a lot of people there (especially Donegal) run both a euro and a sterling account...

aramo

Kauptd wrote: »

My question certainly relates to Euro currency conversion as well as the even more important issue of making Euro payments to a mainland European bank account from a sterling credit card / debit card / bank account in the UK.

Kauptd, your post does indeed relate to currency conversion (under specific conditions) and hopefully you will get a suitable answer here or elsewhere. However you seem to miss the point that this forum is a collaborative effort and no one is owed an answer to any question.

That said, here's my shot are you question, bearing in mind your desire to minimise all cost, read
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=14061513&postcount=576
buy your euros for cash stick them in registered envelope and post to France - done!

For small amounts paypal offer a good service, case in point is how tiresome it is to pay someone in a foreign currency when the foreign party does not accept credit cards.

If the sums involved were large I'd buy a 2p Ryanair return flight to euroland and use a Nationwide debit card at an ATM to get the euros there [here in my case ;-] if I was really clever I'd fly to france and post a registered letter in france or perhaps lodge directly into the recipients band account. I'd check the French airport had post office facilities or was very near a town that did - so many options, so much time.