Exchanging currency for holiday - advice wanted

[RedRider]

Hiya, we're off to Spain for a short break tomorrow morning and I'm wondering about exhanging some Sterling for Euros beforehand. I'm a bit of a duffer aboout this sort of stuff and in the past have just withdrawn cash as needed from machines at my destination. I'm pretty sure this doesn't give best value. I'm trying to be slightly more organised so is it worth my while heading to a post office this afternoon and changing £200-300 for Euros?
Cheers

 

[MarkF]

Depends............I don't like having a bundle of cash to look after/worry about and far prefer to use ATM's as and when I need to. It's a good exchange rate at the mo' though if you want to carry it about.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Post Office, or local supermarket with an Exchange in it with this short notice. You get a better rate at various price points (although I think it's £500 generally) might be worth checking, or at least knowing how much you are likely to spend and if you're going to be using Euros again in the near future. Sometimes you get a better rate if you are actually handing over cash, even if you've just walked to the ATM outside of the shop and got it out. Ask.

Basically, the closer you are to home when you hand over sterling, the better rate you get for it. Taking out of cash machines over there can also get particularly expensive depending on which bank you use.

If you have more time in the future, the best way is to do it by post, next best is to collect from a dedicated Bureau (mainly in London) then post office, supermarkets etc. This gives you all you need to know, although a lot of it is about credit cards. We have a Post Office credit card that only really gets any use when we are overseas.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Depends............I don't like having a bundle of cash to look after/worry about and far prefer to use ATM's as and when I need to. Its good exchange rate at the mo' though if you want to carry it about.

True, it's worth looking at how much you'll really save and weighing that up. If it's a holiday and we're talking a few quid either way I tend not to stress out about it. Also having a decent credit card for overseas means I'm not overly worried about putting stuff on that and paying up when we get home.

 

[swee'pea99]

My Missus told me about this mob that she found on Martin Lewis or some such website where you book online, then pickup the currency at the airport, and they apparently give very good rates, with no commission, plus if the rate improves between you booking and picking up, they give you the better rate, plus they buy up any leftovers, again at a good rate and with no commission. I'd tell you what they're called, but she's in Spain! Should be easy enough to find with a bit of googling tho' I would've thought.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

The link in my post takes you to Mr Lewis' site so that's a start.

 

[Mrs M]

Would take some euros with you, Ramsdens usually have a good exchange rate.
At the moment (we're in Lanzarote) we are finding exchanging the sterling we brought with us is getting a good rate.
Careful though, don't carry too much cash, we always split between the two of us, just in case.
Have a lovely hol.

 

[MarkF]

Can't recall exactly, but I think I pay about 3% commission at ATM's in Spain. Knock off the commission you will have to pay to change £200/300 anyway and the saving is insignificant. And IMO, well worth not having to look after a large sum of money.

Have a good time on your trip.

 

[RedRider]

Ah, thanks all for the swift responses.
I normally take the @MarkF approach but I'll check out that Martin Lewis link. Just a quick follow-up question as well...
When I've withdrawnd from ATMs abroad before I've noticed you tend to get two options before the cash is given out. ie as per this blog post, do you want to be charged in Sterling or Euros? Is the blog post correct that you should always choose to be charged in the local currency?

 

[RedRider]

Would take some euros with you, Ramsdens usually have a good exchange rate.
At the moment (we're in Lanzarote) we are finding exchanging the sterling we brought with us is getting a good rate.
Careful though, don't carry too much cash, we always split between the two of us, just in case.
Have a lovely hol.

Cheers! We're staying at a friend's house in Granada so should be nice and relaxing even if it rains all week.

 

[MarkF]

Bar Seville is great place to go for a drink and people watch and Granada are at home to Eibar on the 22nd.

 

[RedRider]

I would recommend going to somewhere like M&S or the Post Office and getting a pre-loaded cash card. You'll tend to get a better exchange rate and no transaction fees (which you will get charged if you use a cash machine with your normal debit card). You can then use the pre-loaded card in any cash machine to get Euros.



Yes. You tend to get a better rate that way.

Thanks, v helpful.

Bar Seville is great place to go for a drink and people watch and Granada are at home to Eibar on the 22nd.

I'd already prepared the ground for watching a game - I've previously seen Liverpool draw in Barcelona and Depor beat Man U at the Estadio Riazor (which was nice) and hoped for a hat-trick of Spanish grounds - but unfortunately we're flying back that Sunday.

 

[pawl]

Hiya, we're off to Spain for a short break tomorrow morning and I'm wondering about exhanging some Sterling for Euros beforehand. I'm a bit of a duffer aboout this sort of stuff and in the past have just withdrawn cash as needed from machines at my destination. I'm pretty sure this doesn't give best value. I'm trying to be slightly more organised so is it worth my while heading to a post office this afternoon and changing £200-300 for Euros?
Cheers

Telco do good exchange rates. Check rates at Tesco travel money.

 

[Globalti]

I've got a pile of these on my desk at the moment having just got back from Zim. Would you like one? You'll have a fantastic holiday!

 

[Arrowfoot]

I've got a pile of these on my desk at the moment having just got back from Zim. Would you like one? You'll have a fantastic holiday!

The irony is that the note is a genuine issued by the central bank fo Zimbabwe when inflation ran riot. It is not a fake. Its now replaced but the banks still keep it in their vaults. Still waiting for instructions. You can get these notes at the airport in Harare.