Mickydripin Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Hi I am off to France for a few months and I need to buy my euro`s I know there was a discussion some weeks ago and I was thinking of buying them then now by the looks of it I am glad I did not as things have changed as the euro has started to rise again I know it can fall as well but I am now thinking of buying enough euro`s to last me I wont be going until the 23rd. Do you think that I should buy now and where would be the best place to buy and as it will be quite a lot do you think that it is beter to have them loaded on to a card or cash. Your help would be appreciated. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I'm off tonight for weekend in Belgium and loaded my caxton card at 1.24. Get your crystal ball out :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FRANKP60 Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 We have a Fairfx card ,if you get one get it through money supermarket you dont pay the £10 fee. Used it in Holland along with cash euros ,no problems easy to load .Loaded euros this morning away Wednesday next week rate is less now than it was first thing this morning.But to get euros now or wait is crystal ball situation,at least the rate is better than it was,how long for!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Brown Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I load my card with pounds and always get a better rate when I use the card even for withdrawing cash. Have just spent three months in Portugal, Spain and France and always got better than 1.16 to the pound. Now you will be getting over 1.20 as the official exchange rate is 1.24 as we speak. I load my Santander card and use it to withdraw cash and pay for fuel etc. I budgeted on 1.16 knowing that I would get better and I did. No charges for withdrawing cash or using the card. Brilliant. We all have our preferred methods, decide what you want and use it. Plenty of advice on the forum, some good some bad but nevertheless, all with the best of intentions. I use Santander, some use Caxton and many use others, who says what is best, what suites you is the best for you. Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithR Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 i use my N & P card, so getting the visa rate of 1.24, with no charges,and no need to guess how much to load. i supplement this with nationwide, the debit card gives me my health insurance and the credit card gives me free supermarket buying (dependent on UK usage). no charges, no loading, no worries. just go and spend. simples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 We generally just take plenty of euro in cash, backed up with a couple of credit cards - works for us. Though it must be said, we only go abroad for max 4 weeks at a time currently. Buy our euros here : http://chequesandchange.co.uk/ (currently offering €1.211 to £1) - pop in and pick up whatever amount we think we'll need. Saves the hassle of finding cash machines abroad. I've got a Caxton FX Global Traveller card, but don't use it at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Thats ok if you are near one of their branches, but why would you bother to do that when Tesco's have a slightly better rate (€1.2177 to the £) with no charges if you order £500 or more, no charge for using any Debit or a Tesco credit card and delivered to your door free? Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryW Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I have used the caxton card for many years the ability to transfer funds on-line or by a text message works well for me. Today,s rate is 1.218. I use this for withdrawing cash and use a Post Office CC for fuel etc and this always gives me a better rate than any tourist rate available on the transactions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacock312 Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 hi i am off to the continent again 24 may,i got 120.3e this morning for £100.00 cash plus about 100e i have from last time from sainsburys local supermarket,any purchase i make abroad,i use my nationwide credit card,excellent rates of exchange,no charges,dont like idea of carrying large amounts cash on board risk of robbery or crash can lose lot. p.s always advise c/c co. of your travels before leaving Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurTour.co.uk Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 I'm another fan of the Caxton fx card. No charges to withdraw at cash machines so you can get out smaller amounts. The rate may be slightly lower than some others, but worth it for charge free transactions in my view. As for when to buy, I top up my card when the rate is good - if you 'like' Caxton on Facebook around 10.30am the publish the days rates. I tend to load up a bit each time it's good, rather than do it all in one go. So maybe put £100 on each day you get over a certain amount. If it goes down at least you have some at a decent rate, if it goes up you won't be cursing because you've already bought. Before my prepaid card I always got my euros from the post office, for convenience, or marks and spencer, for a good rate. Have a great trip. Julie OurTour - a midlife European wander in a motorhome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Tend not to carry much cash, just use Nation wide Debit card when we need cash even with the charges the rate is not much different from Caxton. Since NW have stared charging we make more use of our NW Credit Cards much more, same excellent rate and no charges & a free months credit so our money can carry on earning a miserable rate of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickydripin Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 Thanks everyone for your help buying euro`s is a bit of a minefield but I will get there in the end. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 The £ is climbing strongly against the Euro today.Now over Eur 1.25 http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Currencies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syd Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 1.21.5 euro's in Benidorm today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Syd - 2012-05-15 12:09 AM 1.21.5 euro's in Benidorm today Well you know what money changers are like ....... Responsible for the only time Jesus was known to have lost his temper *-) Dont rush back Syd! Has not stopped raining since I got back yesterday, gardens very lush and green mind! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wills Wagon Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Today Nationwide debit card 1.244 euros to the pound with about a 1.25% reduction for their charges, the credit card is at 1.244 as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Wills Wagon - 2012-05-16 9:32 PM Today Nationwide debit card 1.244 euros to the pound with about a 1.25% reduction for their charges, the credit card is at 1.244 as well. I rest my case (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syd Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Exchange rate in Benidorm yesterday 1.23 to the pound and it is oh so sunny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 flicka - 2012-05-14 5:40 PM The £ is climbing strongly against the Euro today.Now over Eur 1.25 http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Currencies Yes, but why? Foreigners are buying British Assets like Knightsbridge properties and utility companies. But we can only sell these assets once. Despite the dire state of the Euro, it is still stronger than it was against the pound than when the Euro was introduced. So it makes a change to see the pound rising - even against a troubled currency like the Euro. But, as far as I can see, the factors that are making the pound rise are not sustainable. On top of that, the bankers are itching to crank up the printing presses again. Bonuses all round chaps *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Peter James - 2012-05-18 12:28 PM flicka - 2012-05-14 5:40 PM The £ is climbing strongly against the Euro today.Now over Eur 1.25 http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/Currencies Yes, but why? But, as far as I can see, the factors that are making the pound rise are not sustainable. On top of that, the bankers are itching to crank up the printing presses again. Bonuses all round chaps *-) Your not kidding! See Cameron on the telly appearing like some sort of superior stateman..calmly observing the European crisis over the water . when the reality is the UK is one of the most indebted countrys of all ... Both cons and labour shown to be incapable of doing anything realistic about the deficit..The whole situation is a house of cards and extremely worrying. They use our taxpayers money to bail out the banks, the banks are in crisis again so what now I wonder. Things are bound to get a lot worse.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 We got a Caxton card before we went on our last foray and used it a few times, it was much better than carrying loads of cash around, the only thing we did before we came home was to draw out most of the cash on it (left 1 euro on it!) and used it for fuel etc as there's no point in leaving money on it 'gathering dust' as it were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-05-18 12:47 PM when the reality is the UK is one of the most indebted countrys of all ... .... Some say the UK is the most indebted country, if you take into account off balance sheet debts like the private finance initiative, and the upcoming cost of the Olympics. The difference between the UK and Greek economy is that the UK has more financial trickery at its disposal. Such as printing money to default on its debts through inflation, instead of defaulting on its creditors like Iceland and Greece. To make matters worse, Britain is then having to contribute to the Euro bailout. Getting all the disadvantages, but none of the advantages, of being in the single currency. There is bound to come a time when the spotlight turns away from Southern Europe and on to Britain. I am not looking forward to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter James Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 PS: Euro notes issued by Greece have the prefix Y. Euro notes issued by Spain have the prefix V. Euro notes issued by Germany have the prefix X. So I suggest you spend them in that order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjl Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 In view of what is going on in the euro countries, if it all goes pearshaped very quickly then cash will be king. I usually take a few hundred Euros but had been considering a cash card, in the light of all the positive posts, however you still need an ATM to get cash soooo i think i will stick to old fashioned paper money + a credit card with no charges for use abroad. At the very least it will pay to keep a good slug of cash stashed away for emergencies. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 peterjl - 2012-05-21 8:34 PM ...i think i will stick to old fashioned paper money + a credit card with no charges for use abroad. At the very least it will pay to keep a good slug of cash stashed away for emergencies. Peter Credit cards that charge no fee or currency exchange-rate loading are rare nowadays. Even the few that charge no fee/loading (eg Halifax "Clarity" or Santander "Zero") will charge interest on cash obtained from an ATM from the date of the withdrawal until the date the debt is repaid. Even using a debit card can prove costly. I currently have a Santander Zero current account and the associated debit card has no fee/loading for ATM cash withdrawals abroad. However, if I were to switch my Zero account to Santander's latest 123 product (that charges a monthly fee but offers cashback and interest on balances), for obtaining cash abroad (except in Spain) I'd pay a fee of 1.5% (minimum £1.99) of the value, plus a 2.75% currency conversion loading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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