Taking Out Foreign Currency

[Conchis]

I'm off to Dusselforf at the beginning of next month. In the last few years, I've got used to not bothering about exchange rates, etc., but the government's shambolic approach (could there be any other kind?) to its Brexit policy is causing a lot of volatility at the moment.

The Leaderene is to make a speech on Tuesday, after which sterling is expected to crash in anticipation: in fact, it's already crashing now.

My question is: should I jump now before things get any worse, or leave it a bit in the hope they'll rebound before 1st Feb (as they did thefts time government spokesperon opened their mouth)?

I suppose my guess is as good as yours, but thought I'd ask around....:)

[Beef Oven!]

I'm off to Dusselforf at the beginning of next month. In the last few years, I've got used to not bothering about exchange rates, etc., but the government's shambolic approach (could there be any other kind?) to its Brexit policy is causing a lot of volatility at the moment.

The Leaderene is to make a speech on Tuesday, after which sterling is expected to crash in anticipation: in fact, it's already crashing now.

My question is: should I jump now before things get any worse, or leave it a bit in the hope they'll rebound before 1st Feb (as they did thefts time government spokesperon opened their mouth)?

I suppose my guess is as good as yours, but thought I'd ask around....:)

Crash? Crashing?

[P. G. Tipps]

Crash? Crashing?

Plummeting ... ?

We are hearing a lot in the media these days about the 'Post-Truth Society' pretty well summed up by the following two headlines on the BBC website this morning ...

Pound falls ahead of Theresa May Brexit speech

Donald Trump says UK 'doing great' after Brexit vote.


One is factual ... and the other ... ? (apart from Mr Trump saying it, of course!)

[teamsaint]

Post truth


I'd forget about that flawed concept, and opt for the post office.

[Dave2002]

THe graph at the top of this page should give you some ideas - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=1+...pound+in+euros

Unless you are intendimg to transfer/convert very large amounts of money (say more than £3000) I'd be inclined to say that it's not really worth worrying about. One strategy might be to convert half your money now, and half a bit later on, though that might not be optimum in terms of conversion charges. That way it there's a change, one or other of the tranches will "get the benefit" (or "take the hit").

If you were intending to do something big, such as buy a house, then timing the money transfers to get the best rate could be worthwhile - if you could predict the exchange rates accurately. Otherwise I'd suggest just go and and enjoy it.

I don't think you'll be able to predict accurately enough to make a significant difference, and it's unlikely there'd be a major crash (i.e. with your money halving in value overnight, so you should be able to get back home ). Fluctuation might equate to one or two dinners out in a short period - that is you'd have to buy pizza instead of an expensive meal if things go down, while you'd get the bonus of luxury meal vs hamburgers if things go up. You can't tell.

If you use a credit card, which seems pretty much the way to do things nowadays, so that you won't have to carry cash, then the rate will fluctuate daily anyway, and you should find that some credit cards are better than others re exchange rates. I heard that the Halifax Clarity card is one of the good ones. You probably don't need to take many physical euros if you are only going for a short while. One euro coins are sometimes useful for supermarket trolleys in France - I'm not sure about Germany - they may still be free. I can't remember about airport trolleys - might depend on the airport.

[Conchis]

THe graph at the top of this page should give you some ideas - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=1+...pound+in+euros

Unless you are intendimg to transfer/convert very large amounts of money (say more than £3000) I'd be inclined to say that it's not really worth worrying about. One strategy might be to convert half your money now, and half a bit later on, though that might not be optimum in terms of conversion charges. That way it there's a change, one or other of the tranches will "get the benefit" (or "take the hit").

If you were intending to do something big, such as buy a house, then timing the money transfers to get the best rate could be worthwhile - if you could predict the exchange rates accurately. Otherwise I'd suggest just go and and enjoy it.

I don't think you'll be able to predict accurately enough to make a significant difference, and it's unlikely there'd be a major crash (i.e. with your money halving in value overnight, so you should be able to get back home ). Fluctuation might equate to one or two dinners out in a short period - that is you'd have to buy pizza instead of an expensive meal if things go down, while you'd get the bonus of luxury meal vs hamburgers if things go up. You can't tell.

If you use a credit card, which seems pretty much the way to do things nowadays, so that you won't have to carry cash, then the rate will fluctuate daily anyway, and you should find that some credit cards are better than others re exchange rates. I heard that the Halifax Clarity card is one of the good ones. You probably don't need to take many physical euros if you are only going for a short while. One euro coins are sometimes useful for supermarket trolleys in France - I'm not sure about Germany - they may still be free. I can't remember about airport trolleys - might depend on the airport.

Thanks for that, Dave. I'll only be away for four days, so was only thinking of taking about £200 in cash. Like the idea of credit card but I only have a Sainsburys one and not sure they're taken overseas.

[teamsaint]

Germany is the economy with the highest use of cash in Europe. Over 80% of transactions are cash.
I would definitely take cash, especially for local transport needs.

[kernelbogey]

You can buy a debit card which will work on Visa and or Mastercard. You buy your currency and they load the card. Then you have fixed your rate. A friend swears by Moneycorp as having the best rates (though not at the airport) and they will also sell you cash (eg €) which they send by signed -for mail to your home, reliably in his experience,

[P. G. Tipps]

I'm off to Dusselforf at the beginning of next month. In the last few years, I've got used to not bothering about exchange rates, etc., but the government's shambolic approach (could there be any other kind?) to its Brexit policy is causing a lot of volatility at the moment.

The Leaderene is to make a speech on Tuesday, after which sterling is expected to crash in anticipation: in fact, it's already crashing now.

My question is: should I jump now before things get any worse, or leave it a bit in the hope they'll rebound before 1st Feb (as they did thefts time government spokesperon opened their mouth)?

I suppose my guess is as good as yours, but thought I'd ask around....:)

I'm afraid you've summed it up pretty much in that last sentence. Who knows?

What we do know is that we are all already about 15-20% poorer compared to our foreign peers. Anyone who has gone to the continent or N. America since the referendum is already well aware of that, they didn't/don't have to be told by all those silly 'experts' who warned of that very likelihood.

One thing that is almost certain is that if Ms May's speech tomorrow confirms her support for a 'Hard Brexit', and this is now forecast to be the brave new Cunning Plan, the pound is most unlikely to "soar" ?

[Tetrachord]

You can buy a debit card which will work on Visa and or Mastercard. You buy your currency and they load the card. Then you have fixed your rate. A friend swears by Moneycorp as having the best rates (though not at the airport) and they will also sell you cash (eg €) which they send by signed -for mail to your home, reliably in his experience,

I used a Cash Card issued by a MAJOR Australian bank in 2015 when we spent 3 months in Europe. I filled the card with Euro so the conversion was locked in at a good rate. Each time I went to an ATM it kept asking me for "conversion" and I found I couldn't get the Euro without it converting first from Aussie dollar and back again - an electronic transaction which was meaningless. There was one ATM - in Passau - which issued the Euro without additional 'requests' from the machine. It cost us a fortune in fees and I had to make a noise upon returning to Australia when I was compensated by the bank for the $200 I'd racked up in charges using an ATM. Next time I'll keep Aussie dollars if I need cash but use my American Express card, which we did in 2011 very satisfactorily. Also, warning; when we used the card to book at a hotel (Ibis) in Bregenz (you have to supply credit card details and this was acceptable for that) the card kept the money for nearly 3 weeks before a credit was forthcoming, long after we'd checked out, by which time we were in dire need of money. It was HUGELY stressful and I'd never use a card like that again to secure a hotel book. Better to use Amex, Visa or similar. American Express charges a bit for conversion that that card is totally brilliant and the company is always on the ball in case of any issues. Highly recommended!

[ahinton]

I'm afraid you've summed it up pretty much in that last sentence. Who knows?

What we do know is that we are all already about 15-20% poorer compared to our foreign peers. Anyone who has gone to the continent or N. America since the referendum is already well aware of that, they didn't/don't have to be told by all those silly 'experts' who warned of that very likelihood.

One thing that is almost certain is that if Ms May's speech tomorrow confirms her support for a 'Hard Brexit', and this is now forecast to be the brave new Cunning Plan, the pound is most unlikely to "soar" ?

Indeed; in fact, I wonder how soon it might be, should the hardest of hard Brexits be announced, before some on the extreme Leave end might start to push for UK to leave the Council of Europe as well...

[Dave2002]

Thanks for that, Dave. I'll only be away for four days, so was only thinking of taking about £200 in cash. Like the idea of credit card but I only have a Sainsburys one and not sure they're taken overseas.

I think your Sainsbury's card will probably work. Check with your provider - that one is I think part of Lloyd's now. Sensible not to rely only on cash, or only on credit cards though - particularly if you're travelling by yourself. If you're with others chances are that some of you will have cards/cash which will work.

It's not always a good idea to use UK credit cards abroad, as the charges might seem unreasonable - but in fact they're not usually terrible. I think the feature of the Clarity card is that the rates and fees are minimal. Some card providers charge a currency conversion fee, or use really bad rates - but if you're only going for a few days it's probably not worth worrying. If you have time, do check out the cards which work well abroad.

Note also, if you use CCs in Europe, even if there are charges, it might still work out cheaper than convering pounds to euros in the UK, then travelling just for a few days, then returning with euros which will then languish in a drawer until next time you go abroad. Doing the reverse conversion of foreign currency back to pounds is often not worthwhile - most currency places which offer "free" or good conversion rates one way, tend to be less helpful if the currency is returned - or that's my view, anyway.

[Dave2002]

Germany is the economy with the highest use of cash in Europe. Over 80% of transactions are cash.
I would definitely take cash, especially for local transport needs.

Agree, though railway tickets into and out of Leipzig worked OK with credit card recently - bought at the machines in the airport station, and Hauptbahnhof respectively. If buying railway tickets, remember to get them stamped in the machine - usually close by before getting on the train. I think Germany is one of the countries where railway tickets aren't valid unless time stamped.

Hotel bills can usually be paid by credit card, and also concert tickets.

[Beef Oven!]

This was all about £200 over 4 days!!!???

Worse case scenario is that one could be down a latte and Danish pastry!

[ahinton]

This was all about £200 over 4 days!!!???

Worse case scenario is that one could be down a latte and Danish pastry!

Worst case scenario is that one could be down an entire currency...