5-element Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I am about to go to England for a few days, and will be drawing some cash out of my NW account there. I would like to bring the money back here in cash too. How can I get the best exchange rate: is it more advantageous to change sterling into euros in England, or to bring the cash in sterling and changing it here in France?Sorry this is such a basic question, but I have never had to do this before. It is not a huge amount of money either! And I have good reasons (of convenience) for not wanting to simply transfer the money from UK account to French account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 This might help you decide:http://www.comparecurrency.co.uk/travel-moneyI have never changed sterling cash to € in France so have no idea whether that is advantageous or not, I'm guessing the latter as if it were I think it would be well known and widely practiced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the InfoGipsy Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Even with Nationwide's present charges you might find it at least as beneficial drawing Euros in France as drawing sterling in the UK and then changing it at a bureau de change or a bank. I'd look very carefully at the rates you can get first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 A bank manager friend once laughed at me for dealing with "money" (notes) in a different country. It seems that is the most expensive way of doing it because of the banks money handling costs. So... the best thing is to only withdraw euros from a euro machine in a euro country and pounds from a pound machine in a pound country etc etc. Don't change notes for notes unless you have money to waste (or are really really desperate). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 Thanks for all the advice! I might just bite the bullet: as from 1st November 2010, when Nationwide decided to charge for debit card cash withdrawals here from my English account, I'd thought I should completely give up the practice. But now it seems that maybe just carrying on doing that, although being charged for each withdrawal, it might STILL be the cheapest option (small amounts). Which would suit me, as it is by far the easiest, even with the fact that there is a maximum amount allowed for each withdrawal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 5-e, you might also like to consider taking sterling notes from a branch of NW or from an ATM and then taking the dosh to somewhere like M & S or the post office to change into euros.I am told that both those organisations give very good rates.I agree with John M in that the "home" country for whatever money you have tends to give better value than money from another country. So, changing sterling to euros in the UK might be a better bet than changing sterling to euros in France.Hope I've got that right and I don't mind in the least if other people have different ideas and wish to voice them here. I am only concerned that you get the best value for your money, 5-e.Bonnes vacances![:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Allowing for the fee and commission, at the present rate of 1.194 a £300 Nationwide withdrawal would represent an effective exchange rate of approx 1.16 which is still marginally better than anything on offer on the web site I posted earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 Thank you to all you financial wizards... and Sweet17, I can see you think the way I do.[:)] We are basically banknotes-under-the-mattress types.! But AnOther, particular thanks for giving me the perspective I needed.[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I'm with AnO - I still can't better Nationwide except by using my Capital One card for purchases in France and paying it off via the internet. But for cash in small amounts NW still just squeaks in.I'm in the UK at the mo' myself, 5e, and one thing I am doing is stuffing my car to the brim with (non perishable) groceries and other stuff I need - the price differences on some things are astonishing and I can pay in sterling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hope you are having a good time, Coops. If I drove to England, I would probably stuff the car too on the way back - but will be going Eurostar, so have to wheel it all in the suitcase.[:D]So it looks like in future, I will be just using the hole-in-the wall thingy here in France just as before, except that I will have to pay out a little more for the privilege. That figures.[blink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericd Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It all depends how much you want to change. Try to contact currency exchange companies such as TorFX (google them) found them extremely reliable when we transferred the funds to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 We changed to a Caxton eurocard after Nationwide changed the rules. The card was free, and we had to put in €10, I think, to start it off. We transfer money from our UK bank on to it when the exchange rate is good, then take euros out of an ATM when we need it to feed our French bank account, for living expenses etc. It all works well, plus we can use it for our Ryanair bookings without card charges. That last bit I like a lot! [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekJ Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 [quote user="gardengirl "]We changed to a Caxton eurocard after Nationwide changed the rules. The card was free, and we had to put in €10, I think, to start it off. We transfer money from our UK bank on to it when the exchange rate is good, then take euros out of an ATM when we need it to feed our French bank account, for living expenses etc. It all works well, plus we can use it for our Ryanair bookings without card charges. That last bit I like a lot! [:)][/quote]I had a look at the Caxton Euro Card after seeing your post. It looks like the rate they give tracks about 2 cents less than the interbank rate.... so quite good. Looking at their T&Cs it looks like they don't charge any commision for cash withdrawals from ATMs (which is how I would like to use it) but they have a caveat that the ATM owner may/may not charge commision. What has been your experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Derek J, so far we've had no charges at all in the few months we've used the Caxton card. We have only used it in ATMs and for Ryanair bookings. We know it gives a little less than what is shown on our tracking screens, but it's never usually by much, as you say. Choosing the rate when it's pretty good is useful; maybe not so good if money is needed in a rush! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekJ Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 We just did a comparison with FairFX Card which is similar but charges a 1.50Euro commision per withdrawal. However it is supposed to give a slightly better exchange rate than Caxton. From the comparison I just did... Interbank around 1.85, FairFX 1.17, Caxton 1.165Based on a 300Euro withdrawal the costs came exactly the same once you took the 1.50Euro commision into account.I'll research a little more Thanks for your feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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