 Poster: A snowHead
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Super Thursday is tomorrow. In expectation of this the chaps with red braces (city currency traders) have already pushed the £ up by 2% just today against the €. At the moment it’s trading on the interbank at between 1.410 and 1.415 (the average this year has been 1.37 or thereabouts). This NOT the rate you will get from many high street sellers, but you should be able to get somewhere around a few points just below this, if you shop around.
What will happen tomorrow? Well who knows is the only truthful answer I can give right now, but we’ll see.
A point to note is that, following the ECB starting to “big up” the idea of quantitative easing (which is bank talk for just printing more money) which has of course devalued the €. However the bank of England has also repeatedly stepped in over the last period to try and reduce the value of the € against an already weakening €. So these two contradictory outlooks will be at play tomorrow. The BoE wants to say that the UK is doing fine and getting better, but they don’t want to push up the prices to UK companies selling to the EU.
Should you buy your holiday money now, or wait and see what happens tomorrow. The answer is I don’t know. It boils down to do you think the UK is going in the right direction and so the £ will rise or do think the BoE will want to keep the costs of exports’ down. "If" (big IF) there is any talk tomorrow of an interest rate rise the £ will shoot up.
One thing to watch for is “if” the rate gets to 1.425 1.45, 1.475, etc then this is a tip, which is one of the points which some currency traders will sell off their recently bought €’s and take the profit, or they may have taken out a speculative forward at this rate. A Tip will reduce the value of the £ as other traders try to buy the €’s being off loaded for a little as possible. Don’t you just lover bankers.
Last but not least, HSBC is (now) offering one month forwards @ 1.4 (I couldn't work out their admin fees). Travelex is (now) offering @ 1.395 (with a £10 admin fee). If you don't want to gamble then a forward may be a good idea as this way you'll know for certain what rate you'll get when you come to buy.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Currency Fair who I've used recently 1.4077 atm, only 3 euro fee to transfer. My Metro bank account gives interbank rate. As I'll be out in a couple of weeks I'll really hit the atm if rate is still high.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Lisa_BrentaSki...I can't help feeling this is a pseudonym...ah well, why not.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Lisa_BrentaSki wrote: |
One thing to watch for is “if” the rate gets to 1.425 1.45, 1.475, etc then this is a tip, which is one of the points which some currency traders will sell off their recently bought €’s and take the profit, or they may have taken out a speculative forward at this rate. A Tip will reduce the value of the £ as other traders try to buy the €’s being off loaded for a little as possible. Don’t you just lover bankers.
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Such events are equally likely to happen at certain EUR/GBP rates (as opposed to GBP/EUR).... 0.71,0.7, 0.69 etc.... which makes the whole thing very difficult to predict for someone who is just trying to buy some holiday money.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Lisa is not wayne.
Not even the Christmas Wayne O O Oooooo
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Would this have any likely affect on the price of booking a holiday with a tour operator tomorrow? I always try and leave it late but as the snow approaches my mouse trigger finger is getting twitchy.
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@spcsnow, A 1 or 2% change in exchange rates either way is unlikely to have any impact on what us punters will pay to tour ops over the next few months - availability is usually a much bigger factor with last minute deals - if the euro went up or down 20% then that would be different of course but that's unlikely to happen over such a short space of time.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| spcsnow wrote: |
| Would this have any likely affect on the price of booking a holiday with a tour operator tomorrow? |
Most TOs will have hedged their costs long before now so that are isolated from in year exchange variation so the answer is unlikely. 
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Clarity card is 1.423567 today although I don't think you can buy euros while in the uk using it.
That's the rate you get on purchases in Europe today .
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
Would this have any likely affect (effect  ) on the price of booking a holiday with a tour operator tomorrow? |
As others have said, probably not BUT - if sorting out a DIY trip - prices do fluctuate on accommodation if booking online with the likes of Hotel.com and Booking.com. Prices have come down in recent days.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@mountainaddict, although with Booking.com quite often you pay when you arrive so don't get the exact price quoted at today's exchange rate.
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| Tirol 164 wrote: |
Clarity card is 1.423567 today although I don't think you can buy euros while in the uk using it.
That's the rate you get on purchases in Europe today . |
And you get the same rate when you withdraw €euros from an ATM (in the Eurozone, obviously).
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You know it makes sense.
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I've been holding off watching the gradual increase in the € to £... I guess if I can get €1.40 per £ tomorrow I'll pick some serious euros tomorrow...
On the subject... What do you guys reckon is the best prepaid currency card? Looking at EasyJet's offering so far but skeltical that they do something decent without any very hidden clauses...! Or should I switch to HSBC for free ATM use abroad?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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irie
Yes you do and mastercard is often fractions better than visa rate but the cash withdrawal clock will start ticking on withdrawals on all CC cards .
No loading on the clarity mastercard direct rate of exchange which can be checked online as I did to show the rate above .
My personal cash withdrawal card rate is 12.9%others get this or 18 or 22 or whatever but I either load the card or go online and pay off the withdrawals at will daily or when ever ...over months away .
Using my card for £300 of purchases a month pays me £5 too but you need to pay those purchases off to pay the cash withdrawals off and stop the 12.9% interest clock ticking .
This cards the travel daddy no matter what anyone else says the current account pays another fiver so the bundle works very well if you want it too.
Setting it all up is no big deal either.
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Thu 5-11-15 4:24; edited 2 times in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Tirol 164, sounds like a gamble if you can't preload in the UK then?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I don't gamble as its my main currency payment of CC purchases and cash needed in tirol they like cash in tirol .
Over 6 years proven use so far I cant remember exactly how long it may be 5yrs use worldwide .
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@haigie, @Lisa_BrentaSki,
This is by far the best pre-paid card: www.revolut.com. You can load it with UKP and then exchange to EUR and USD and vice-versa. And you get TRUE interbank rates with zero fees or commissions. It all runs via an app, and you get a physical card as well. Zero ATM or cash withdrawal fees as well; and you can pay with the card in multiple different currencies. It's backed by Barclays.
You can also load the card with EUR or USD if you want. No withdrawal fees. Pretty amazing. They make their money when you spend with the card.
So one of it's many strengths is that you can load it with say UKP £1,500 today, and transfer that to EUR if you think the rates have hit a high.
If anyone wants to pm me I can send you a code and you get a free £5 sign-up bonus. [if that's against the rules, please let me know!]
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We need it to drop. Most of our sales are to Europe and it's having a disasterous effect on our business. I'm not going to be able to afford a holiday in Europe this year at this rate.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| haigie wrote: |
| @Tirol 164, sounds like a gamble if you can't preload in the UK then? |
I have a Clarity card (Mastercard). You do not need to preload, it is a credit card. Just pay off the card straight away, that's all. The rates are the same for purchases and cash withdrawals with no fees or commissions.
Here's a link to the foreign currency rates:
https://www.mastercard.com/global/currencyconversion/
Select GBP as the Base Currency.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Nope no need to preload the clarity card but you can do so if you wish !
As above I pay off all transactions online stopping the 12.9% interest clock that applies on cash withdrawals .
When you make those payments you could presently overpay onto the card though .
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@Claude B, i looked at Currency Fair but if I'm understanding it right in order to deposit money from my UK bank into my CF account I'd have to pay an international transfer fee plus then have to pay the international transfer fee to CF too?
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With Currency Fair I have done many transfers. I transfer eg. £1000 to them, then transfer it to my French Bank Euro Account, I usually get less than 1 cent lower than the Commercial Bank Rate AND Currency Fair take 3 Euro commission as does my receiving bank.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@jirac18, I don't pay anything to transfer sterling Santander to CF account. As above, 3 Euros to transfer any amount to my French account who make no charge. I used them for the funds for my property purchase including one very large transaction.
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@Claude B +1
@skier52 can't see why you say the cost is "1 cent lower than the Commercial Bank Rate"
You can get an instant quote (even without an account) - and the rate is usually about 0.26%-0.4% below commercial rate - the higher the amount, the better the rate.
My concern with Transfer.Wise is that it is Peer2Peer, I would use it myself, but people should be aware of the potential risks.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I found I was getting 0.05 Euros below base rate. I got over 1.4 for my purchase  CF is peer to peer too.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Oh and Thursday wasn't so super was it 
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All sounds great. For significant amounts at least, there's normally a charge for the inter-bank transfer from both banks - the receiver and the sender. That can be tricky as you have to essentially overpay in order to cover the unknown amount the bank at the other end will deduct. That's just what happens, in my experience.
Credit cards... I use a Bank Of Ireland ("Post Office") one for the same reason as above: zero charge above the Visa rate, unlike most cards. My Debit card comes with the same luxury, so I pull cash on that. Advice on overpaying and checking explicit fees sounds right if you intend to use a credit card for cash withdrawal; I don't to that. Note that in North America at least no one blinks if you buy a coffee with a credit card: you mostly don't need cash.
For large amounts of cash (a few thousand or so) I'm still unclear on an efficient way to get that into foreign notes. Anyone know the best way?
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You know it makes sense.
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Some season passes are looking very good deals at today's prices, particularly the buy early deals.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Mine cost me just over £500 Inc carre neige and that was a couple of weeks ago when rates were lower. 30% off before end of October
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Poster: A snowHead
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Got mine yesterday at 40% off. Also paid our flat rentals for our trips. Everything this year was budgeted at 1.25 so feeling very happy.
Grand Massif at 50% off (480 euros for the season) is great value.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@AndrewsPeppers, I did say "less than 1 cent etc.." as I couldn't remember more accurately, as you say it is usually a fair bit lower than 1 cent though.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Is transferwise really p2p?
I didn't realise that, it's not obvious from looking at their website if it is.
I've used it loads, the app is very quick and easy, spreads are tight, so far so good!
Currencyfair is the p2p one I see advertised on the tube all the time, I did wonder how it worked, as I assumed the quotes couldn't be live all the time, unless you leave an order and it just matches you at the mid price?
If transferwise is p2p I'd be really curious how they can quote live prices, it implies they must at some point take market risk?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| PeDaSp wrote: |
@haigie, @Lisa_BrentaSki,
This is by far the best pre-paid card: www.revolut.com. You can load it with UKP and then exchange to EUR and USD and vice-versa. And you get TRUE interbank rates with zero fees or commissions. It all runs via an app, and you get a physical card as well. Zero ATM or cash withdrawal fees as well; and you can pay with the card in multiple different currencies. It's backed by Barclays.
You can also load the card with EUR or USD if you want. No withdrawal fees. Pretty amazing. They make their money when you spend with the card.
So one of it's many strengths is that you can load it with say UKP £1,500 today, and transfer that to EUR if you think the rates have hit a high.
If anyone wants to pm me I can send you a code and you get a free £5 sign-up bonus. [if that's against the rules, please let me know!] |
This is an AMAZING app.
It is really easy to set up and use.
Made me a couple of bucks over the last day too!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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almost all http sites are now flagged by browsers if they require a log on
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@flangesax, Yep. You can currency trade on the app if you wish, as it's mid-marked rates, and no fees. Such a pleasure not to be paying those fees and terrible exchange rates.
Bonus: I had to order some Xmas crackers from the USA to be delivered to Los Angeles; but the site was asking for a US credit card only. So I changed my address on the app to a LA address, and then the order went through no problem. And of course I was charged in USD with no exchange fees etc. Amazing.
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FAQ
