 Poster: A snowHead
|
7 days and counting before we go on our first trip to Les Deux Alpes, and just wondered whether it's a better rate of exchange for GBP in resort or over here, and where is a good place to change currency.  Thanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Change it at home. We stopped doing foreign exchange in the hotels last year because the banks in resort were giving us such a rubbish rate that we actually lost money, despite offering a pretty rubbish rate ourselves. Besides, why would you want to waste holiday time messing with money exchange?
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
Same story as you, my local ski resort has stopped accepting sterling, even at the rubbish rate they offered. They say that it is devaluing so fast by the time they get to bank the money they've lost out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Thanks for the information  Better start looking for a decent-ish rate
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Use your credit card to buy anything you can. Or debit card in an ATM to get cash. You will typically get 2-3% less than the interbank rate, which compares very well to the 10% you'll typically pay if you exchange at a bureax/bank.
Nationwide, Abbey and Post Office credit cards don't change any commission: you get the interbank rate; Nationwide debit cards the same.
If you insist on taking cash, then pre-ordering online from travelex and picking it up at your departure airport is normally the best overall deal.
(I travel a lot, and only once (Saudi Arabia) would have it been cheaper to get currency here.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
RobW, I've never worked out why people see the need to travel with huge wedges of cash. They wouldn't carry that amount about at home.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As Rob said, Nationwide Flex account. No charges and you get the bank rate. It can not be beaten! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yep, Nationwide Flex Account .... can't go wrong!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Lizzard, nor me, although we did , in the dim and distant past, take travellers cheques, until we discovered that changing them in France was difficult (although La Poste do).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I hear Abbey have an account which is FOC abroad. AFAIK there is nowhere in LDA that changes money any more since the post office stopped. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
Bartezki, change it at home - last time I was in les2aples I spent way to much time trying to change money.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
II, did you not just shove a card in a machine? Is there any other way of doing it these days?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Lizzard wrote: |
| RobW, I've never worked out why people see the need to travel with huge wedges of cash. They wouldn't carry that amount about at home. |
Because the £ is falling like a stone?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
If you do change currency, definitely don't do it at the airport. I've always just got money out of the ATM in resort but when I went out to Meribel last week a friend had given me £100 cash to bring back cigarettes. I changed it at Luton airport -paid £100.28 and got 100 euros back. For cash from the ATM in resort, my bank (the afore praised Nationwide) gave me 1.118 euros to the £pound.
I thought taking cash abroad for your holiday had died out with the dinosaurs!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
achilles, they were doing it before all that. And then complaining when they lost it/people pinched it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Change it into Zimbabwean pounds before you go they hold their value better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
It's not practical to buy a beer with credit card 
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
But it is practical to put your card in the ATM to withdraw cash as and when you need it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
