 Poster: A snowHead
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Not sure if anyone is clocking the Euro - interbank rate has been 1.20+ for the last three days and tourist rate is on the up. Best person I've used and their rate is always better than travelex by a cent is these guys:
http://www.changegroup.co.uk/cgi-bin/live/ecommerce.pl?site=changegroup_uk&state=page&page=splash&suppress_header=yes
I know one of the Directors and all is good, as in they are legit! They also send to your door, very good service.
Current rate at time of typing is €1.18570 as opposed to travelex at 1.175 - although a just a cent, worth an apres beer on the house.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Looking at it fm a different angle. Hoping the dollar has a brief resurgence in time for my trip end of Feb to Austria.  Lucked out a bit on the exchange rate, when I reserved my hotel last fall with the Euro/USD exchange rate at €1.26 to the dollar when I put down my deposit. Would like to see it at that level in 7 weeks time, if not a wee bit better.
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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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| flog873347 wrote: |
I know one of the Directors and all is good, as in they are legit! |
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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.
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holidayloverxx, what, you mean they don't post it to you at some time in the future like flog873347's mate?
Or like this other, similar company?
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holidayloverxx, I'll have words!
Toadman, - how complicated!
bar shaker, -  that caught a few out, cant be too careful these days.
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Barshaker, I'd never use an online currency provider ever again after losing a significant amount of cash when Crown Currency went bust last year only 4 days before my scheduled currency delivery 
The high street option mentioned above is no doubt the safest option. No danger of losing your cash. Just turn up and pay.
If (like me) you can't get to London for your currency the following (who I use) are well worth a try in other parts of the country:-
http://www.no1currency.com/bureau-de-change/index.asp
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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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i wait til in resort and use a cash machine . always get a better rate . i could be wrong  but i read somewhere that it`s because you are getting the bank rate(your bank changing money with other bank) rather than the tourist rate. could be a load of bo**ox but seems to be the best way.
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flog873347, I've got a CaxtonFX card - they offer very good rates and you can load up your card at any time.
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Mon 10-01-11 21:25; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| tim000 wrote: |
| i wait til in resort and use a cash machine . always get a better rate . i could be wrong but i read somewhere that it`s because you are getting the bank rate(your bank changing money with other bank) rather than the tourist rate. could be a load of bo**ox but seems to be the best way. |
The rate this way is usually OK, certainly better than an airport change kiosk, but there is almost always a fee buried in the exchange rate (not a cash point fee, which may or may not be levied too). Very few cards do not charge this - Nationwide used to be one, but no longer.
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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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holidayloverxx, Bones, where shall I get my Canadian $s, then?
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i opened a nationwide account for this very reason a few years ago. use santander now , they dont charge.
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You know it makes sense.
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sorry got that wrong , they do charge . £1.99 
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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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Hurtle, I'll be getting mine at Thomas Exchange Global
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've just opened a Metrobank account for holiday money. Should give the same facilities that Nationwide used to.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| tim000 wrote: |
| sorry got that wrong , they do charge . £1.99 |
bugs! Get a CaxtonFX card, it's the cheapest way I've found of using a card. Only downside is that you have to pre-load the card, but yo ucan do that via text just before you need the cash.
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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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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| Hurtle, I'll be getting mine at Thomas Exchange Global |
Not difficult for me to get to. I had no idea this was a good place. Where in Canada are you off to?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hurtle, Panorama. 
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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.
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halfhand, unless your staying if Courchevel 1850 then you quickly blow the Santander limit of 5 withdrawals per day or 100 in a calendar month.......
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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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Hurtle, I know - you contributed to my "will I like Panorama" thread 
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Just looked at the Caxton FM card as two have just mentioned and rate is 1.177. I suppose you can get hung up on this as when you think about £500 between the ones mentioned here is about a fiver so now really that much in it - horses for courses i suppose!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
about a fiver so now really that much in it
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That's supposed to read noT much in it! 
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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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flog873347, you can use the scissors icon to the right of your post to edit and make corrections
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| Quote: |
I use Santander. So they charge £1.99, it's hardly a deal breaker now is it at what £300 max withdrawal per day
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I used to use Nationwide but now use Santander Zero CC (same good rate when I tested it last October) - just credit the account the next day and pay about 25p interest (no other charges). Didn't realise the debit card option was so cheap though - I vaguely thought it cost about £10 more to use most debit cards but not very clued up really.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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AW, Yep I have a zero cc too. Handy for hols but don't use it much
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Poster: A snowHead
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Go to one of the tourist Cambio/Money Change places in Oxford Street or a similar major tourist spot.
They make all their money giving a lousy rate for € to £ and end up with lots of cash €.
Consequently they give an excellent rate for £ to € as you are actually saving them a lot of charges for handling the physical notes.
The rate is very, very close to spot.....much better than any bank will ever give a retail punter like you or I.
In a previous life I used to work for a bank that was the world's largest dealer in physical bank notes....I know about this stuff!
At the airports the exchange places straddle spot by +/- 10% for their buy/sell for € and £ and 20% for exotics.
The tourist "1 way trade" shops in Oxford Street etc skew 9%/1% or something like that.
In the old days our counters at Heathrow used to go 9%/1% in the mornings when all the flights arrived from the US and the trade was all $ to £ and then 1%/9% later in the day as all the departures to the US meant that the trade was all £ to $. Very lucrative!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rungsp, hat's pretty much Thomas Exchange Global - usully half a point better than the souvenir shop at the top of whitehall. I am horrified when folk uby at the airport. When I last got euros, 1.15 I think, travelex at gatwick was 1.06!
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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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Used my Nationwide account to get cash from machine over new year in Alpe d'Huez. Their rates were 1.171, 1.168, 1.162 & 1.16 - decreasing as the week went on. They charge £1.00 per withdrawal and 2% commission. So for a 300 Euro withdrawal the commission was £5.12.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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The pound is taking rather a beating today, currently sitting at 1.15634
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Quick high street forex top tip. First Choice travel agents will price match. So the usual sequence of events is this:
"What rate have you got on the Euro today?"
"1.14"
"There's a dodgy looking Western Union money transfer / mobile phone hacking shop round the corner doing 1.18, can you match that?" <---- (this is a completely made-up lie)
"Yes, OK"
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Yes, beware those of you (like me) who have a Nationwide acrd - it's no longer worth it. However Halifax do a credit card with no charges for FX (but NOT cash withdrawal). I was in North America over Christmas / New Year and just got my credit card statement with most txns at 1.55 and some at 1.56.
+1 for moneysavingexpert.com. It usually comes out with the place in Waterloo station as best or second best which is great for me (Thomas Cook Global often good too) but be careful about using a debit card as your bank may charge you a cash withdrawal fee even if you are being charged for the transaction in sterling so better to draw out the cash and then change; of course be aware of the implications of having large amounts of cash on your person - but that goes without saying
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FAQ
Just hope it rises a little before we head out in Feb. 
