The Lemon Fool

Does anyone know if there's a handy summary anywhere of the cheapest ways of getting foreign currency?

I've been using Moneycorp, but wondering whether or not their rates are competitive.

This is a fairly good comparison site : http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com

However you've not said what you're looking for. If you want to buy and transfer foreign currency I always use Currency Fair. Best rates and a flat fee of around £3 (payable in the purchased currency).

For holiday money I've used ICE (international Currency Exchange) who will deliver to your door.

Bizarrely I have also used a small shop here in West Sussex. They have two small units, just walk in and there's a counter and screens but they give good rates. One is called Horsham Coin Shop and the other is Worthing Coin Shop. Perhaps you can Google "Your town currency exchange" and see if there is something similar locally.

I've been using transferwise mid market rates fees of 0.5% on less than £5000, 0.3% on sums greater than if memory serves. Be wary banks often quote cheap rates but hide up to 5% on market rates.

FredBloggs wrote:If the purpose is travel, then I think the best value out there for both purchases and cash advance is the Halifax Clarity card. It has been a winner for me for years when travelling around. The Clarity card does carry an interest rate on cash advances, but it is trivial if you pay it off on line within a few days. The exchange rate is always first class.

Can you get foreign cash in advance of travelling, or just from atm's once there?

Halifax Clarity card, head straight for a bank's ATM as soon as you arrive. Draw out the cash and get the very best exchange rate in local currency. Pay the tiny interest charge (12% pa in my case) with a smile when you get home. Just did Berlin, Prague, Vienna and Budapest, three currencies, no probs.. unbeatable.

zico wrote:Does anyone know if there's a handy summary anywhere of the cheapest ways of getting foreign currency?

I've been using Moneycorp, but wondering whether or not their rates are competitive.

The absolute cheapest way to get foreign currency is to get a Revolut card.

In Heathrow & Gatwick (I'm not sure about others) as soon as you get through security you'll find a Moneycorp stand with an ATM. Load up Revolut with a debit card, then withdraw that amount in Dollars or Euro at the ATM (using your card to do the transfer, not Moneycorp's offered rate). You'll get as near to a perfect exchange rate as is possible as far as I know. You can test this yourself by switching back and forth between dollars and gbp in the app, you don't lose anything (maybe a penny here and there), therefore you know the rate is good.

If you're planning to do this at the weekend, you'll need to exchange the currency ahead of the trip, as they increase the exchange rate from midnight Friday to midnight Monday morning.

They do have maximum's for cash though, £200/€200 per month. https://www.revolut.com/fairusage

Thanks for the replies. I've already got a Clarity card so good to know that still seems the best option.

Moneycorp terminals are a bit of a sore point - Moneycorp won't even post foreign currency to me and only have terminals in southern airports - London, Bristol and Southampton airports -definitely not Manchester despite it being such a big hub!

If you want cash, IME the best rates are from those hole-in-the-wall places around Liverpool St/Cannon St stations - whether this is a bargain or not rather depends on your marginal cost of getting to Liverpool St.

Failing that, I tend to use Tesco and pay with my Tesco credit card; no clubcard points but because it counts as a "purchase", you effectively get an interest-free loan of however much it is until your next statement date.

In either case (hole-in-the-wall or Tesco), it's important to reserve online before going - but in the case of the Liverpool St brigade this can be as little as a few minutes before going, depending on the amount.

ModernMicawber wrote:If you want cash, IME the best rates are from those hole-in-the-wall places around Liverpool St/Cannon St stations - whether this is a bargain or not rather depends on your marginal cost of getting to Liverpool St.

There's also a bunch on Praed Street right by Paddington station, which are handy if you are taking the Heathrow Express or Connect trains to the airport. I've always been happy with their rates and they have currencies I've not even heard of.

Another vote for Halifax Clarity.

Draw out £100-worth of Euro on Halifax Clarity and it costs you - £100.
Draw out £100-worth of Euro on a Tesco CC and it costs you £100 +2.75% transaction fee + 3% cash withdrawal fee (min £3) = £105.75
Draw out £100-worth of Euro at some shady bureau and it could cost you £110 upwards, or whatever other figure they care to make up.

I use Covent Garden FX for Euros: rates are usually good and delivery via 1st Class Royal Mail track-and-trace prompt.

What some folk are missing is the way credit cards work. Mastercard, which buys currency for Halifax Clarity, buys currency in huge quantities. This means that it gets the best rates. On a rail holiday recently I used the card to get three different currencies and in every case got better rates than five others in our party who were using various other exchange methods. In some cases the difference was 10%. I could pay off the debt immediately if I wanted to, but frankly cant be bothered. The charges for advances of £525 came to just £4.57. Because the cash was all drawn out of Bank ATMs there was nothing in it for Halifax as far as I know. Had it been a purchase of a meal etc the retailer would have paid the credit card issuers commission. I guess they bank on the fact that users will use their Clarity cards for such purposes the make money? Seems like a no brainer to me..