Crystal ball time: US dollar vs GBP

[Rob P]

Planned a trip to the States in Sept. Half the hotels and the car are paid for, the rest I'll do when I'm there.

So, should I buy my dollar now or wait? I would be annoyed if come Sept i'm buying at 1.5USD to a pound...


[quote=X-rates website]
January
1.87973 USD (20 days average)
February
1.88711 USD (19 days average)
March
1.9043 USD (23 days average)
April
1.89637 USD (20 days average)
May
1.86543 USD (16 days average)
[/quote]

Any PH'er who knows more about economics care to let me into any secrets?!
:)

[GavinPearson]

I'd buy now.

Every expat is praying that the exchange rate will be back towards 1 GBP = 1.7 USD by the end of the year. The way things are going, it may stand a chance of happening.

[simpo two]

Spread your bet: buy half now and half later?

[TomT]

I can't forecast what the future currency rate will be, but if you want to avoid any fx commission, just open a Nationwide a/c and you can withdraw cash from the ATM commission free (and at near market rate fx rate which you would never get at any FX booth/Thomas Cook etc..). High cost items can be put on CC which will benefit from comm free and favourable rate.

Have been using my Nationwide cashpoint card (withdraw cash from destination airport) for the past 5 years on holidays and never had any problem (not advisable if you are flying to a remote airfield in Tibet!). Just means you can't afford to lose your cashpoint card on hols if this is your only mean of access to cash.

[towman]

TomT said:

Intersting Stuff.

Thanks - good call.

[simonrockman]

I don't know if it adds to the sum of knowledge but there is an annual graph here:

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/fds/hi/business/market_data/currency/11/12/twelve_month.stm

I worry about this a lot. I work in the US but get paid in the UK, so it's been very good for me. I might move here (to the US) in January and so my salary will shift to dollars. I'll either sell or rent my house in £ and buy or rent here in $ so a small change makes a big difference to me.

And I don't want to predict anything. I am however tempted to sell some $ shares on the basis that they are quite strong, and the dollar quite strong and I'm not greedy enough to expect both things to swing my way in the future.

Simon

[S Works]

On the high street you won't get near to those rates. More likely around the high 1.7x's.

You get better rates from CCard companies if you're planning on buying larger items (they convert FX at wholesale rates IIRC and pass on some of the benefit to clients indirectly by the rate at which they convert your purchases).

Whenever I travel to the US I take enough cash to last me a few days 2-300 bucks then pay for as much as possible by CC using ATMs to withdraw more cash when I need to. Works out cheaper in the end for me.

[rsvmilly]

I've found that some of the best exchange rates are at Bureau de changes in the country I'm visiting.

Eg Thailand - Rate over here at the airport (similar to travel agents) 68 /£. Over there 74 /£.

I usually take a wad of cash and use ATMs to top up. Be aware, cash advance fees can vary hugely from £2.50 for my bank to £5-6 plus.