exchange money - airport?

[dcw@pr]

what is generally the best place to get foreign cash-

1) My local Barclays

2) At Heathrow

3) In foreign country

I've always thought they will be about the same, is there a big difference?

[ginettag27]

Royal Mail may be worth a look, it used to be the best...

When abroad, it depends a lot on your card issuer... i.e. do they charge you per transaction, is the transaction viewed as a cash withdrawal or are you going to use a CC to pay for items in a restaurant, etc.. It used to be that paying by CC was the best option.. But they change the rules so much and so often.. It would pay to look at your statements or ask your card issuer or card issuers what their Ts&Cs are...

[mcflurry]

4) Nationwide debit card. You get the best rate and no loading

Some Bureau de Changes have a 6>12% margin, although M&S and the Post Office tend to offer better rates in my experience

[TimCrighton]

Book it in advanace with Travelex and collect it from their counter at your chosen airport - beats the over the counter rate everytime and is usually better than the bank and certainly better IME than buying abroad.

Also bare in mind that if you pay for foreign currency on a debit or cradit card they consider it a 'cash advance' and thus charge a premium fee - so the rule is pay cash for cash and get it out in advance at a UK cash machine!

Edited by TimCrighton on Tuesday 24th February 12:35

[nsa]

If you're in London: Bayswater Road / Queensway area. Hundreds of scruffy BDCs. Best rates I have ever found if you compare a few quotes. I don't know about pre-booking but a walk-up BDC at an airport/train station is the worst place you can change money.

If you can wait until March 6th ish I can change up to €15k at the mid-rate. Am in Notting Hill.

[t0ny99]

Is there typically any advantage to using local cash points, rather than BDC?

[mcflurry]

t0ny99 said:

Is there typically any advantage to using local cash points, rather than BDC?

Depending on your card you may get a rate at the decent VISA/MC, although many cards charge 2.75% on top

AFAIK Saga, Post Office, Abbey 0 and Nationwide don't load the fx rate..
LTSB on the other hand both load the rate and charge £1 on top

[the prescotts]

M&S usually beat bank staff rates.

[BigAlinEmbra]

M&S are usually pretty good, although my local Sainsbury's has a travelex booth that has decent rates and is much handier.

[CyprusCraig]

The foreign country, assuming there will be an exchange place there, not one at the airport int he actual country, normally about 0.2-0.3 better depending where you are going of course.