I have been a fairly regular customer of Travelex for several years now and have recently ordered through the Travelex BA site US$ and AED. I assumed that I would be getting the same rate as through the Travelex main site but this is not the case and the differnces are quite large. For US$ you get about 3% less and for AED you get nearly 7% less. As you can buy BA miles for 1.75 pence you would be better off buying off the Travelex website and then buying the BA miles. In the case of AED you could buy 4 times as many miles with the money you save/gain.

Shame on you Travelex having a small difference in rates is one thing but to be making a profit as large as 300% on the miles you are buying from BA and 'giving' to customers is just dishonest. These miles are not free and are costing customers more than if they bought them directly and avoided your rip off scheme.

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I stopped using this service some years ago after finding that you get a worst rate so effectively you were buying BA miles at a higher rate than you could buy them from BA as you have found.

But also as you have to use your debit card to buy the currency your card issuer charges you a percentage for the privilege. The best way is to buy with cash and hand over your BA Exec card at the time of purchase.

I was not impressed with Travelex at T5 when I went to HKG last year as it was open but no one there and the Thomas Cook exchange had run out of HKD. When I changed some money at HKG airport at Travelex I handed over my BA Exec card which of course they don't take. When I explained the situation she gave me a discount card. When I needed some currency going through LGW I handed over both BA Exec and the card and explained the situation which the manager was called and I got the discount and BA miles so could not fault that part of the service.

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I haven't used currency agencies for 7 yrs, taking my money Direct from local banks In my destination country. I use a nationwide card, where you get the Banking Not the tourist rates for the £, in direct currency, & NO commissions! Generally, this shows up on my statements as 15% better rate than buying through agencies, then commission saved on top!

Not that the £ is worth much away from home these days, mostly dropped -30-40% against currencies! 1.75 AUS $ compared to 2.3 in march, & even against Thai Baht, , Rand, generally weaker currencies, it is worth little. Better to use yr saved cash direct from the cash machine, & buy a flight to earn miles, i have a good couple of weekends away with the amounts saved each yr!

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I usually do the same as you Mark, like you say its cheaper and you get a better rate. I only use other facilities here if I am going to a place I have not been to before or short of cash from a previous visit.

In those cases unless I can't get there, I'll use a local firm which is very good compared to other local facilities.

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I think the rates we are getting at the moment worldwide, is truly shocking. Down here in Australia, & the UK economy is seen as shot to pieces, it's almost £1-1 AUS $. Any news just does not compare to how the Australian economy has been managed, & it is in good state, strong.

If you have any currencies left over from the last yr, then maybe you are the new millionaire!!

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Travelex charged me EU 96.36 or $126.64 to exchange $1100 US in the airport at Venice, Italy. They said that they don't charge any fees. On their receipt it does say 0.00 for fees, but they put the charges under Nett Commission. So, they get you on the variance between the rate of exchange they pay and the going rate for currency exchange, and then they screw you by charging you a commission without telling you. Travelex is a complete ripoff! Avoid at all costs...or it will cost you!

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I use TTT Moneycorp in London as their rates are often competitive especially for forward deals etc.

One time I didint have time to do that and had to find an ATM at the airport to get some local currency for a taxi and it only gave out stupidly large notes that the taxi couldnt change.

I was thinking on my last trip when was the last time I used Travellers Cheques and god forbit what would happen if I had my debit/credit cards lost/stolen whilst overseas.

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Do travellers cheques still exist and does anyone still use them? I can't even remember seeing the "we accept travellers cheques" signs anymore.

Form memory it was Thomas Cook and Amex who were the big issuers.

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Last time I had travellers cheques was ten years ago. Even then they were a waste of time. The hotel we stayed in Orlando would only take one cheque per day and that I was told when we checked out. Only had $300.00 but used ATM's as it was easier. So brought $250.00 home!

They were Amex.

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I recently used the Travelex cash passport facility when going to CPT. I bought some ZAR cash and also loaded on some ZAR onto their Cass passport (bit like a credit card). I tried this just to see how it worked.

The card worked fine when in CPT (at Visa point of sales and cash points). I am in 2 minds as to whether this was a good facility.

The problem is that the money loaded onto the card cost me the cash rate at LHR and hence contained quite a margin. Therefore, if and when I used it as a credit card, I coud have just used my normal sterling credit card and gotten a much better rate.

My advice therefore is to not use these cards to but things (meals etc) buy only to get cash from a cash machine at your destination.

There is an advantage over cash in that if the card is lost/stolen, then you can get it back (not the case with cash!!)

Rdgs

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I remember when I used to take say $300 for a couple of days in New York I would take say $40 cash and $240 in $20 travellers cheques..

For my last trip, I took £500 worth of CZK to Prague and used that for everything I was just 28CZK short for my duty free on the way home so had to put that on my card. to the surprise of the shop assistant.

The costs of these cash passports are quite expensive for purchases etc so you might just as well use your debit and credit cards.

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The Travelex thing is a great con. I'm surprised BA allow exec card holders to be ripped off in this way, but then like many things these days I don't suppose they really give a wotsit.

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Best way, provided you know and trust the hotel, is to transfer the room amount + estimated extras + extra cash direct from your bank to the Hotels. This is the cheapest way, saves cc roe, handling charge and 3%. They will then pay out the cash to you.

I do this with several hotels including the Mount Nelson in Cape Town and never had a problem. If I give the instruction to my bank online by 3pm it arrives early next morning.

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