[BA744fan]

I always pre-order on Travelex and collect at the airport. The difference in exchange rates is huge. Ordered € @ 1.24 last week. Rate at the desk when I collected was €1.13 – nearly 10% difference.

[HarryMonk]

I agree with those that say pre-order with Travelex for collection at the airport. However, for an even better rate with Travelex find the very best rate from one of the sites listed on Moneysavingexpert and after ordering with Travelex use the Travelex best rate guarantee to get a refund of the difference

[RaveAroundTheWorld]

My Swiss (UBS) bank card gives competitive rates when drawing from ATM s overseas. Oh, and I hardly ever exchange back any local currency when I leave. I just add in to a big wad of foreign currencies I have at home as odds are I will visit that country again!
-Rave

[DavidGordon10]

Thanks to everyone for many interesting comments.

I have never had trouble using a card in the hole in the wall in any country, including some very obscure places. The bank have also been good on the couple of times I have had a card cloned. However, their security can sometimes be odd – querying purchases of air tickets on routes that seem to me to be routine.

To return to my opening post, the ~£1000-worth of DKK that I needed were ordered from the bank internet site. I requested delivery on Monday; they tried to deliver on Saturday when I was out; the package went to the Post Office sorting office; which was closed for “unforeseen circumstances” on Monday; I eventually collected the cash on a second visit today. Good thing I did not need the money until this evening.

[andystock]

Thomas Exchange Global on London Wall

[skywards]

For Dollars and Euros I use a Jewish place in the Jewish sector of Gateshead…one of these cash for gold places that no high street travel agency or bank can possibly beat. For the UAE I change my Dirhams from M&S normally. For The Gambia I take pounds and change from the many exchange shops over there and it’s the same with Thailand..I take pounds and change at the many exchange booths or banks over there as well.

[FCTraveller]

Well as some of you will know, never, ever exchange currency at any British airport unless you are desperate, the spread can sometimes cost you in excess of 10% of the value of your money. It is daylight robbery. The high street banks and branded bureaux de change are never the best but offer better rates than the airport. However, what I have found are consistently the best are the small bureaux de change on Oxford Street usually situated at the back of various clothes or souvenir shops. They simply cannot be beat on any currency and the difference is staggering. You cannot order and they don’t deliver but it’s well worth the trip to exchange in person. Most of them are situated on Oxford Street, south side, between Tottenham Court Road and Regent Street. Shop around, most of them will match better rates available locally.

[IanFromHKG]

In Singapore the best rates are in the little exchange bureaux around Raffles Place.

In Hong Kong, however, I usually use Travelex at the airport unless it is one of the currencies that I can take out from my HSBC ATM (USD, EUR and RMB). Sadly, those ATMs don’t deliver sterling! But then I have offshore sterling accounts I can access through Barclays ATMs anyway.

The worst, worst spread I have ever seen was on one occasion travelling to the US, when I had not been able to stock up on USD before leaving. Bearing in mind that the HKD is pegged to the USD at HKD7.80 = USD1.00,, and never varies more than a few cents from that figure, I was shocked by the rate offered at the bureau de change there. I forget the exact figures, but their bid/offer spread was extraordinary. HKD5 point something and HKD 9 point something. Absolute extortion.

[Author]

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