or is it best just to draw money out of the cash machines in Italy?
buying euros whats the best way these days?
Time machine.
Walk into tesco's and ask for them a couple hundred, then spend mostly on the card as you would here.
As Wilburt says, whatever is closest to hand, Euros are very competitively priced you're not going to save anything meaningful by shopping around really.
Well unless someone hasn't bothered to update their pricing for 5 weeks or so 🙁
Depends on your bank. Most banks charge both a percentage of 2-3% and a fixed fee for cash withdrawals abroad. Adds up to around 4 or 5% per 100 withdrawn. Using your debit card for spending is cheaper. Full list of card charges at
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/overseas-card-charges
I prefer taking some cash with me then getting cash out as I need it. So I opened a 2nd bank a/c with the Norwich & Peterborough Gold Classic current account which has fee free cash withdrawals. Previously every $100 was costing me around $5 in fees with First Direct.
Full story for foreign cash at
As above, watch out for fees. There is often a fixed amount plus a percentage so dont take out lots of small amounts. I've got the Halifax clarity card to reduce fees. The fairfx card gets good press too.
Get a revolut card - load it in sterling and as you use it it draws off the euros at the interbank rate with no fees. Absolutely the best way of doing it. If you want to buy euros thinking the rate will worsen you can hold euros on the card to, just exchange them on the app. End of the holiday you've got no unspent euros to lose on.
Only thing to watch as with all pre pay cards is they won't work for pre auth payments like French pay at pump or for booking hotels.
Have been using a FairFX prepaid Euro card and it's been great so far. Decent rates and app is good for topping up etc. Details are here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/prepaid-travel-cards (you save by applying through money saving expert site)
Gosh its all changed since travellers cheques 🙂
Applied for a weswap card free 10 quid
The best place for exchange rate is Western Union, but only pay using cash.
I also use a free pre paid Easy Jet Visa card.
Best way? IMO don't carry any more cash than you would in the UK and use your credit card for ALL spending, not worth the risk of someone emptying your bank account (via your debit card) and trying to deal with while paying international call rates.
just about to buy some more for an upcoming holiday. mentioned to wife that revolut card is recommended on here as the best way, but last time i tried using it it didnt work, and wife says she wants to get cash as we always have done before.
usually we use moneycorp, but she says they dont do it now, so..... who's the recommended place to go to for euros these days?
thanks
Ask if anyone in your Facebook circle has any. I've bought and sold recently this way and both sides end up with a better deal.
I've got a WeSwap card and it's great. Better rate than over the counter. When you use it in Italy, just make sure they make the transaction in euros or it will be declined. Also watch the 3 and 7 day swaps. If the rate falls, you'll lose any benefit by not swapping on the same day.
Edit and what cash I do get, is from ramsdens pawn brokers - best rate in Perth easily.
I've got a Travelex SuperCard. Linked to any debit/credit accounts I want. It doesn't charge fee's just uses the days exchange rate to charge your normal card.
Just got back from cycling holiday in Spain. Took my debit card to withdraw cash for coffees and beers, every ATM charged 3%. Might be better to buy Euros in U.K. And then use credit card, although certainly in Spain they are not quite used to paying for a round by waving ones contactless card in the general direction of the till, so hard cash is required.
We buy euro from Moneycorp. Book online, collect at airport - they honour the rate you booked at if the forex rate falls, or they exchange at the new rate if it improves.
I used a Monzo card [url= https://monzo.com/ ]https://monzo.com/[/url] recently. It's a prepaid £ card (although they're rolling out current accounts soonish).
Currently they use the Mastercard base rate for withdrawals from cash machines, with no additional charges. I was getting pretty close to the exchange rate you get from Google.
Not an investor - no relation to Monzo. I've also used Weswap, but don't like that I always end up with spare Euros on the card.
