Euro Exchange Question - Better to do at home or in London?
May 13th, 2008, 03:30 AM
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Euro Exchange Question - Better to do at home or in London?
Am travelling from the States to London in early July. Will exchange a small amount of dollars for pounds prior to departing home. (I always like to arrive with some local currency in hand) I'm taking a day trip to Paris via Eurostar and am wondering if I should get some Euro's at home, since I'll be getting some pounds anyway, or is it smarter to exchange some pounds in London to Euros? If the answer is to do the exchange in London, can I just go into a bank and get Euros, or do I need to go to one of the exchange bureaus?
May 13th, 2008, 03:35 AM
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Either change your dollars to euro in the States, or withdraw some euro from a cash machine once you get to Paris. If you change your dollars to euro in London then you will be charged double the commission - dollar to sterling, and then sterling to euro.
Avoid exchange bureaux if you can - you will generally get a better rate of exchange in any high street bank branch.
Avoid exchange bureaux if you can - you will generally get a better rate of exchange in any high street bank branch.
May 13th, 2008, 04:07 AM
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<i>Avoid exchange bureaux if you can - you will generally get a better rate of exchange in any high street bank branch.</i>
This is not true in my experience. Every guidbook says this, and I think they are all wrong. If you go to Oxford Street, there will be quite a few fx shops and I've always found they have pretty competitive rates.
All that being said, neither banks nor the fx shops will be as good as an ATM. I would not bother to change anything before leaving the US, but if you feel more comfortable with £50 or so in hand, then I'm not going to call you crazy. With regards to the Euros, I wouldn't go out of my way there, either. I would just exchange whatever spare £s I had at the train station.
With ATMs so plentiful in London, I would never keep enough cash that it is worth worrying about whether you will get a better rate at one place or the other - if you have only £50 left in your wallet, does it really matter if it nets you €59 or €63?
This is not true in my experience. Every guidbook says this, and I think they are all wrong. If you go to Oxford Street, there will be quite a few fx shops and I've always found they have pretty competitive rates.
All that being said, neither banks nor the fx shops will be as good as an ATM. I would not bother to change anything before leaving the US, but if you feel more comfortable with £50 or so in hand, then I'm not going to call you crazy. With regards to the Euros, I wouldn't go out of my way there, either. I would just exchange whatever spare £s I had at the train station.
With ATMs so plentiful in London, I would never keep enough cash that it is worth worrying about whether you will get a better rate at one place or the other - if you have only £50 left in your wallet, does it really matter if it nets you €59 or €63?
May 13th, 2008, 04:45 AM
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I appreciate the advice received so far, but I think I may not have made myself clear. Once I am in London if I were to exchange some pounds to euros, can I do that at an ATM or do I need to go into a bank? How about doing the exchange at St. Pancras? I'm just trying to determine WHERE it makes the most sense to exchange either dollars (if I do the transaction at home prior to the trip), or pounds (if I wait to do it in London).
May 13th, 2008, 04:49 AM
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Hi K,
> I'm just trying to determine WHERE it makes the most sense to exchange either dollars (if I do the transaction at home prior to the trip), or pounds (if I wait to do it in London).
At an ATM when you arrive in Paris.
You can change about $100 to Euro before leaving home for about $5 more than it would cost at an ATM in Paris.
> I'm just trying to determine WHERE it makes the most sense to exchange either dollars (if I do the transaction at home prior to the trip), or pounds (if I wait to do it in London).
At an ATM when you arrive in Paris.
You can change about $100 to Euro before leaving home for about $5 more than it would cost at an ATM in Paris.
May 13th, 2008, 04:54 AM
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I don't think you can change pound notes to euros at an ATM--at least I've never seen one that can do that. It would be like trying to put euro notes into an ATM in the USA trying to get US dollars out of it.
As far as I know, you would have to change paper money pounds at a bank or exhange bureau with a human being to handle the transaction.
Use your home bank ATM card in a British bank ATM machine to get pounds in Great Britan or in a French, German, Italian bank ATM machine to get Euros in France, Germany, Italy, etc.
As far as I know, you would have to change paper money pounds at a bank or exhange bureau with a human being to handle the transaction.
Use your home bank ATM card in a British bank ATM machine to get pounds in Great Britan or in a French, German, Italian bank ATM machine to get Euros in France, Germany, Italy, etc.
May 13th, 2008, 05:03 AM
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"I'm just trying to determine WHERE it makes the most sense to exchange either dollars (if I do the transaction at home prior to the trip), or pounds (if I wait to do it in London). "
<b> It makes no sense for anyone using a US bank account to buy Euros anywhere in London </b> Anywhere at all.
It's physically impossible to feed foreign currency into ATMs: buying Euros with any foreign currency, whether at a British bank, supermarket post office or ATM, involves a double exchange commission (even if the dealer lyingly tells you there's no commission).
THe best place for an American in London to buy Euros is at home in America or in thge Eurozone.
<b> It makes no sense for anyone using a US bank account to buy Euros anywhere in London </b> Anywhere at all.
It's physically impossible to feed foreign currency into ATMs: buying Euros with any foreign currency, whether at a British bank, supermarket post office or ATM, involves a double exchange commission (even if the dealer lyingly tells you there's no commission).
THe best place for an American in London to buy Euros is at home in America or in thge Eurozone.
May 13th, 2008, 06:25 AM
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<<< THe best place for an American in London to buy Euros is at home in America or in thge Eurozone. >>>
I wouldn't do it in America either - exchange rates poor and/or charges high
Do a search for "ATM" and you'll find out more information than you ever knew existed on the subject of exchanging money
I wouldn't do it in America either - exchange rates poor and/or charges high
Do a search for "ATM" and you'll find out more information than you ever knew existed on the subject of exchanging money
May 13th, 2008, 07:27 AM
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If you exchange pounds into euros, you will have paid the exchange surcharge twice, once for dollars into pounds and again for pounds into euros.
If you must have money ahead, buy both pounds and euros in the US.
It was a few years ago that I braved arriving in Europe without foreign money. And no traverler's checks. Felt a bit scary. But there has never been a problem.
If you must have money ahead, buy both pounds and euros in the US.
It was a few years ago that I braved arriving in Europe without foreign money. And no traverler's checks. Felt a bit scary. But there has never been a problem.
May 13th, 2008, 07:38 AM
#14
The main thing is you want to avoid changing currency for currency as much as possible. It never is a good deal.
So a FEW £ bought ahead at home OK. Otherwise use ATMs exclusively.
To get your € either use the St Pancras € ATM avalon linked, or use an ATM after you get to Paris. There are ATMs in Gare du Nord and at a couple of banks just up the street. St Pancras would be the easiest.
So a FEW £ bought ahead at home OK. Otherwise use ATMs exclusively.
To get your € either use the St Pancras € ATM avalon linked, or use an ATM after you get to Paris. There are ATMs in Gare du Nord and at a couple of banks just up the street. St Pancras would be the easiest.
May 14th, 2008, 04:09 AM
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It's 2008...there are ATM's everywhere in both London and Paris...there is no need whatsoever to exchange cash before arrival...oh of course we have the worry warts what if the ATM is not working...big deal...in the unlikely event this happens (and it is very unlikely), saunter over to the exchange window and exchange some of your home currency for the currency of the country.
Of course, your need for currency can decrease dramatically if you're smart and use a credit card for all expenditures whether large or small wherever credit cards are accepted...and in London, it is become a lot like New York in that credit cards are accepted at more and more places. About the only places I have to put out any cash in London are at pubs for drinks (many take credit cards for food) and internet cafes...everywhere else it's a credit card...can get by on one £30 withdrawal for a week with no trouble whatsoever.
Of course, your need for currency can decrease dramatically if you're smart and use a credit card for all expenditures whether large or small wherever credit cards are accepted...and in London, it is become a lot like New York in that credit cards are accepted at more and more places. About the only places I have to put out any cash in London are at pubs for drinks (many take credit cards for food) and internet cafes...everywhere else it's a credit card...can get by on one £30 withdrawal for a week with no trouble whatsoever.
May 14th, 2008, 04:20 AM
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<b> Yet again. Do not buy Euros in London if you haven't got a British bank account</b>
This advice applies just as much to the handful of ATM machines that dispense euros as to the thousands that dispense sterling.
Anyone using a non-UK card at a British ATM dispensing euros pays a double commission EXACTLY as he would if he were buying euros at a British bank, post office or supermarket.
And any machine or bank that claims it's commission free is lying by ommission. They're still making a turn, and foreigners using their cards in Britain to obtain foreign cash let someone else make a trurn on BOTH the translation of their currency into sterling and the translation into the currency being bought.
This advice applies just as much to the handful of ATM machines that dispense euros as to the thousands that dispense sterling.
Anyone using a non-UK card at a British ATM dispensing euros pays a double commission EXACTLY as he would if he were buying euros at a British bank, post office or supermarket.
And any machine or bank that claims it's commission free is lying by ommission. They're still making a turn, and foreigners using their cards in Britain to obtain foreign cash let someone else make a trurn on BOTH the translation of their currency into sterling and the translation into the currency being bought.
