Exchange Rate

[saintstephen]

Went to change pounds into euros in the high street last week and was really disappointed by the rate offered anything between 114 to the best that I could get which was 123 at Thomas Cook and then only because I had booked my holiday through them.

Can anyone tell me what the rate of exchange £/euro is around Puerto Pollensa at the moment?

As Im new here I hope I have posted this in the correct forum

 

[CathB]

Hi - last week we had 1.19 commission free at exchange bureaus (such as Nautiport and the one opposite barclays bank (old Mir)

 

[saintstephen]

Thanks for that Cath, has that been around the going rate over there lately?

 

[sandy]

Why not use your debit card in one of the many cash machines in the port. If you have a Nationwide account, there's no commission. Even if you haven't, the bank rate is generally much better than those in the exchanges.

 

[whaleywanderer]

We returned from PP on Wednesday after spending an idyllic month there. We use a Nationwide Flex Account debit card to draw cash from ATM's and we got from 1.24 - 1.26 with no extra charges levied, much better rate than changing money in England or going to one of the money change bureau's. It's quite easy to open an account because you don't have to fund it by a certain amount each month. I just use this account for travel purposes.

I also use the Nationwide Credit Card for purchases (shopping, restaurants, etc) there is no charge for using the card abroad (but don't use it for drawing cash!). When the bill arrives I just pay it by a transfer from the Flex account.

The Post Office credit card has no charges either for purchases abroad (there again do not use to draw cash or you will be charged).

Note for people needing to get larger amounts into their Spanish banks:
Open a Nationwide Flex current account - Put money in before leaving England - Draw up to the maximum per day from ATM - Pay into your Spanish bank - No transfer charges!!!

Hope this helps, with the exchange rate being so poor at the moment, every little helps.

 

[saintstephen]

Thanks everyone for your information, it has been very helpful

 

[sandy]

On the subject of transfering money from English banks to Spanish banks, I would also suggest the Halifax. If you have an account in both countries, it costs absolutely nothing to transfer money between the two. Most banks charge about £20 set fee for the privilege.

 

[its cd]

Transfering Money

Sandy

Be careful with the Halifax

You are right that they do not charge BUT when we have needed to transfer money we have found the exchange rate the Halifax was offering to be MUCH worse than the Abbey, so much to that it was worth paying the charges

 

[Sharonh]

Transferring Money

We have used either World First or Money Corp to transfer funds to our spanish bank account. We first used them when buying our apartment but have since used them to change smaller amounts and have always got a competitive rate and no transaction charges.

 

[sandy]

Interesting CD, thanks very much. I'll keep an eye on it.

It may be worth trying the ones you suggest Sharon. I didn't realise they also accepted small amounts.