good euro rate

It's been rising for a week or so.
I'm using my Halifax Clarity card, to bring cash out here, each day.

Paying it off before next day's close, so no charges.
Management is spending on the Nationwide Platinum..
Getting the commercial rate.
Trying to build up a decent stash, as we've got visitors coming.
 
we always take enough cash ( from post office ) for the 3 months for shopping & the clarity card for diesel & site fees & paid off end of month for very small interest
worked best for us .cheyenne
 
Got €1.1504 a week ago for transfer to our French Bank Account; and €1.1350 today for £200 of currency notes to avoid a repeat of last year's problem at Rouen Peage where SAPN couldn't process the Credit Card at 0530 ... We have new French Debit Cards that can only be activated by making an ATM withdrawal or a physical purchase at a business [usually the hypermarket], so a back up facility needed ...

Steve
 
I opened a Revolut account to send some money abroad but other than that I don't really know how it works.
So how would I buy some Euros and I imagine they then show on my Revolut account balance. I think I can also buy other currencies
But how do I get them out.Presumably I need to get a real Revolut card to use in a cash machine.
 
you transfer some cash from your bank account to the revolut account then click on exchange and it gives you the current rate basically buying euros at bank rate if abroad you can leave it in the revolut account in sterling and use it as a debit card & it pays in euros at the bank rate of the day
 
Thanks for that starter for 10 Ken......................so first a real card.
Then different currencies are in different "accounts" bought at today's rate. I'm thinking Euros and Turkish Lira for next year.
When I will use it in say Turkiye it exchanges at 1 to 1 for however many I have bought.
So presumably avoiding any local bank charges.
Thanks for your help
 
Just done what I sometimes sarcastically advise others to do and searched Google myself.
In case anyone comes to this thread in the future I found a couple of useful links Link 1 and this one
 
We take a couple of hundred quid's worth of €'s in cash on each trip and then use our Clarity card for as many purchases as we can. Now the First Direct current account has no charge on € transactions or cash withdrawals, with a near perfect exchange rate too, we have ditched our Caxton card.

Just one tip if anyone wants/needs it. Our local Tesco ForEx desk have €1 and €2 coins for exchange. I usually get 10 or so €1 coins which are useful for small transactions like getting the bread or giving a tip in a café.
 
We also now use the First Direct card. But there are local charges in withdrawing cash and it may be a poor rate in the future.
As I understand it you can load up the Revolut card in advance when there is a good exchange rate.
Then when you come to use it at an ATM there are no local bank charges as you actually withdraw preloaded Euros at a 1 to 1 rate.
 
Yes ATM's are hit and miss abroad re charges. We have been charged a fee locally for using one or two in Spain but when we were in Germany earlier this year we were not charged.
 
There's a scam on Portuguese and some Spanish ATMs.
It asks you if you want the guaranteed, protected rate.
They take a 10% rake off.
Always reject it.
Even when it asks you if you're sure you don't want the protected rate.
So many demob happy tourists fall for this.
 
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Webby said:
As I understand it you can load up the Revolut card in advance when there is a good exchange rate.
Then when you come to use it at an ATM there are no local bank charges as you actually withdraw preloaded Euros at a 1 to 1 rate.
Click to expand...
that’s correct also money loaded onto the card even in sterling pays in euros at the best bank rate on the day , eg since i cleaned out my account with a month in france in september i’ve been topping up the account gradually but when i saw that good rate i exchanged £1000 into euros but left £500 in sterling
 
If anyone wants a Revolut account please let me know as I think there’s a referral deal and £200 incentive for the account opener at the moment 😀😀🪄
 
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GMJ said:
Yes ATM's are hit and miss abroad re charges. We have been charged a fee locally for using one or two in Spain but when we were in Germany earlier this year we were not charged.
Click to expand...
This is the bit I'm not clear on. It's certainly hit and miss with local charges when using the First Direct card and some of them can be quite steep.
But as Ken says above he has just bought say €1200.
He will just withdraw as Euros in the ATM and there won't be any local charges for any exchange.
Well unless there would be charges for a local person withdrawing money.
Unfortunately I have already opened an account. Just need to get a card and charge it up with loadsamoney.
 
We used the FD card twice in Germany and got zero local charges. We used our Caxton card twice in Spain last winter and got charged both times.
 
the thing is with a lot of cards some people found the machine wouldn't've accept them but Halifax clarity card never been refused in over 15 years anywhere so why fix it when its not broke .cheyenne
 
Many Spanish banks charge for withdrawing cash, even when you already have loaded euros onto your card (I use Starling Bank). These links below give some insight to which, although one of the links is dated 2021. I think it is similar to some machines in the U.K. charging to withdraw, typically in garages shops and bars.

www.triptipedia.com

ATM withdrawal in Spain without fees

In Spain, you'll find that most ATMs ("cajero automático" in Spanish, "caixer" in Catalan) have a withdrawing fee for international cards like Visa/Mastercard. ATMs are legally required to indicate...
www.triptipedia.com www.triptipedia.com

A Guide to ATMs in Spain in 2023: Fees, Locations, and Alternatives

We'll guide you through where you can find ATMs in Spain, how much ATMs charge in ATM fees, plus three tips to save you money when withdrawing cash.
www.monito.com www.monito.com

Equally, but to a lesser extent I have found one or two French banks trying to charge for withdrawals. Even on one occasion offering to convert my euros to sterling for the purposes of accounting. I walked away. In France I use Banque Postal for easy fee free withdrawals. Mind you in both countries my needs for cash are greatly reduced by taking a small stock of euros in cash.

Davy
 
We used to use Fair-Fx pre-loaded cards which like Caxton were good, but have kicked them into touch now as they have lots of charges.
We take the advice offered on Martin Lewis's site as linked below.

Generally we will use the Santander creditcard for all spending - or the Chase debit card - both are clean rates.

We use the clean rate cards Chase Debit, Santander Zero credit and have Nationwide Flex plus as a back up. We have had Euro notes stashed since the rate was in the 1.20's but that stash is quite low now. When we need more Euro's I will find a machine with no charges and use my Chase card to top up the stash.

If we need $ dollars, we get them from Waitrose Foreign exchange service - a good rate and free pickup in store for us

Jeremy

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cardx Plus Debit as a back up.s/#tool
 
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