EXCHANGE RATES. GOOD and BAD!!!
You may have spent months planning a holiday and paying for flights, hotels etc with your hard earned cash. You may have taken the plunge and decided to use your savings to buy a property abroad. All carefully budgeted for and helping you to achieve your dreams.
ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ ÿ WHAT ABOUT CURRENCY EXCHANGE?
Why oh why, do I see people in queues at airports waiting to exchange pounds into euros, dollars etc. I feel it won’t be because they have forgotten they may need some cash for some purchases abroad but because they know there are exchange desks available at the airport and this may seem convenient. Yes and it will give something else to do while waiting for departure.!! What it probably won’t do is give you the best rate of exchange.
Only recently, as I studied the queues of currency purchasers, I was amazed to see the temerity of the currency kiosk in offering less than 1 euro for 1 pound ÿ- ÿonly to be outdone by the sheer cheek to be charging a rate of about 1.35 to get your pound back. Yes, a margin of about 40% between the buying and selling rates of exchange.
And the final enticement? “We charge you no commission”. Well, kind-hearted or what? Even they obviously felt they had to draw the line somewhere!
But you don’tÿhaveÿto put up with this.
What can be done to get a good rate of exchange? A littleÿextraÿplanning as part of your holiday plans in general. Keep an eye on exchange rates in the weeks before your holiday date. You will then see the trends and can jump in when they look to be in your favour. Look at different exchange bureaux/banks …….they may not have the same exchange rates on the same day.
When buying a property abroad the amounts involved can be large. This is when using a currency house can give you a good rate and save you considerable amounts.
We are always pleased to explain which ones we use and why.
In all aspects of our lives we often “shop around” for good deals on our purchases. So currency exchange should follow this ethos.
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