exchange rates

[geordie ric]

Started to monitor the exchange rate for our trip next month and would like somebody to clear up a small gripe I have.M&S appear to offer the best rate but today they were paying $1.70 per £ when the exchange rate is $1.76.They promote their exchange as commission free but how can this be.

 

[wilma-bride]

I spent a lot of time last year, checking the best exchange rate and never found M&S offering the best. Usually, travelex or thomas exchange offer the best rates.

A lot of these places that offer commission free tend to give a slightly lower rate to make up for it. However, travelex and TE are commission free also.

Alternatively, apparently, Thomas Cook are currently offering a good deal on TC card (buy $2500 and get $250 free)

 

[geordie ric]

Ive seen the Thomas Cook deal with Amex which seems too good to be true.Can anyone tell me if there are any hidden catches to this offer.

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
There were certainly no catches when I bought my T/C card. Just hand over your cash and your card is sent a few days later. The $250 can take upto 5 working days to be added to your account but there was no problem getting it.

Mick.

 

[kristieuk]

Started to monitor the exchange rate for our trip next month and would like somebody to clear up a small gripe I have.M&S appear to offer the best rate but today they were paying $1.70 per £ when the exchange rate is $1.76.They promote their exchange as commission free but how can this be.

The $1.76 rate you see is the market rate - ie what you would get if you spending a lot of £ (we are talking maybe 100k). The rate offered by M&S and Travelex etc is the tourist rate. The tourist rate differs from retailer to retailer because their profit margins are obviously different. Basically, they buy £thousands and thousands of, say, $ at the market rate, and then sell them to us in smaller denominations at a lower rate - that's how they make their profit.

www.thomasexchange.co.uk has a comparison table so you can see who is offering the best deal, and www.travelex.co.uk will price match anyone.

 

[Miffy2003]

Thanks so much for posting that Kristie - I kept trying to do something along those lines earlier but when I read what I'd put it made no sense even to me

 

[kristieuk]

Ive seen the Thomas Cook deal with Amex which seems too good to be true.Can anyone tell me if there are any hidden catches to this offer.

We also benefited from this offer (bought $2000 card from Thomas Cook which we took away there and then), and the free $250 was added about 5 days later.

We have since reloaded on the Amex website with $1000, and they give you $75 for free. Bargain!

The Amex exchange rate is not the best on the market, but with the free $, it works out at around $1.88 or .89 - which you cannot beat, even if you were buying millions!

 

[kristieuk]

Thanks so much for posting that Kristie - I kept trying to do something along those lines earlier but when I read what I'd put it made no sense even to me

Glad you knew what I was talking about because when I read it back, I confused me

 

[wilma-bride]

We also benefited from this offer (bought $2000 card from Thomas Cook which we took away there and then), and the free $250 was added about 5 days later.

We have since reloaded on the Amex website with $1000, and they give you $75 for free. Bargain!

The Amex exchange rate is not the best on the market, but with the free $, it works out at around $1.88 or .89 - which you cannot beat, even if you were buying millions!

Kristie, do you know how long Thomas Cook are running this deal for? I really want to take up the offer (it sounds great) but not sure if I can stretch to it this month, especially as we haven't paid for the holiday yet

 

[mushumadness]

we tend to use thomas exchange, we always get a good rate from them and a good customer service

 

[kristieuk]

Kristie, do you know how long Thomas Cook are running this deal for? I really want to take up the offer (it sounds great) but not sure if I can stretch to it this month, especially as we haven't paid for the holiday yet

I don't think they can tell you. When we bought ours in October, they were saying the offer was being constantly extended, but that it could be pulled at any time - I got the impression that Amex had a 'pot' of money for the free $, and when they were used up, they would give the nod for the offer to be discontinued (the free $ are given by Amex, rather than Thomas Cook).

Saying that, I think there was a thread on here around Christmas time that the offer had been discontinued, but that it was restarting again on the 27th Dec or something - and it must have.

Sorry, that's probably no help at all, but if I'm right, the offer we took advantage of in Oct had been running for a while, maybe a month or so, and it did keep going, I think, until Christmas.

Also, you can pay for the card with a credit card (we paid part cash, part cc). The only thing to be aware of is that it's classed as a cash withdrawal, so the card company will most likely charge you a 2.75% fee. Saying that, it's still a wise investment because the free dollars more than pay for a £20 fee. BUT.....(sorry hadn't meant to go on so long!)....when we reloaded on the Amex website, we paid with an Amex cc, and they charged no fee -but not sure if this would be the same in Thomas Cook.

Hope that helps!

 

[tartangirl]

Started to monitor the exchange rate for our trip next month and would like somebody to clear up a small gripe I have.M&S appear to offer the best rate but today they were paying $1.70 per £ when the exchange rate is $1.76.They promote their exchange as commission free but how can this be.

The market rate is what the credit card companies get. So if market rate is 1.76 you'll typically get that less those evil credit card charges (typically 2.75%) which will take the exchange rate to you as 1.71 (ish) - still better than the normal tourist rate but it doesn't seem as good as the Thomas Cook deal - I'll need to go look into that.

 

[happytraveller]

Hi, are these cards widely excepted/anyone have probs using them-as these would seem really good for my kids.Cheers.

 

[kristieuk]

They are accepted anywhere that accepts American Express - it is the majority of places in the US. Only one shop we went to didn't accept Amex, but that was a small privately run boutique-y shop. We either used cash or a Visa card instead.

 

[happytraveller]

Thanks Kristie and would i be right in assuming there is no seperate charge each time you use it-like a transaction charge or something?

 

[tink too]

Over the past few years, we've always used M & S as they've had the best deal in our area - beating all the high street travel agents, etc.

kristieuk - I haven't heard of Thomas Exchange before - thanks for the link! Can I ask a dumb question please? How do you go about purchasing from Thomas Exchange - do you just call them, order the amount you want and pay by debit card and they send out the traveller's cheques to your home address? If so, how long before your TC's arrive?

Thanks for your help!

 

[alisonbestford]

Just been to Thomas Cook to buy the $2000 Amex card with my free $250
The exchange rate today was 1.68 and the card cost £7.50 - it cost £1205.05 in total.

The staff have no idea how long it will be running as, apparently, TC are continually 'swapping and changing the deal'

The assistant I spoke to had used the card herself so was a great help.
I was concerned about what would happen if we either came back with lots of cash still on it or were unable to go. Apparently you can just use a cash machine here to withdraw what's left on.
Obviously you would get back a lower rate but the $250, in my mind, should cover all eventualities
To get money out of an ATM the cost is around £1.40 a transaction but the cards can be used anywhere - restaurants, attraction tickets etc.
Don't think there's a charge to use them in shops etc though.


I did a Google search last night on the cards and did find someone offering $75 free to apply online - it might have actually been Amex themselves .
Some of the links were asking for £20 to purchase the card . According to TC that still stands, with them, if you buy a £500 card, but not with the larger denominations.

 

[alisonbestford]

Kristie, do you know how long Thomas Cook are running this deal for? I really want to take up the offer (it sounds great) but not sure if I can stretch to it this month, especially as we haven't paid for the holiday yet

You can also buy a $1000 card, with TC, and get $100 (?) free

 

[paulh]

the best rate you can get is if you yse a Nationwide CC for transactions you get the market rate $1.77 at moment and they do not charge you for a forien transacion,unlike outher cards which usaly charge 2.75%.Also if you have a nationwide flex account you can withdraw money from an ATM at the same rate $1.77 with no transaction charge,you might be charged $2.00 by ATM provider but if you use the ones at publix there is no charge for using the presto network(bit like our link network) We uesd in August and was never charged for using ATM`s
Paulh

 

[kristieuk]

Over the past few years, we've always used M & S as they've had the best deal in our area - beating all the high street travel agents, etc.

kristieuk - I haven't heard of Thomas Exchange before - thanks for the link! Can I ask a dumb question please? How do you go about purchasing from Thomas Exchange - do you just call them, order the amount you want and pay by debit card and they send out the traveller's cheques to your home address? If so, how long before your TC's arrive?

Thanks for your help!

I have never actually used Thomas Exchange because Travelex online price match, and with them, you collect your $ from the airport before you fly. If it's too far out, you can still collect them from your local airport. We live fairly close to Cardiff Airport, so even if we're not going for a few months, we just pop to the airport to collect the currency.

On the Travelex website, it tells you how to claim a refund if you get a bettter rate elsewhere - basically, you buy from them, and then send them details of the better price, and they send you a cheque to refund the difference.

I think plenty of people here have used Thomas Exchange, and I believe you just call them with a debit card, and they send out the TC's. I think they have a £5 delivery fee, because when we have price-matched with Travelex, we have 'forfeited' £5 of the refund, to represent what Thomas charge to deliver.

Hope that is of some assistance.