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1. What does, for example, 1.48 Euros mean?
2. When I am looking for the best exchange rate, should I be looking for a higher or a lower rate?
3. On some websites they show two prices for each currency, a buy rate and a sell rate, what is the difference?
4. How do I know the best time to buy my currency?
5. How do I know if there are any hidden costs?
6. Will the rate vary each day?
7. How much will the rate vary each day?
8. What are travellers cheques?
9. Can I buy a split of travellers cheques and cash?
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1. What does, for example, 1.48 Euros mean?
On this site Sterling is the base currency and when you see 1.48 Euros it means that for every £1 you will get 1.48 Euros. |
2. When I am looking for the best exchange rate, should I be looking for a higher or a lower rate?
To find the best exchange rate you will be looking for a higher number, for example 1.48 Euros is better than 1.46 Euros. Please be aware that it is the opposite when you're changing foreign currency back to Sterling, read the question below. |
3. On some websites they show two prices for each currency, a buy rate and a sell rate, what is the difference?
The sell rate is the lower figure and it means the price at which the company will sell you currency. The buy rate is the price at which the company will buy currency from you. A simple way to remember this is you get the lowest figure when you're buying and the highest figure when you're changing foreign currency back to Sterling. |
4. How do I know the best time to buy my currency?
Quite simply, you don't. There are many factors that cause exchange rates to change, and even the experts cannot say for sure whether an exchange rate will go up or down. Our advice is to buy at a rate you are happy with. If you have some time before you need to change your currency and the rate has just dropped, then you could hold out to see if the rate will improve, however you would be taking a gamble because the rate could drop further. |
5. Will the rate vary each day?
Yes. Exchange rates change by the second, however for travel money most companies have a set rate for the day. They decide the rate at the beginning of the day and stick with it until the following day. |
6. How much will the rate vary each day?
There is no capped amount as to how much an exchange rate can vary, it is simply a case of supply and demand as to how exchange rates fluctuate. There are various factors which cause rates to increase or drop, such a political instability, interest rates, etc. One example is when the French and Dutch rejected the EU constitution in 2005, this suddenly made the Euro weaker. |
7. How do I know if there are any hidden costs?
Things to look out for are handling charges, commission charges and delivery charges. Some companies will have charges for these depending on how much you order, for example if you order less than £500 worth of currency you may incur a handling charges and/or a delivery charge. Commission charges are normally a fixed percentage e.g. 2% which is not dependent on order value. |
8. What are travellers cheques?
Travellers cheques offer you more security than using cash, and are normally supplied in denominations of 50 - e.g. 50 Euros, 50 Dollars, etc. You have your name and a number printed on each one and have to sign them when you get them. If they get stolen or lost then you report it and they will be cancelled by the issuer, and you will be issued with some replacement ones. When you purchase using a travellers cheque you will be given change as you normally would when paying by cash. |
9. Can I buy a split of travellers cheques and cash?
Yes. Most companies will allow you to split your order between travellers cheques and cash. We would recommend that you take some cash with you because not all places will accept travellers cheques, for example you'll have to pay by cash if you get a taxi. |
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