Currency convertion
 

Hello !
In your opinion, what is the most interesting currency operation ? Is it better to buy pounds in France or sell euros in England ?
Many thanks for your answers

Re: Currency convertion
 

Not quite clear what you are trying to do.
Assuming that you are wanting to re-patriate currency to the UK then you would be advised to look at FX brokers that are secured by large banks who will transfer your currency with no fees and good exchange rates.

Re: Currency convertion
 

Thank you Cyrian. Actually I don't intend to contact brokers for a small amount of cash. I must explain : my husband and I are going to my daughter's for Christmas. She lives in England and she will buy my Christmas presents for her own family. I will then give her the money back.
It will be cash money, hence my question.

Re: Currency convertion
 

OK. Have a look online for exchange rates at the Post Office or just go to a cashline machine with your bank card and withdraw money.
For Visa or Mastercard, you will get the interbank rate which will be better than bureau de change and most bank machines will not charge you for the service.

Re: Currency convertion
 

Unless you're going to London, where there are plenty of small exchange bureaux, the best rate seems to be at Post Offices or large supermarkets. I'd use Covent Garden fx if in London, simply because their rate's good and I prefer not to further inflate profits of large banks and so forth.

Re: Currency convertion
 

It might be simpler and less expensive to transfer the money to your daughter's bank account using a service like Azimo or CurrencyFair - both are easy to set up and have very low fees.

Re: Currency convertion
 

Thanks for your answers. Once, I withdrew pounds from a cash machine at St Pancras and there actually was no charge. Unfortunately, one year later, I was not able to find this cash machine again and the one I chose charged me quite a lot. Maybe I should have a closer look in December, this machine must be somewhere!
For a bigger amount, I would use Fw or online but for a smaller amount, a cash machine should do the trick.

Re: Currency convertion
 

Not having a British cheque book, this is what I do every year for the family Christmas presents. But a transfer from our Account at the Caisse d'Epargne (low fees).

Re: Currency convertion
 

I've had a look at Azimo and CurrencyFair. For an amount of 350 EUR, the first one offers 388.46 GBP and the second one offers 244.49 GBP, which seems more accurate. I reckon there's something wrong with Azimo. Anyway that could be a good solution. I'll see if my daughter agrees on giving her account number.
I've even watched the video with Chabal and his Franco-English accent!:lol:

Re: Currency convertion
 

Just checked Azimo and they are offering £245.08 for €350 - may have been a glitch?

Re: Currency convertion
 

Yes, there must be a glitch. I've tried again and it's still the same. When I change the amount and click "calculate", a second page opens with still the same 388.46 amount and this second page remains still, I can't add anything, neither country nor amount.
No problem, if we choose this option, I will use CurrencyFair.
But as I said in my previous message, not quite sure my daughter will agree on using the internet.

Re: Currency convertion
 

When I travelled to France last week I collected mine at the Shuttle terminal in Folkestone. I'd never normally do this, but I was told by a friend who works for Travelex that if you order it online you get the best rate. To check this out , I tried HSBC and Natwest and both would give me about 1.34. Then phoned Sainsburys and got 1.35. Went online to Travelex and got nearly 1.38! Ordered it at 6pm and collected at 6am next day. They also told me that if I'd found it cheaper they would have credited me the difference. Will certainly be using them again.

Re: Currency convertion
 

Hello!
My daughter and I have decided to use CurrencyFair for the Christmas presents as Azimo is still not working at my end.
As regards smaller amounts of GBP for my own convenience, I will change my euros at Travelex Gare du Nord, as it is situated inside the station.
Many thanks again for your good tips.
I've also read that it's better to change GBP in EUR when in the UK and EUR in GBP when in France.

Re: Currency convertion
 

Glad to have helped, as I've had plenty of advice from this forum myself.

Re: Currency convertion
 

transferwise is also good.
€350 = £246

https://transferwise.com/send-money/...oney-to-the-uk