Do I have to order euros online (first time abroad)

[simplyaboo]

I'm travelling abroad soon and I'm so confused
A few places I've looked have said I have to order and pay online and collect euros from branch.
I'm not comfortable with this
I just want to go somewhere with my money and leave with my euros
Where can I do this ?

If you go to most banks or post offices you can get common foreign currency at the counter. You will normally need your passport as ID when getting it.
In the U.K the post office is commission free.

Can’t you just use your bank card? I never buy cash (because I never use cash anyway - especially with so many places going cashless).

Exactly this, I usually change currency at the post office.

They will always have common current like Euros in, the only time I’ve pre ordered was for more unusual currency.

Dont forget to take ID with you.

Lots of supermarkets (Sainsbury's, M&S etc) have bureaux de change where you can pick up euros - take some ID in case you need it.

I use the post office for Euros (and US dollars). It's only a small branch in a newsagents and they always have them.

Post offivd
I get mine from Sainsburys- there is a bureau de change in store but only 100 and then I use my card to get cash out there or mostly to pay for things. I am with Monzo so no charges

Oops I meant to quote @saleorbouy’s post!

Get a revolt … use as a bank card everywhere you go abroad. You top it up and it gives you the best exchange rate at the current time

I went to sainsburys and bought euros with my debit card. It turns out if I'd ordered them online for collection I'd have gotten a slight better rate. Also having a nectar card gets you a better rate. (Slightly better rates that save you a few quid only)

We ordered online from the Postoffice as they gave a better exchange rate for ordering online vs in branch.

My local asda has a booth where you can buy currency. Or try the post office

You should be aware of foreign transaction fees on your cards, especially those banks that charge a % and a flat fee.

The cheapest way may be via your bank, as they usually will offer customers a preferential rate or no fee. However places like Post Office or supermarkets are competitive and will have it available at short notice. You can often reserve online and pay on collection.

Easy to get over the counter, but just get a few, and do the majority of your spending on a NO FEE card - either a credit card* like the Halifax or Virgin ones (forget the exact names), a debit card if yours has no fee (check - some do this) or a pre-loaded card like Revolut.

*pay off in full when you get home, to avoid interest.

I use monzo and starling to get money out at a cash point but if you don’t want to do that you can go to a bureau de change or the post office. Use the money saving expert website to check where is the cheapest for you currently.

A few places I've looked have said I have to order and pay online and collect euros from branch. I'm not comfortable with this

Why not? It's perfectly safe if you use a known provider.

I just want to go somewhere with my money and leave with my euros

You can do this at banks, post office and bureau de change, eg in many large supermarkets, M&S etc but it will cost slightly more. You may decide it's worth the extra cost, which will be minimal if you plan to use your card most of the time.

For most places in the Eurozone you don't need many euros any more. Just like the UK, it's easy to get away with little or no cash in most circumstances in many places. Just make sure you understand the ins and outs of card payments as there are some cards that are very good for overseas spending and some that are very expensive, especially if you use your card for every last coffee, lunch, ice cream and bus ticket. Have look at:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money/

But these days we take a token amount of euros (max 50-100 or whatever we had left from last time) and use our cards most of the time.

However, we try to cover all bases because some places are still cash only. eg, we recently went to Menorca for the second time this year and confidently waited at the bus stop with our cards and no cash only to find that the bus was cash only, despite the bus we used the previous time taking cards, and possibly being card only. So we had to walk the couple of km to the main town, so we could get some cash.

You can get Euros out of some cash points - if you use the link below add in filters and select 'Euro'.

www.link.co.uk/consumers/locator/#

Ordering online and collecting from the PO, or just going in with cash also works.

If you order online all that happens when you go to collect is you hand over your money, or use your bank card to pay and you leave with your currency.