When to buy Euros

[WhatIsThisPlease]

If you were going to Spain in July, would you order your Euros now or leave it a while?
DP thinks we should buy asap but I'm more inclined to wait a while?

I only ever take 100E or so and then use cash machines or my debit card in Spain. It’s the cheapest way to do it (depending on bank charges).
However, if you do prefer to take it all in cash unless you are getting a large amount of money changed small fluctuations in the rate won’t make much difference. Plus it’s very hard to predict what the rate will be in July vs now

We have a Halifax Clarity credit card and withdraw money as and when we need it. There are no charges and we get a near perfect exchange rate. We then pay off the bill as soon as we can so we don't incur interest charges.

It means we can get out smaller denominations, so we don't end up with a €50 we can't change and we aren't penalised for it. The days of buying currency in advance are long gone.

I just draw out as needed from the atm.

We use a Wise card to exchange all currency. The rates are excellent and minimal fees. The account and card are free to order and easy to set up. Martin Lewis recommends it and its brilliant.

Revolut. There’s no exchanging currency ever, it recognizes where you are straight away & your £ becomes € or whatever currency you need. I pay using the app so don’t even need a card anymore! No commission or bank charges and best of all, they exchange using the Libor rate so you get the highest value for your currency. It’s been a game changer for me. Referral code below or go direct, it’s a brilliant piece of kit!!
revolut.com/referral/daras657!FEB2-22-VR-GB

Use wise. I would transfer some money into Wise account. You can withdraw €200/month with no fees. Use cash for tips. Otherwise use the card for everything. It is much much cheaper than any alternative.

If you want to build up an amount do it gradually until you go. Get Revolut and move money to euros each month (Revolut as it's dramatic cheaper than exchanging on the high street, I am amazed those places are still in business)

As others say, I'd just use my bank card there. My HSBC debit charges a couple of £ for a withdrawal abroad.

We just use Starling cards to pay or withdraw money as we need it when we're there. Plus use whatever we had leftover from last time, pre covid we used to go to Europe on holiday 3/4 times a year plus odd business trips so fairly regularly.

If you're worried about the exchange rate moving unfavourably, then who knows? But you're putting yourself on the back foot straight away if you 'buy euros' to try and beat any exchange rate movements because that's more expensive than just paying/withdrawing cash with the right card when you're there.

@anonamouse1234

If you want to build up an amount do it gradually until you go. Get Revolut and move money to euros each month (Revolut as it's dramatic cheaper than exchanging on the high street, I am amazed those places are still in business)

You can also do this with Starling, and probably Monzo. Open a euro account and put money in there over the next few months if you want to try and currency hedge.

I never take cash with me before I go away. I travel regularly and don’t think I’ve changed cash up in advance for a long time.

Sometimes I take out around the equivalent of £100 or so when I get there - my bank doesn’t charge for this - but even this is becoming redundant.

The last time I went away (two weeks in a European country in January) I didn’t take any cash out the whole time I was there - everything was paid by card (bank doesn’t charge for foreign transaction fees).

I’m not sure about Spain but the pandemic has really sped up the move to a cashless society so you may find places don’t accept cash or at least prefer card.

Taking cash out as and when needed and using a card when you can is safer than carrying around lots of cash.

Have a look at Monzo, Starling, Revolut.

I would assume that most of Europe is now like the UK where it’s become unusual to pay cash, even to small traders.

I would always have used a card though, probably taking €100 or so just in case - we use Monzo.

We last went to Spain some time in 2019 and the move to card over cash was well on the way even then.

A lot of cash machines charged to withdraw and it felt much more normal to pay a restaurant bill, as well as supermarkets of course, using a card, when longer ago, we used to pay for everything in cash, because that seemed to be the norm.

Just watch the charges made by your debit card because, while the cards mentioned on this thread are the cheapest way to pay abroad, some debit cards conversely charge exchange rate commission and a fee per transaction, which obviously gets very expensive if you pay for every meal, supermarket shop, round of drinks, ice cream etc by card.

MSE have a good round up of which cards are good and bad, and you can easily open something like Starling very quickly on the app so can be just set up as a separate 'travel' account.

travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/

As with others. I would never now dream of doing this. I just use my card. I live in NI so I do have a "punt purse" as well with a few notes and coins!!

I was in the Canaries Islands for 10 days earlier this month and paid by card for everything. I had a small amount of cash for tips, etc. Only other reason for cash would have been if I’d gone on a public bus.

Money Saving Expert website is good for info on spending abroad.

Sorry to jump on, I'm looking at getting a travel money card which works like a visa are these worth it?

I believe they charge commission - a small percentage of every transaction you make. You would be better off with any of the above cards mentioned - Halifax Clarity/Monzo/Revolut account. These all give a perfect (current) exchange rate and no commission. Look at money saving expert and see what he recommends.

We use Monzo for cash and Santander zero credit card for purchases - no fees or conversion charges, and they convert at the commercial rate.
(Halifax Clarity works the same for purchases, recommended by Martin Lewis.)