How do I wire money abroad?

[LyraBelacqua]

I just googled Wire Money and it came up with thousands of baffling sites. Who should I use? I want it to be simple and cheap. Anyone know?

[pucca]

Thomas Cook do it, my mum has sent my brother money this way a few times, they do charge a fee not sure how much, but is very safe.

HTH

[LyraBelacqua]

Thanks Pucca. DP has done it before and it cost £30 which is a huge amount imo. He's away for a few days and I've got to wire some money to the US but I don't have a clue.

[LyraBelacqua]

.

[scienceteacher]

You can ask at your own bank - swiftwire is the method they use. £30 isn't an unreasonable transaction fee.

[LyraBelacqua]

We were only sending £100 so £30 fee was quite hefty. I think big banks charge the most so wanted to avoid if poss.

[LyraBelacqua]

bump

[Flower3554]

I've used Western Union to send £500 before and they charged me £47.

[saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Lyra - most places charge a minimum fee so wherever you go the fee is going to seem pretty large against the amount you're sending.

I generally use my own bank as I just feel it's safer.

[saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Also - how fast do you want it to get there. NatWest's slowest method (Relay - 5 days I think) only costs a tenner. If you want it to faster then you're looking at £30.

What about Paypal?

[LyraBelacqua]

Thanks, I'll try that. I offered Paypal but she said it's too inconvenient and expensive for her