Buying Pound's for UK Trip?

[amshaw]

G'Day All,

Just wondering if any members are into the stock market or banking etc etc.

We are flying out to the UK in mid Aug for a month. We paln to take 1,000 pound cash with us, but not sure when to buy them.

Ive been told to buy now but Im just not really sure as I have no idea how much the market go's up and dowm within a 6 mth period.

My gut feeling is to buy now and get it sorted as the Aussie $ can only come down in value.....As I see it anyway .

Any thoughts please??

Cheers
Andrew

[Andrew D]

Andrew

If you can avoid buying currency this is the best option. You will loose more money in this transaction. If you need a bit of loose change ($1000 AUD) fair enough but my preference for going overseas is to just slap it on the plastic and just take the fees resulting from the bank (obviously you'll need to check these out but tend to be reasonable, pretty sure I paid roughly $12 for a $800 transaction). It still works out cheaper than trying to be a part time currency trader.

My advice is to use the plastic where possible (VISA).

Regards
Andrew

[wayneg]

Are you going to Visit Friends, relatives in the UK?
If so and you can get money into one of their bank accounts the best option by far is to use a forex service. This might sound a bit daunting however it is very easy. You need to set up an account, I use ozforex.com . Once you have set this up with the receiving bank details you can get live rates and decide when to hit the button. The money gets transferred in a day plus is changed to whatever currency you want ( Pounds). The cost is A$15 but the exchange rate is almost the same as the banks get themselves so you will save a packet.

The Oz $ is high partly because our interest rates are high compared to the UK`s .5%. Your guess if the rates will change, If the Oz rate goes up so will the exchange rate.

[decibelcore]

Are you going to Visit Friends, relatives in the UK?
If so and you can get money into one of their bank accounts the best option by far is to use a forex service. This might sound a bit daunting however it is very easy. You need to set up an account, I use ozforex.com . Once you have set this up with the receiving bank details you can get live rates and decide when to hit the button. The money gets transferred in a day plus is changed to whatever currency you want ( Pounds). The cost is A$15 but the exchange rate is almost the same as the banks get themselves so you will save a packet.

The Oz $ is high partly because our interest rates are high compared to the UK`s .5%. Your guess if the rates will change, If the Oz rate goes up so will the exchange rate.

I agree with wayneg

[SuperMono]

I gave up years ago trying to guess the movements in currency. Might now try over a few days or weeks maybe, but not over 6 months.
I travel O/S on a regular basis and generally avoid cash wherever possible. When I do need cash I grab some from an ATM. You could get something like a Visa debit card and use that in the ATM, or go for one of the Forex (Visa or similar) cards you can grab from Travelex or some travel agencies.
We did the Visa bit for our daughter when she was on an O/S exchange a couple of years ago, worked fine.

[Ace]

Not sure what the exchange rate is right now but buying when the exchange rate is 65 pents to the australian dollar is better than when its been 50pents to the dollar.

If thats the case 1000 pounds would cost you alot less if $1 buys 65 pents as opposed to when its 50pents. $1000 would buy 650 pounds as opposed to 500 pounds. Surely there cant be 150 pounds in fees. The dollar could crash between now and august.

If at all concerned hedge your bets and buy some of it now and the rest when you need it.

[amshaw]

Thanks all for the input.

I like the idea of the visa card, and Marie is going to ask re charges for each withdrawnal.

As Im a keen collector of any Fire Fighting related item we hope to get to as many swap meets and fairs as possible, so I thought the cash would be handy, but not so good carrying it around all day everyday looking over my shoulder, so I might get say 200 pound to get us started then just use the card when needed and to withdraw cash to keep it up to the 200 pound mark in cash between us, also look into transfur some money into a familys members account aswell......

We are staying with family and friends the whole trip so dont need money to pay for motels etc, just day to day stuff and pay for food while there etc etc.

I guess when we go to London I will just get a bit more out as we plan to do alot and we are planning on everything in London to be expencive

Still happy to hear any advice though, thanks guys....

Regards Andrew

[jerryd]

When you go to London be aware that there are pickpockets everywhere you turn I'd get a money belt or similar and tell the wife to keep a firm grip on her handbag.

As an example I was in a shop queue one evening, buying dinner after a hard days work.When I got to the till and pulled my wallet out of my pocket, hey presto all the cash had been taken out and my wallet put back in my pocket upside down. I knew it was the sweet looking girl behind me but how do you prove it Happened to me on three different occasions unfortunately.

[amshaw]

When you go to London be aware that there are pickpockets everywhere you turn I'd get a money belt or similar and tell the wife to keep a firm grip on her handbag.

As an example I was in a shop queue one evening, buying dinner after a hard days work.When I got to the till and pulled my wallet out of my pocket, hey presto all the cash had been taken out and my wallet put back in my pocket upside down. I knew it was the sweet looking girl behind me but how do you prove it Happened to me on three different occasions unfortunately.

Bloody hell, didnt think it would be that bad I think of pickpockets from the movies set in 1800's etc, I thought teenages would be to lazy to learn a skill........yes I know, can be anybody not just kids....

Still looking forward to the trip though...........

[Disco44]

When you go to London be aware that there are pickpockets everywhere you turn I'd get a money belt or similar and tell the wife to keep a firm grip on her handbag.

As an example I was in a shop queue one evening, buying dinner after a hard days work.When I got to the till and pulled my wallet out of my pocket, hey presto all the cash had been taken out and my wallet put back in my pocket upside down. I knew it was the sweet looking girl behind me but how do you prove it Happened to me on three different occasions unfortunately.

I got done in the tube.Now I wear a folder that fits under my shirt and singlet next to the skin under a arm pit.Also it is good advice to copy the card contents that are in it and have it somewhere like your computer with the relative phone numbers to call if any of the cards are lost or stolen.