dollar hits $2.00 - £1.00 in thomas cook

[barthez]

got mine today instore and there is no limit.

£1000 got me $2000:thumbs:

amazing stuff!

roll on september!

[BigPappa]

is that at all stores?

[springer]

And Going Places - collecting mine tomorrow.

[barthez]

is that at all stores?

think its national promotion mate as the tourist rate is not quite at $2 yet

[GonzarliS]

tourist rate is 1.98 though. must be some kind of promo by thomas cook and going places.

[eye__writ]

I was just gonna post a big thank you for the heads-up, but then I realised I need Euros. :lol:

[stormywhether]

Thomas Cook - how do you pay em? Do they accept, like, debit cards (aka Switch)?

Post Office ordered me (well, if I didn't want to pay a charge) to go and grab some cash out of the nearest ATM, the scrubbers!

[Comedy of Errors]

As the best deals keep moving there's a rather useful tool (http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/) on MSE which tells you where the best exchange rates can be found.

[Fatbloke]

Thanks for that link - very useful!

Looking at Thomas Exchange Global, who are offering 2.02 atm, it's a shame there seems to be no way of buying online. London West End walk-ins only. :(

[Comedy of Errors]

it's a shame there seems to be no way of buying online. London West End walk-ins only. :(

There might be. Travelex (http://www.travelex.co.uk) online guarentee (http://www.travelex.co.uk/personal/priceguarantee.asp) the best rates, so presumably you can order from them and point out the better rate to get them to match it.

Travelex is handy because you order it online but pick it up from the airport on your way through.

[brotchaq]

There might be. Travelex (http://www.travelex.co.uk) online guarentee (http://www.travelex.co.uk/personal/priceguarantee.asp) the best rates, so presumably you can order from them and point out the better rate to get them to match it.

Travelex is handy because you order it online but pick it up from the airport on your way through.

I have just received a cheque from Travelex from their price match policy - they matched Thomas Global Exchange despite me picking up in MAN airport.

[driver8]

and don't forget that the cheapest way is still to open a Nationwide current a/c and use their card to withdraw overseas - no charges (from them) and the best exch rate. :thumbs:

[Matholwch]

and don't forget that the cheapest way is still to open a Nationwide current a/c and use their card to withdraw overseas - no charges (from them) and the best exch rate. :thumbs:

Good point, but if you're not going over for a while, chances are the rates won't be so good by then - mind you if our interest rates increase the pound can only get stronger against the dollar.

Also, did you need a passport to buy with Thomas Cook?

[keeperbear]

and don't forget that the cheapest way is still to open a Nationwide current a/c and use their card to withdraw overseas - no charges (from them) and the best exch rate. :thumbs:

Certainly is. I am in the USA at the moment, and withdrew some dollars yesterday at an exchange rate of $2.050. I can't beleive that I got 5 cents over the magic $2 to £1 rate! Absolutely no fees involved with Nationwide.

[zenza]

Certainly is. I am in the USA at the moment, and withdrew some dollars yesterday at an exchange rate of $2.050. I can't beleive that I got 5 cents over the magic $2 to £1 rate! Absolutely no fees involved with Nationwide.

How do you know what rate you are getting when withdrawing?

Does the cash machine ask you to put in $ or £ when withdrawing?

Also can you use at only certain cashpoints?

[mklion123]

How do you know what rate you are getting when withdrawing?

Does the cash machine ask you to put in $ or £ when withdrawing?

Also can you use at only certain cashpoints?

I should imagine he's checked the rate with his internet banking?

[mikegray]

Yup, got $2 for £1 at Thomas Cook today, thanks OP. :)

[driver8]

How do you know what rate you are getting when withdrawing?it's the rate on the day of withdrawal, afaik - the rate you see on the news or on XE.com (travel agents quote "no commission for foreign currency" but their charge is hidden in the rate they give you.Does the cash machine ask you to put in $ or £ when withdrawing?wherever you are, "1000" gives you that much local currency, so $1000 (not £1000 converted into $2000)Also can you use at only certain cashpoints?we looked for the CIRRUS logo on the machines, so unsure if the machines that didn't carry this would have worked (but most *did* have the logo anyway).

[zenza]

it's the rate on the day of withdrawal, afaik - the rate you see on the news or on XE.com (travel agents quote "no commission for foreign currency" but their charge is hidden in the rate they give you.wherever you are, "1000" gives you that much local currency, so $1000 (not £1000 converted into $2000)we looked for the CIRRUS logo on the machines, so unsure if the machines that didn't carry this would have worked (but most *did* have the logo anyway).

Cheers driver8. I was asking as I have both a NW credit card and now also have a debit card.

Will come in handy abroad now.

[Sammy709Sony930]

Spotted a few shops on the High St giving 2:1 today on the dollar.

Had to pick up £200 worth as I'm off to Vegas/LA/San Fran soon.

However, I will be using mostly by POST OFFICE Credit Card as it doesn't cream 2.75% off. (Just returned from Tenerife and I was getting 1.48 to 1.47 Euros to the pound. Bank gave me 1.42 before I left).

Ohh, they wanted a passport or drivers licence if I was going to use my Debit card, so I lifted £200 from an ATM instead.

[tizza]

Is commision payable on US dollars. My mrs has just recieved an endowment of 1000 and Im trying to persuade her to buy dollars with it, then wait til the rate drops. and change it back, or is that daft.

[Kevin]

It will need to drop quite a lot to make this work.

The buyback rate is normally about 10% higher than the sell rate, so the rate will need to drop to about 1.70 for you to make about £50 on the deal.

Can't really see that happening. Can you ?

Kevin.

[Coolio]

I certainly can't and I cannot believe people still don't use a Nationwide account. I have a current account and credit card specifically for travel, and save myself a lot every year. It's a no brainer.

In fact, while everyone thinks that the rate will get worse/dollar strengthen, I think it's going to get better in our favour/dollar weaken further. So I'm currently debating whether to put a cancellable hotel booking on my credit card then 'cancel' in a few months.

[BigPappa]

I ordered my nationwide gold card but have not got round to sorting out the current account as I really didnt want my wage being paid into it.

[bowlhead2000]

In fact, while everyone thinks that the rate will get worse/dollar strengthen, I think it's going to get better in our favour/dollar weaken further. So I'm currently debating whether to put a cancellable hotel booking on my credit card then 'cancel' in a few months.

How would that work to make you money :?: You buy the holiday now at 2$=£1 ie $1000 hol costs you £500 of your credit limit. Then the dollar weakens further as you expect, say $2.50 = £1. You ask for a refund and they give you back the $1000 which your bank converts to £400. You just lost £100.

When you think the dollar is going to get weaker in your favour, i.e. cheaper, you don't buy dollars (or items that cost dollars) now, you put off buying as long as possible. When you think the dollar is going to get stronger, you buy as many of them as you can, so they become more valuable. And then when it gets stronger you sell the dollars or cancel the dollar purchases.

As someone else mentions, there is a spread between buying and selling prices. On the international currencies markets it is something like 0.0002, but at the consumer/tourist level it is more like 0.10 (a lot of middlemen have to cover their costs and profit margins when serving the public) so the rate has to move a lot to allow you to 'trade' it. Personally I have a USD bank account at Citibank - as well as having a debit card on the account, i can flip my cash between sterling and USD instantly and for much less than a 'tourist' spread, but there is still a spread.

By far the easiest way for mere mortals like us to 'bet' on rate movements is to open an account with a reputable spreadbetting company like IG Index or City Index. Say you bet £1 per point on the rate going higher than 2.0600. It goes to 2.0950 and you cash out for £350 profit. Just like if you had actually gone and bought £10,000 worth of dollars at 2.06 and sold at 2.095. Except you don't need £10,000 to do it, you are only making a bet and so you only have to give them a few hundred £ as deposit. In this example you could double your deposit with only a small % movement in the rate.

Of course if the rates slip the other way to 1.8500, and you had got the maths wrong and accidentally bet £10 a point instead of £1, and forgotten to set a 'stop loss' to automatically close your bet before you went away for a couple of weeks - you'd come back owing them ((20600-18500) x £10) = £21,000. So spreadbets are extremely risky investment products, if you are not careful you can lose a lot more than the cash you put into the account. For that reason I really can't say I 'recommend them' to any of you, as I don't know your personal circumstances - but my broker TD Waterhouse has an offer on for new spread betting accounts, £150 free. Their online service is powered by the City Index people.
http://www.tdwaterhouse.co.uk/joint/index.cfm#terms


Apologies for the length of this post!

[bowlhead2000]

Apologies for the length of this post!

As I said whilst servicing your missus :n0rty:

[Coolio]

bowlhead, you're right, hahaha, i totally screwed that up :lol:

[Jimlad]

Tommy cook is doing 2.02 today!

[Matholwch]

Reading the papers ove the weekend, predicted our interest rates will hit 6% next month, if so - we'll see another jump in the value of the pound to the dollar, as more people convert to £.