Paying for tickets - pounds or euros?

Roland Perry wrote:

> It's 1.55, which is better than you'll get changing notes at the
> airport! At today's tourist rate of 1.58, E20 is worth £12.65, so I'm
> not surprised you got yelled at when handing it in :)

1.58? Before or after commission?

I ask because my credit card rate is typically 1.4something, which no
doubt includes a hefty effective commission.

Neil

In message <1168862032.881312.82470@v45g2000cwv.. com>, at
03:53:52 on Mon, 15 Jan 2007, Neil Williams <pacer142@>
remarked:
>> It's 1.55, which is better than you'll get changing notes at the
>> airport! At today's tourist rate of 1.58, E20 is worth £12.65, so I'm
>> not surprised you got yelled at when handing it in :)
>
>1.58? Before or after commission?
>
>I ask because my credit card rate is typically 1.4something, which no
>doubt includes a hefty effective commission.

Commission is a bit passe. If you are forced to pay it, then make sure
you are changing enough at once (I try very hard not to change less than
£200 at a time, whatever banknotes it is that I want).

If the railway company are taking it round to the local travel agents
E20 at a time, then they will indeed be losing huge amounts (in the time
and effort as well as the odd extra pound in commission).

The interbank rate I was using is 1.51, with a "tourist rate" spread
from 1.44 to 1.58 .
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:

> Commission is a bit passe. If you are forced to pay it, then make sure
> you are changing enough at once (I try very hard not to change less than
> £200 at a time, whatever banknotes it is that I want).

I actually wish they'd both buy and sell at the interbank rate and
charge commission. It's a bloody pain expensing currency drop when
changing money back, whereas it'd be easy to get a receipt for a stated
commission fee or percentage.

Neil

In message <1168868482.698724.320930@11g2000cwr.. com>, at
05:41:22 on Mon, 15 Jan 2007, Neil Williams <pacer142@>
remarked:
>> Commission is a bit passe. If you are forced to pay it, then make sure
>> you are changing enough at once (I try very hard not to change less than
>> £200 at a time, whatever banknotes it is that I want).
>
>I actually wish they'd both buy and sell at the interbank rate and
>charge commission. It's a bloody pain expensing currency drop when
>changing money back, whereas it'd be easy to get a receipt for a stated
>commission fee or percentage.

I agree, and I lose consistently whenever I incur expenses 'overseas' as
a result of changing cash "floats" back and forth. How can you show that
loss on a tax return, I wonder?
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:

> I agree, and I lose consistently whenever I incur expenses 'overseas' as
> a result of changing cash "floats" back and forth. How can you show that
> loss on a tax return, I wonder?

Not to mention the fact that it's dishonest. Everyone and his wife
advertises "commission free", when in fact commission is hidden in the
poor rate, just like too many airlines advertise "free flights" that
actually cost 20 quid as a result of such things as "fuel surcharge",
which surely is an integral part of the provision of a flight and
should be included in the (increased if necessary) fare...

OOI, do "charge-free" Nationwide use the interbank rate, or do they too
dishonestly hide "commission" in their exchange rates for overseas
transactions?

Neil

Neil Williams wrote:

> I ask because my credit card rate is typically 1.4something, which no
> doubt includes a hefty effective commission.

Then time perhaps to get a different or another credit card! I've used
Nationwide (both credit & debit varieties) for some years now and the
bank itself does not what on any fees. Cash withdrawals with the debit
card are pretty much at the interbank rate with the usual 1% mark-up
applied by Visa on all foreign transactions.

--
Phil Richards
London, UK
Home Page: http://www.philrichards1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

Roland Perry wrote:
> In message <1168871576.779768.184170@l53g2000cwa. .com>, at
> 06:32:57 on Mon, 15 Jan 2007, Neil Williams <pacer142@> remarked:
>> OOI, do "charge-free" Nationwide use the interbank rate, or do they too
>> dishonestly hide "commission" in their exchange rates for overseas
>> transactions?
> Maybe someone who has a recent Nationwide transaction can tell us what
> rate they got, and we can check it up.

OK, a few weeks ago between Christmas & New Year (29 December to be
exact), but I don't thing the exchange rates between the GBP & EUR have
changed very much:

ATM with Nationwide debit card: EUR 40.00 = GBP 26.96 (ROE 1.483)
N'wide credit card transaction: EUR 26.60 = GBP 17.92 (ROE 1.484)

Got no idea where you might find old exchange rates for exact comparison.

--
Phil Richards
London, UK
Home Page: http://www.philrichards1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

In message <1168871576.779768.184170@l53g2000cwa. .com>
"Neil Williams" <pacer142@> wrote:

> Roland Perry wrote:
>
> > I agree, and I lose consistently whenever I incur expenses 'overseas' as
> > a result of changing cash "floats" back and forth. How can you show that
> > loss on a tax return, I wonder?
>
> Not to mention the fact that it's dishonest. Everyone and his wife
> advertises "commission free", when in fact commission is hidden in the
> poor rate, just like too many airlines advertise "free flights" that
> actually cost 20 quid as a result of such things as "fuel surcharge",
> which surely is an integral part of the provision of a flight and
> should be included in the (increased if necessary) fare...
>
> OOI, do "charge-free" Nationwide use the interbank rate, or do they too
> dishonestly hide "commission" in their exchange rates for overseas
> transactions?
>

Interbank rate.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at <http://www.greywall./rail/index.html>

In message <ZUZAQHnhe5qFFAcX@perry.co.uk>
Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:

> In message <1168871576.779768.184170@l53g2000cwa. .com>, at
> 06:32:57 on Mon, 15 Jan 2007, Neil Williams <pacer142@>
> remarked:
> >OOI, do "charge-free" Nationwide use the interbank rate, or do they too
> >dishonestly hide "commission" in their exchange rates for overseas
> >transactions?
>
> Nobody in the outside world gets the Interbank rate, even when
> exchanging large sums. You can get quite close, but it's naive to expect
> anyone to swap money for you without charging you *anything* (especially
> as they are in practice charging you what amounts to a futures rate -
> based on the arrival of your cleared funds - because the Interbank Rate
> is fluctuating by the minute).
>
> Maybe someone who has a recent Nationwide transaction can tell us what
> rate they got, and we can check it up.

I can tell you the rate for pesos :-) I'll have a hunt round and see what I
got for euros back in the summer.

Right, 7 Aug I got 100 Euros at 1.479




--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at <http://www.greywall./rail/index.html>

In message <TD5yVLwgn7qFFAdc@perry.co.uk>
Roland Perry <roland@perry.co.uk> wrote:

> In message <3531aba54e%rail@greywall.>, at 16:58:09 on Mon,
> 15 Jan 2007, Graeme Wall <rail@greywall.> remarked:
> >> Maybe someone who has a recent Nationwide transaction can tell us what
> >> rate they got, and we can check it up.
> >
> > I can tell you the rate for pesos :-) I'll have a hunt round and see
> > what I got for euros back in the summer.
> >
> >Right, 7 Aug I got 100 Euros at 1.479
>
> That long ago the chart on the BBC website is too hard to read
> accurately, but it's consistent with no markup.

That matches Nationwide's claim then.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at <http://www.greywall./rail/index.html>