Seems a lot of people from this site will be there at the same time
Dont forget our Shamu pool party![)]....shhh...dont tell John and Sarah [msnwink]
Don.
hehehehe id forgotten about that
Will pop round when we get there so we can organise it
Chrisj
Being the inquisitive type I just tried a few sums to see how the differences work out; I love Excel at times.
Using the numbers from earlier in this thread (travelers cheques at 1.77 dollars to the pound, credit cards at 1.86, 2.75% handling fee on the credit card) here's what I work it out at:
If you spend 500 dollars on your trip the travellers cheques cost you £282. The credit card is a bit less at £276.
$1000 gives £564 (TC) vs. £552 (CC)
$2000 gives £1129 (TC) vs. £1104 (CC)
$3000 gives £1694 (TC) vs. £1657 (CC)
So the credit card seems to work out a smidge cheaper; but the flip side is that you don't know exactly what rate you are getting with the credit card until the transaction posts. It's also easier to buy that extra bit more on a card too!! [msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnwink][msnsmile]
What I find interesting is that there is so little difference in the final figure. If you shop with a credit card the fee is charged as a fee. If you use travellers cheques the fee is hidden in the weaker exchange rate you get, which is also covering the handling costs for issueing the travellers cheques, cards being almost 100% electronic these days.
Cash rates tend to be a bit less than travellers cheques I think so there is probably a bigger 'fee' hidden in them.
So the good news is that unless one spends loads and loads on holiday there isn't much difference it would seem (in terms of exchanges rates, fees and costs) between travellers cheques and credit cards.
I guess this just means go with whichever system you feel most comfortable with, travellers cheques or cards, and have a better holiday by not having to worry about which method of foreign exchange is better.
Steve.
Steve
Steve, those calculations are a big help - thank you
Just so you know, I used my debit card (Visa) to put my $5000 deposit down for our villa. This worked out at £2773, which is an exchange rate of just over $1.80 to £1. This was done 3 weeks ago but has only jusy been posted to my account! Shame as the Dollar is a little stronger than it was 3 weeksd ago!
So the difference would be minute!!
Be careful!!
Andrew & Diane Moore
We only ever take $100 cash, CC the rest and get money out of a cash mc for any readys neededWe have never found ourselves out of pocket, and there is the added security.
What about Amex - is it cost effective using this in Florida?[?][?]
It's widely accepted, as you would imagine, but there's a charge for purchases in a foreign currency (as in a poor conversion rate) as with most cards, apart from Nationwide.
blott
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks