1 Pound = 2+ Dollars - how much higher?

Marks Spencer have a new bureau de change at the Trafford Centre and they were selling at $1.79 and buying $1.91 yesterday [msnsmile]

it was for $10,000 so perhaps got slightly better than tourist rate, so it was very good then[clap]

hi am i nuts i have just checked the exch rate on the internet and it says 1.85 in thomas cook today they are quoting 1.75 this is for cas, am i missing something? lol

The tourest rats for M & S and Travelex are around 1.78 so Thomas Cooks looks a bit low. Where did you get your rate of 1.85 from - was it for business rate or exchaning a large amount??[msnscared]

hi madabouttigger.i just typed into the internext 'convert pounds to dollars and it brought up a simple conversion table whic u enter amount to be exchanged, it did his and showed the exch rate as being 1,85

Hi Carrie - it sounds like your conversion site is a bit off the mark - I wonder how often they get up dated? I usually check with M&S or Travelex, they will give you todays tourist rates and usually are one of the best rates around. Hope this helps,

Diane.

HSBC is currently offering 1.778. I am watching it daily in the hope it will go up to 1.8 as I have a large amount of money waiting to be paid off the mortgage.

I transferred money yesterday from our Nat West current account to our Nat West currency account and I got 1.812.
A lot of the internet sites quote the mid-price (ie a rate between the buying rate and the selling rate)to give you a rough guide to the current exchange rate.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by carrie
hi madabouttigger.i just typed into the internext 'convert pounds to dollars and it brought up a simple conversion table whic u enter amount to be exchanged, it did his and showed the exch rate as being 1,85
[/quote]

Hasn't been $1.85 for some days now. Highest its been today is $1.8458.

Thanks Diane, i should have realised, im not going until April 07 so i have some time, i just thought that if it was so high it might be worth buying some now, perhaps i will still and i will def check with M&A and Travelex.ive not actually heard of them before though Diane are they on-line? ive never exchanged money on-line before.
Thanks Carrie

I've never used travelex but I've ordered from Marks and Spencer Money. Can't put the website link as it would be deleted but it comes under the money section on their website.

ALR

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by carrie
Thanks Diane, i should have realised, im not going until April 07 so i have some time, i just thought that if it was so high it might be worth buying some now, perhaps i will still and i will def check with M&A and Travelex.ive not actually heard of them before though Diane are they on-line? ive never exchanged money on-line before.
Thanks Carrie
[/quote]

Carrie - It's good old M&S - Marks and Spencer- lol [msnwink]. Travelex is the money exchage at the airports - you order your money before you go and collect it on departure. I've never use them but do use their web site to check the exchange rate. However, some of the high street travel agents such as Thomas Cook will match internet rates, so if you print off your findings on the internet and take them into Thomas Cooks they give you a better deal. If you are not going until April you have plenty of time to shop around and wait for a really good rate to come along[msnwink].

Hope this has helped,

Diane

We are hanging back with buying our currency at the moment, still hoping for it to get back to the higher price
Pam & Jeanette

Well your mortgage might go up with the interest rate rise yesterday but it also lead to a new £/$ rate of 1.91 earlier today.

It's an ill wind..........

Lets hope it stays that way for a while. I have just telephoned my building society to get my money sent to my bank account so I can send it over to pay off our US mortgage. this takes 3 working days, so fingers crossed that it stays at this rate until then[lucky]

Why is the dollar so bouyant again[?]

The headline news is the interest rates. The snap decision this week by the Bank of England and European Central Banks to raise rates by a 1/4 percent made the pound and euro stronger against the dollar.

There are also constant underlying murmerings about inflation worries (shock! never would have seen that one coming [msnwink]) and the relative strength of the US/UK/European economies.

Nobody knows what the future holds but one thing is for sure. With the pound sitting at around $1.90 (ish, give-or-take) Florida is great value right now. Fill your boots and snap it up while it lasts. [msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msncool]

1.846 at M+S this morning

Hi Thomas Cook also are giving 1.84 this morning, mind you i did as you guys suggested once, and printed off M&S rate from the internet and they were prepared to match it.
Carrie

Yep - great value for holidays to Florida at the moment. Am in a dilemma now as to whether I should buy now or wait another 2 weeks. Lets hope the upward trend keeps going
:D
Pam

1.90891 USD today!!!!

M and S ..... $1.844


:D:D:D

Travelex is the same $184.44

May bo a good time to buy some for our trip at Xmas

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Sharon G
1.90891 USD today!!!!

M and S ..... $1.844


:D:D:D
[/quote]

what is happening to the exchange rate? please make it go up.


:(

We got $1:88 on an American express Travellers cheque card through first choice I think it was last weekend. It was 2 cents better than the paper cheques. That's not a bad rate at all.[msnsmile2]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by carrie
what is happening to the exchange rate? please make it go up.


:(
[/quote]

it's 1.821 with travelex so thats not too bad really[msnsmile]

Mizzy

Quite right Mizzy, its still an excellent rate.About 3 years ago it was only in the $1-50's.
andrew

Got some dollars today at HSBC for 1.817, not too bad, has gone down a tad.

Just got some at the Post Office today 1.814 - not bad I suppose.Last time we went 2 years ago it was 1.7.

Lisi

I've found a fantastic company - Crown Currency Exchange - who have outstanding rates. If you are planning on going to the US next year you can order currency now for May/June next year and the rate is guaranteed at $2 for £1!!!

I have ordered for my October break and got a rate of $1.86!!

Here's the link;

[website link edited - it has loads of links to other places, some of which aren't allowed]

Hi paddyc any chance you can DM me the web link please looks great:D

cheers!

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Hi paddyc any chance you can DM me the web link please looks great[/quote]

You will find it by Google.

I wonder what the catch is? If indeed there is one.


I will ring them on Monday.

I have followed forward currency rates for many years and have never seen a rate 10+ cents above the commercial rate offered(for only 6 months ahead) and I have never heard of this firm.

They also say they will give better rates for large sums.

Personally I will not give them any money - even if they offered $3 for £1 - unless I was 100% certain my money was safe.(they want payment by debit card)

It does seem a little too good to be true and why does the rate drop after June 2007 mmmmhhh [msnscared][msneek]

I don't think I would hand over my hard earned. If they are that good at predicting the rate why are do they need to be in business at all?

The Financial Times forward rates(on 22 Sep 06) for 3 months and one year are £1 = $1.9042 & $1.9033.

Cheers Robert will have a look. Does seem to good to be true though[msnwink]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I've found a fantastic company - Crown Currency Exchange [/quote]

I rang Crown Currency Exchange this morning.

Apparently you just hand over your money, say, £1,000 and in April you are sent US$2,000.

I enquired about security of my money between now and April and – er – there isn’t any.
I enquired about what form of financial regulation applies to the firm(FSA etc) and – er – there isn’t any.

So basically you are giving your money to a completely unregulated firm with no safeguard whatsoever should they go bust.

Er - I don't think I will bother. "Fantastic" or not.

EDIT
They operate from John Harvey House in Hayle Cornwall and there are other 'sister' currency exchange firms operating at the same address as well as Bulgarian Plots - buy land and property in Bulgaria. Hayle is a beautiful spot and must be becoming the financial Mecca of the West Country.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I've found a fantastic company - Crown Currency Exchange [/quote]

I rang Crown Currency Exchange this morning.

Apparently you just hand over your money, say, £1,000 and in April you are sent US$2,000.

I enquired about security of my money between now and April and – er – there isn’t any.
I enquired about what form of financial regulation applies to the firm(FSA etc) and – er – there isn’t any.

So basically you are giving your money to a completely unregulated firm with no safeguard whatsoever should they go bust.

Er - I don't think I will bother. "Fantastic" or not.

EDIT
They operate from John Harvey House in Hayle Cornwall and there are other 'sister' currency exchange firms operating at the same address as well as Bulgarian Plots - buy land and property in Bulgaria. Hayle is a beautiful spot and must be becoming the financial Mecca of the West Country.

[/quote]

Robert - each to their own.

This company was brought to my attention by a good friend who bought currency a few months ago and everything went through smoothly. I know of 1 other person who also bought currency with no problems.

I have "dipped my toe in the water" and ordered a couple of hundred dollars for delivery on 10th Oct. I'll keep you updated.

The procedure is that you pay by cheque or bank transfer once you have received a confirmatory email. The currency is delivered by Royal Mail special delivery on the agreed date. Is it a risk?? yes probably.

With regards to my initial post I was only passing on details of what seems to be a great rate. I would feel terrible if anybody lost out due to my recommendations. Can I suggest that if anybody is (still) considering buying from them that you at least wait until after the 10th October and I'll feed back my experiences.

Please accept my apologies for highlighting this in the first place.

Hi guys i bought £1000 today and got 1.854 at Bath travel seems prettty good to me

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Robert - each to their own.

This company was brought to my attention by a good friend who bought currency a few months ago and everything went through smoothly. I know of 1 other person who also bought currency with no problems.

I have "dipped my toe in the water" and ordered a couple of hundred dollars for delivery on 10th Oct. I'll keep you updated.

The procedure is that you pay by cheque or bank transfer once you have received a confirmatory email. The currency is delivered by Royal Mail special delivery on the agreed date. Is it a risk?? yes probably.

With regards to my initial post I was only passing on details of what seems to be a great rate. I would feel terrible if anybody lost out due to my recommendations. Can I suggest that if anybody is (still) considering buying from them that you at least wait until after the 10th October and I'll feed back my experiences.

Please accept my apologies for highlighting this in the first place.[/quote]

Paddy,
No apology needed and I didn't mean to have a dig at you; although on reflection it could look that way - so an apology from me is due.

I have little doubt that you will get your money, and $1.86 is not anything special, but $2.00 is!

My main point is regardless of you, or anyone else, getting your money it is a risk dealing with an unregulated firm as you have no security.

So why take that risk?

This was posted on another forum:-

I have been posting my reservations on this on another 'crown currency' thread, but I'm glad to see others share my reservations. Just to satisfy my own curiosity, I downloaded their most recent accounts and it pretty much confirms my concerns.

1. They made a loss in their first year of trading. (Not unusual for a new company)

2. Their net worth is a grand total of just under £4,000.

They clearly are a very small company, with very limited resources. We won't know until next April how they have fared over the last 12 months. I take my hat off to anybody with the balls to start up a new business, especially when taking on the big boys in the financial markets - but to all - think carefully before entering into agreements that require you to pay 100% now in the hope that they are still in business in 6 - 12 months time.

Paul,

We agree on something!

I don't like the 'sister' companies operating side by side. It is a classic ploy to start up a new company to limit your exposure; if Crown go bust, the sister companies don't. It looks suspiciously like they are gambling on future exchange rates - with their clients money!

If exchange rates stay at their present level they are going to lose over 5% on all monies deposited with them for an April payout.

Just one point - there is no problem in 'buying forward currency' with a reputable regulated company/bank; in case anyone mis-understands your last sentence and thinks you mean with any company.