Exchange rates Again sorry!!!!!!

[carrie]

I noticed today that the exchange rate seems to have gone down, the best i saw today was 1,75 at Thomas Cook, last month i rec 1.80 from same agents, has anyone else found anything better, and in your experiences is it likely to increase again.
Not going till October but unsure as to wait in case it drops again.
Thanks
Carrie
ps this is just for holiday money, i know from previous post that business rate is sometimes different/
Thanks
Carrie

[phaedra]

Good news is it jumped just over 2c to $1.84540 about 12:30 today

How long it lasts or which way it goes is anyones guess, all the experts expected it to rise again quickly but it's been hanging around $1.81 $1.82 for nearly 2 weeks.

Rates quoted are the international buying rates not domestic which are usually around 5c or so lower.

[tezz7628]

does anybody have a photo of a piece of string
so we can measure it???

[Daniel Snell]

Carrie if any of us could predict the exchange rates I think we would all be millionaires by now!! The rate has been dropping over the last couple of weeks but really it has remained between 170- 182 for quite a whilst. The experts(I am not one!) Will say that with a us election coming up that the dollar could again become strong against the pound the americans sure hope so. But who knows rising oil prices? New terrorism threats it dont help. My advice is if you can get it now do so and rember that it is a great rate instead of beating yourself up if it goes up a couple of cents by October.

[Snapper]

Hi Carrie,

You're in that kind of position where you can't win. If you buy now and the rate goes up you'll kick yourself; but if you wait and it goes down you'll kick yourself too. I'd say just go for it and forget about it. 2 cents difference on the rate is equivalent to only about a tenner on every thousand pounds you exchange. It's the same as a small round of drinks; just not worth beating yourself up over.

Alternatively, why not use a credit card for most purchases. It's heaps more convenient, safer, and it means you don't worry about the exchange rate at all (which is usually competitive).

BTW - I read somewhere an opinion about why the dollar is so weak at the moment. One theory is that it's because of the size of the US budget defecit; i.e. the amount of money the US has borrowed off other countries. These loans will tend to be written in dollars, so by de-valuing the dollar the US cunningly gets to pay back less than they originally borrowed. Sneaky huh? If you worry about 2c on holiday spending money just imagine what the treasury are like with hundreds of billions of dollars. There's a bit more than a round of drinks at stake there.

If you believe this (and I kind of do) then one might not expect the dollar to strengthen much in the short term, especially as to do that would require the US to hike interest rates which is a big no no in the run up to the election.

Steve.

[Daniel Snell]

Newsflash. She who must be obeyed has just ruturned from work at Barclay's The official tourist rate at close of business today is $1.74! So it has dropped again or should that be risen?[msntongue]

[Fairground]

Hi All

Just used my Nationwide credit card to buy park tickets (From here of course and i would recomend them ) and got a rate of £1.8205.
One good reason to buy your tickets before you go!

Chris

[Drew]

I got 1.83 from Moneycorp this afternoon just before closing. I got a tip on these forums that it often goes up on Friday afternoons just before close and this certainly happened today as it had been nearer 1.80 this morning.(I was transferring part of deposit for our new villa)
Drew

[Magical Dreams]

Drew that was a great deal!

We got 1.833 at the beginning of the month as the rate was looking unsteady.

Glad to hear someone else used their head!

[carrie]

hi guys thanks, i am a muppet, i always look and the numbers ie $1.80 and so on but never actually calculated the difference between 1.74 and $1.80 your right its not that much in £,i will cash in my last few pence on monday he he ,anyway i have a tip that im due to win the lottery on sat so it wont matter anyway he he by the way 76 days to go .
LOL
Carrie.
ps how do you all feel about Nadia winning BB or am i just too sad?