If you think celebrity exchange rates are high

Heading to Europe today and stopped at travelex out of curiosity to see what they were selling euros for. Official rate is $1.13 for 1 euro today.....travelex is charging 1.35 for a euro. That’s almost a 20% markup. This makes celebrity’s built in 8% look like a great deal. Note: celebrity uses, I believe, bank of America’s rates which include that markup....celebrity does not mark that rate up, at least that’s what the claim.

Of course the best rate is at an atm in the euro zone...even if you pay a fee...or get a card that doesn’t charge anything and rebates your atm fees as well.

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TravelEx is just terrible. Coming back from a Norway cruise from Southampton we had a lot of time to kill at Heathrow so out of curiosity I stopped by TravelEx there to see what they would give me for my leftover NOK currency. Something like 700NOK. Their offer? About $64 and some change. I said no thanks and went to my Bank of America branch when I got home and they gave me $97 and change......for the same NOK.

Of course the best rate is at an atm in the euro zone...even if you pay a fee...or get a card that doesn’t charge anything and rebates your atm fees as well.

 

 

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ghstudio - thanks for posting. This is commonly asked by folks new to cruising (and not so new) and I’ve always used an ATM upon arrival, with my no-fee card (Charles Schwab).

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Celebrity use a mid point rate which is struck on the first day of a cruise and it remains this way for the duration. I often check the pre purchase rate of OBC via the website to see what the X rate is for $25 viz a viz what my bank here in NZ will give me. On occasions I have pre purchased OBC and cashed it in at the end of the cruise. There is no charge for credit cards and the exchange rate is charged in my local currency. The exchange rate for excursions is however not always generous

I travel a lot in different countries, and I find ATM are often the cheaper option. Check your credit and debit cards which has the less fees (usually 5$ + 1%, the better cards waives one parts). Exchange booths are useful if you need small changes, e.g. public transportation or just guides tell you that it is not advised to get high notes to taxis drivers, but you can solve it by getting a coffee at airports (after the ATM). On harbors this is could be more difficult. Exchange booth are also useful to change back foreign money.

In any case, more and more countries expect people to pay with cards (but taxi and few things). So get Uber app on your country (less problem on validating your credit card), and you may exchange much less money (so the fees will be also low, as absolute number).

A few months ago, while while waiting for our flight from BOS to LHR, I went to the currency exchange booth and inquired about the cost of converting a few hundred US$ to both GBP and EUR. With the XE currency exchange APP on my iphone,the decision to avoid this "service" was an easy and money saving decision. Not only was the rate heavily in their favor, but each conversion also carried a per transaction fee....and again to convert back to US$.

Knowing that Europe is a "plastic" friendly place, I was not concerned about having local currency. When we got to LHR, I found a Travelex ATM machine and stopped as soon as I saw what I would receive; hitting the cancel icon before I donated my money to this machine. Worse yet, was seeing how the Travelex machine was converting my US$ to GBP and then to EUR for additional fees. After our third day in London, I finally walked up to a bank ATM and got a few hundred GBP. Using my no foreign transaction credit cards works great and the need for cash was mainly for a private tour guide who requested payment in cash. My home-based bank told me of an ATM affiliated with their network that also spit out EUR, by Paddington Tube, so I was able to obtain the currency I needed for Ireland and France - again private tour guides. My local bank does not charge me for out of network ATM use when out of the country. Nice perk with their travel program.

A friend who lives in England with whom we frequently travel, said to use the grocery market ATM's - and yes, when I did the math, the rate was excellent, better than the bank ATM's in shopping malls and at bank branches.

Last year we spent 14 nights in Norway, and only got 50 NOK about mid-point in the cruise. At our last port, Bergen, I managed to use the money for trinkets to take home.

Reminder to anyone new to foreign travel - never let the vendor/store/hotel - convert to your home based currency. Always charge in the currency of the country you are in and let your bank do the conversion. Shops are making a good percentage profit while giving the naive tourist the feeling the they is doing you a favor. Also check your receipt to verify that the shop keep didn't "accidently" convert. If using paper currency, be sure you are familiar with what is out of circulation. Some times clerks slip in an old note or coin. Once more reason to use credit cards.

Darcy

Just as a point of reference, for whatever it is worth:

I usually just rely on finding an ATM in the airport of arrival. Yesterday, for whatever reason, I decided to order 300 Euros prior to departure through my investment house. The charge for 300 Euros, including delivery, was $347.30 Amounts to maybe about a 2% commission, which seemed reasonable. I might have saved $5 at a local ATM, depending on any upcharges imposed by the local bank or my bank, and depending on rate. But I think it was worth it, and now I don't need to worry about having some Euros on that first day or so.

Tom & Judy

Heading to Europe today and stopped at travelex out of curiosity to see what they were selling euros for. Official rate is $1.13 for 1 euro today.....travelex is charging 1.35 for a euro. That’s almost a 20% markup. This makes celebrity’s built in 8% look like a great deal. Note: celebrity uses, I believe, bank of America’s rates which include that markup....celebrity does not mark that rate up, at least that’s what the claim.

 

Of course the best rate is at an atm in the euro zone...even if you pay a fee...or get a card that doesn’t charge anything and rebates your atm fees as well.

Was this at an airport? BAA (the company that runs Heathrow and some other airports in the UK) controls the exchange rate. It is based on the spot rate average of (from memory) three banks with a specific mark-up. It makes the rates at all BAA airport the worst place to exchange money.

In Travelex's defence, their rate at our local supermarket (nowhere near any airport) is usually the best in town and they often have deals where they give money off vouchers to spend in the store.

Yes, It was at Philadelphia airport.

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Was this at an airport? BAA (the company that runs Heathrow and some other airports in the UK) controls the exchange rate. It is based on the spot rate average of (from memory) three banks with a specific mark-up. It makes the rates at all BAA airport the worst place to exchange money.

 

 

 

In Travelex's defence, their rate at our local supermarket (nowhere near any airport) is usually the best in town and they often have deals where they give money off vouchers to spend in the store.

BAA no longer exists. BAA Ltd, the privatised successor to BAA, renamed itself Heathrow Airports Holdings Ltd some years ago and has operated no other airports since about 2014. It does not set the rates charged by Travelex.

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