Spending money in Europe

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I’ve been to France many times, but not for the past few years because of covid etc.

When paying by card there, you (usually) get a choice between £ and € on the machine. If I remember right, I always went for £, thinking I’d get my bank’s (better) exchange rate, but looking at old bank statements I’ve also copped for non-sterling transaction fees etc. So maybe better to pay in €, so the French retailer sets the exchange rate, and the bank (presumably) pays him £, and I don’t get the extra fees.

I’m getting a bit of brain fade here, can anybody comment?
 
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I have a Halifax Clarity card, acknowledged to be truthful when they say you'll get no fees, and a rate fixed in UK as a reference. For that reason, and (I think) Martin Lewis, we always pay in Euros. When we occasionally check the rate on the statement, we seem to get, 'the rate'. In March, we were getting 1.17.
 
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I have a Halifax Clarity card, acknowledged to be truthful when they say you'll get no fees, and a rate fixed in UK as a reference. For that reason, and (I think) Martin Lewis, we always pay in Euros. When we occasionally check the rate on the statement, we seem to get, 'the rate'. In March, we were getting 1.17.
Thanks for that. I now have a Revolut card, which has accounts in £ and €. When I last used it abroad in 2019 I think I must have chosen to pay in £, as the money's come from that account. I don't know how good the exchange rate was, but at least I wasn't charged any fees. Sounds like I should be using the € option, next time I'll do that and see what happens!
 
The usual advice is to opt for the local currency when given a choice while paying by card. Can't remember the reason.
Seems you're right. That's probably what I did years ago, but got it wrong in 2019. I can't remember the reason either! The bank exchange rate likely to be better than the retailer, but not sure whether they'd still charge fees.
 
Always pay in the local currency. That way you’ll get the bank rate which is better than the tourist exchange rate. Whenever I’ve bought stuff abroad on my Monzo card, it immediately tells me what it was in sterling. If you opt to pay in sterling, you’ll get what rate the retailer wants to give you.

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Always pay in the local currency. That way you’ll get the bank rate which is better than the tourist exchange rate. Whenever I’ve bought stuff abroad on my Monzo card, it immediately tells me what it was in sterling. If you opt to pay in sterling, you’ll get what rate the retailer wants to give you.

View attachment 271997
Will do!
 
I take Sterling with me, I change what I need as I need it.
Right now I’m getting 1.15€ for £1
 
I change cash here and pay cash in euros.

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I take Sterling with me, I change what I need as I need it.
Right now I’m getting 1.15€ for £1

Not the best rate though and either method means carrying all your holiday spending money in cash with you. Best rate is through a decent bank debit or credit card. Safer and more convenient. You can always draw a few hundred Euros out of a cash machine at the same best rate if you need to.

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Not the best rate though and either method means carrying all your holiday spending money in cash with you. Best rate is through a decent bank debit or credit card. Safer and more convenient. You can always draw a few hundred Euros out of a cash machine at the same best rate if you need to.

View attachment 272019
How woild you pay the cartel members when they stop and ask for money?
I don't think they accept mastercard...
 
I don’t really care whether it’s 1.15 or 1.16 As it’s only €10 in £1,000. I always use cash and I’m happy to take the risk of losing a wad. But, I’m careful and don’t carry much when I’m out. I have an account with Caixa but, I don’t use it.
 
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