Financial advice required

[EternalOptimist]

why do you need so much cash ?

why not just draw from the whole in the wall when you need it ?

Milan.

true
I am just trying to find out if there is anything major and blindingly obvious that I may have missed

[Mich the Tester]

true
I am just trying to find out if there is anything major and blindingly obvious that I may have missed

Because Mrs EO has instructed you to deliver your ‘currency exchange risk analysis’ as part of her detailed ‘holiday project plan’ and you are nearing the deadline.

[BlasterBates]

Buy a thousand now, a thousand a bit later on and then a thousand just before you go on holiday.

Alternatively just use your bank card and draw Euros from any bank cash machine when you need them on holiday,

[Menelaus]

Before writing this, please note:

1. I'm not FSA-approved to provide investment advice
2. I'm not a currency trading expert
3. My knowledge of currency trading comes from domestic use (e.g., getting at my own cash)

I tend to use www.oanda.com if I'm looking for foreign currency or exchange rates - they've got quite a good reputation.

That having been said, you might be just as well to draw cash as you go via ATM although in the interests of avoiding any issues when you're on your travels it's probably worthwhile to let your bank know which countries you'll be in.

The reason for this is that if it sees attempted authorisations (irrespective of whether or not you've used your PIN) in a non-UK location for cash it'll instantly trigger alarm bells within the neural network that most banks use (either CRIS (VISA) or Falcon (per institution)).

Embarrassingly, despite working for the company that develops Falcon, it binned me on an ATM transaction in 2008 at HSBC (my own bankers at the time) in Hong Kong Airport, and I ended up having to ring HSBC in the UK to have a rant at them.

If you're planning to buy forward (reiterating that I am not an expert in currency trading) you might find that for ~£3000 the possible arbitrage opportunity is limited anyway - if there were to be losses made they'd be small.

Hope that this helps.

[Xenophon]

Menelaus in financial advice thread shocker.

[DimPrawn]

Any advice on winter clothing for Arctic conditions?

[HairyArsedBloke]

Get a couple of hundred in euro smash from the post office a couple of days before you go (to avoid last minute panics) and slap the rest on the plastic.

[James Tiberius Kirk]

factually, I find it hard to fault you. But in practical terms you are about as much use as a pencil sharpener on Alpha Centurii

there...Ive said it

I'll have you know the eraser heads of Varg (a small as yet undiscovered class M planet orbiting Alpha Centuri) value and indeed base most of their religions around pencil sharpeners


HTH

[BlackenedBiker]

In my books, anything which involves planning is no longer a holiday but work. We never book more than a week beforehand and sometimes we just get in the car and set off southwards. Stop off somewhere in Deutschland for the night then keep driving to Italy and we’ve never failed to end up somewhere good.

We would all end up in Swindon though

[Pondlife]

Menelaus in financial advice thread shocker.

but