euros

[claret and blue]

  hi can you plz settle a "conversation" i am having at work.....is it better to get euros here or when i get to san stefanos?? i only asked a question and its gone into a debate!!!!! ....only 4 weeks to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[don]

choice. We get them here but buy when price is good not when needed.

[Jimbo]

It depends on a lot of factors. I reckon it's hard to get a local rate that's as good as what you can get buying in the UK:

http://www.currencyexchange-uk.co.uk/index.php/travel-money.html

ICE is giving 1.1230 Euro rate today with no charge and no postage. Dunno what the rate in AgSteph is, but I bet it's less than that.

[swedebasher]

It was 1.12 at Noula's last week and then there is the commission to consider.

[Jimbo]

It was 1.12 at Noula's last week and then there is the commission to consider.

Was 2% last year. So I think the answer to Claret and Blue's question is - with care it's cheaper to buy Euros here.

[Waspman]

Agreed, but you still may get a better rate by paying in Agios Stefanos with the "no overseas commission" credit card.

[Jimbo]

Waspman - I'm sure you're right, but who decides the conversion rate? Surely no taverna is going to give you higher than the daily rate it can get? It wouldn't make sense.

Supposing we have supper and it costs EUR50 on the bill, would I be better off paying on a credit card at whatever arbitrary rate the taverna applies, or handing over the Euro notes bought at a good exchange rate?

I'm being thick here, but I really don't get it!

During the five weeks we spent in AS last year the local rate was always lower than the on-line purchase rate. It used to be in the good old days of the drachma, but I can't see it now.

[swedebasher]

have to agree with Jimbo, we got a better rate this year at Thomas Cook than we would have done in SS, and no commission or faffing around with cards.

[claret and blue]

  thanks for all your imput!!! i think i.ll get them here.....just goin to have a look around and see which is the best....most are the same eg no commission etc!!!

[Rover]

Doesen't your credit card company define the rate? Taverna charges and gets E50.00, credit card company charges you in Sterling?

[YANNIS26]

Doesen't your credit card company define the rate? Taverna charges and gets E50.00, credit card company charges you in Sterling?
[/quote
Hi Rover
You are correct.The credit card company decides the rate you are charged.That is the reason I use my Post Office credit card whenever no commission is charged by the supplier of the product.Be it Taverna or Duty Free.
The rate on the P.O credit card today is 1.1289.No other charges are applied. The rate you see is the rate you get.I have never seen a better exchange rate on currency in Corfu or UK.The best exchange rate for currency I could find today was ICE at 1.114.
I would be intersted to know from anyone in San Stefanos what the current rate is after commission.
Yammas
Yiannis

[Rover]

Hi Yiannis26
I also use my Post Office card, which charges no fee on 'outside UK' transactions. I also inform them of my travel schedule to avoid potential problems! (They are pleasant to deal with, and you speak to real poeple quickly when you contact them).
I understand that there now other credit cards offering zero mark-up on overseas use - eg Halifax and Saga. I agree that the P.O. card seems to offer the best rate. You can also use it to buy at these rates in the UK, and have the money delivered to your home or local Post Office.(No charge)

[Jimbo]

Current Post Office rate is actually 1.1037 - ICE has also dropped to 1.1111

[Waspman]

Rover and Yiannis are correct, it is not the taverna that decides the conversion exchange rate it is the credit card provider (Post Office, Nationwide, Saga etc).

If Jimbo pays 50 Euros at a taverna and pays by a “commission free overseas credit card” he will invariably get a better deal, try it next time you're there and you'll see it's correct.

On my last visit to SS in early July 2010 my Nationwide credit card gave me 1.21 to 1.22 Euros to the GBP, much better than the 1.17 Euros to the GBP exchanged in SS or the exchange rate in GB.   

Local rates and on-line exchange rates are irrelevant in this instance

[Jimbo]

Jimbo will only get the current rate of the bank. This could be a lot worse than the rate he bought cash for. It's a gamble, isn't it?