Pound-Euro 2016

[Karen]

I had a stroke. Fortunately got to A&E in time, and been out of hospital for a week today. But not allowed to fly for a month, alas.

Oh Jim, bless you! Thank goodness you are ok, what a shock. So continue to get well and take it easy. Love to you and Gillie. Karen and John xxx

[Tredegar Boy]

TravelFX 1.1262. Creeping up slowly. Tense isn't it...............not

[Jimbo]

It's  been a long boring winter for the GBP/Euro rate, hovering around 1.12.

Things are a bit better now (stress "bit") with the Interbank rate today at 1.1565 and TravelFX selling at 1.1447.

As I understand it, the Greek law now says that all restaurants must accept electronic payment, so now my be a good time to get a non-fee credit card such as the Halifax Clarity Card. This means you get the current Interbank rate, which is always better than the rate for which you can buy notes. The much-maligned EU has just passed legislation that mean sellers may not charge commission for payment by credit or debit card.

[Jimbo]

After a little surge a week ago, the pound has settled back at a low rate. According to the IMX daily news, this is because UK economic performance remains poor. Fortunately for the UK, the Eurozone performance is below expectation, or it would be worse.

It looks like we can expect a TravelFX rate of about 1.12x for the foreseeable future, because continuing uncertainty about the path of Brexit is keeping downward pressure on sterling. The Interbank rate (which credit cards use) is 1.1379 as I write, and the TravelFX rate is 1.1260. This translates to: the cost of a 30 euro meal being: cash bought today £26.64 and on a no-fee credit card, such as the Halifax Clarity Card, £26.36. Not a huge difference, but it adds up.

Footnote: before the announcement of the referendum the meal cost would have been £21.58. That is a big difference!

[Richard/Jackie/Nathan]

Off to Hamburg this weekend and got 1.12 from Debenhams yesterday for cash.

[Jimbo]

That's interesting. They're showing 1.11 on their web site.

[Jules]

Got  1.14 a couple of weeks ago at Debenhams when our usual source for buying (Tesco) was about 1.12.