Bits: Lock in your holiday € exchange rate now, Etihad First Class lounge in Abu Dhabi open

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• Yuff says:

  7 Jun7 June 07:23

  Just got the dreaded notification, from the Myflights app,of a change of plane from Auh to LHR 🙁 at October half term.
  Have contacted Etihad to see if we can change flights and the very kind lady has emailed head office to see if that will be possible.

• James67 says:

  7 Jun7 June 07:31

  A little late in the day for currency anxiety. Took care of this scenario last year when £ was over €1.4, $1.6 and 55TBaht, abd I’m good for about two years. Just cannot see brexit happen though, polls exclude don’t knows and they will be afraud if change. Also suspect there will be a ‘quiet tory’ ohenomenon with mwny remain voters unwilling to voice their views. I suspect a comfortable remain vote is likely with brexits only hope being a low remain turnout at the polls.

  • Zoe says:

    7 Jun7 June 07:58

    I have a daughter heading for a year of study in the US, currently she / we don’t have Dollar accounts. I’m tempted to Transferwise maybe half the money she will need to her Godmother in the US now. I totally trust her Godmother, is this a cunning plan?

    • harry says:

      7 Jun7 June 07:59

      Anything that removes risk to you, at an acceptable cost, is a decent cunning plan.

    • tony says:

      7 Jun7 June 08:04

      Two things…

      1) Citibank can set you up with a USD account out of the UK for I think $10/month
      2) If you do this and we vote to stay in AND the US keeps dragging its heels on rate hikes, you might simply be buying in to a poor rate now.

      • Tim Rogers says:

        7 Jun7 June 09:51

        This is a great idea. I have a Citi account based in the UK and the service is good, and the account free providing you hold enough (I think it’s £2500 that they require). You get a USD Visa Debit card and a USD cheque book.

        • Aeronaut says:

          7 Jun7 June 16:38

          Am I the only one who still finds Citibank / Citigroup’s sense of spelling to jar somewhat?!

        • KC says:

          7 Jun7 June 19:15

          Are you able to deposit USD cash with your citibank account?

      • Ck says:

        8 Jun8 June 01:13

        Is the rate good? It used to be same as fx, but this year it seems to take a percentage as a cut. 1-1.5%.

    • Genghis says:

      7 Jun7 June 08:07

      I presume she’ll start in Sep and that is when USD will start to be spent? If you’re happy with the exchange rate now, lock in. No one knows what the exchange rate will be in the future.

      I bought EUR in Nov at 1.44 as I had EUR liabilities in H1 this year. I was happy with the rate then and I’m pleased I fixed

      • RW says:

        7 Jun7 June 09:43

        HiFX have been offering me to fix the GBP:EUR rate now for the next year – I regularly transfer to EU for mortgage. If you don’t want to put down the cash now, or don’t have it, you can arrange a monthly transfer now at a fixed rate, and they are not at all bad. Lots of UK expats use them.

    • James67 says:

      7 Jun7 June 10:51

      It’s difficult to call. If UK stays in hopefully £ will get a bounce against dollar and everything else. If so, that bounce could be sustained at least through the uncertainty of US election, especially with FED indicating it will hold firm on rates. Difficult to be certain whether brexit will have much effect, £ is already low so brexit effect may already have been phased into the market. Probably brexit might see a further fall but how quick, how far and for how long nobody knows for sure. Personally I would hope it will not get much worse, I’m already over the hill and current £/$ rates are worst I recall in my lifetime. The 2.1 exchange rates when I was probably around your daughters age are just a fond memory of student travels all over the States financed by a part time student job. Hope youf daughter enjoys.

• Andy says:

  7 Jun7 June 07:42

  Any thoughts on impact on foreign hotel or flight pricing i.e. when they are originally priced in EUR? Appreciate risk is priced in now to an extent but wonder if its worth making and paying for bookings now to avoid?

  • tony says:

    7 Jun7 June 08:01

    As you say the risk is to an extent factored in. If we leave, things priced in EUR & USD get more expensive. If we stay, the prices will fall.

    I would say for most people it’s unlikely to be a deal breaker. Think about your overall annual outgoings and what proportion of those are PA on purchases denominated in a foreign currency. Probably 5%, so even a 20% depreciation in the pound at best means your overall cost of living goes up 1% – and if the pound falls, a lot of GBP denominated assets will appreciate.

  • harry says:

    7 Jun7 June 08:01

    If the £ falls vs EUR, paying in EUR later will be more expensive. If it rises vs EUR, paying later will be cheaper.

    Is that what you were after?

• Zoe says:

  7 Jun7 June 08:02

  Off topic but this doesn’t seem like great customer service from Supercard
  Everything you need to know about the Supercard pilot closure:

  When will my account close?
  At 00:01 on 7th June 2016, your account was automatically closed. You’ll no longer be able to use your card or log into your account through the app or website.

  What if I have questions about any transactions made or attempted by me with my Supercard before 7 June 2016?
  If you have any questions regarding any transactions before 7 June 2016, please call the Customer Service team on +44 (0) 203 503 0945.

  If you need to get hold of any transaction data, you can apply to receive this information through a Subject Access Request. This request is made to Tuxedo Money (our issuer for the Supercard pilot), and you can contact them at compliance@tuxedomoney.com, or on +44 (0) 203 503 0945. Tuxedo Money may levy a small charge for this service.

  Glad I noted down my recent transactions last night…

  • harry says:

    7 Jun7 June 08:20

    It’s appalling but at least the Subject Access fee is limited to £10 ISTR & the phone call to CS would be free for most of us

  • Alan says:

    7 Jun7 June 08:31

    Agreed, to say you have to put in a DPA request for transaction details is just bonkers!

  • Nick M says:

    7 Jun7 June 09:36

    My app still allows me to login… Just taken a few screenshots just in case.

    Surely not allowing access would cause them more problems? If I was unsure as to what a transaction related to and couldn’t check I’d be asking my linked credit card to dispute the transaction..

  • World Traveller says:

    7 Jun7 June 19:08

    I’ve also been able to login to my Supercard account on the app. All my recent transactions are listed & I’m still able to view the detail of each transaction.

    “We will be rolling out Supercard nationwide in the summer”
    We’re already in summer and still no confirmed date for rollout. I hope we don’t have to wait too long for the new service to go live and for us to get our new cards.

• mark says:

  7 Jun7 June 08:08

  I have a property purchase going on in the Philippines, their currency is pegged to dollar (not officially) – I need to complete in March, but i will have to really think if i transfer cash now or later…

  I am sure it will drop, but as it will take 2 years to leave the EU – I am sure it should be fine by March

  • John says:

    7 Jun7 June 09:31

    Well you really should have converted at least half at the time you decided to buy, what would have happened if the USD really shot up and you could no longer afford the property?

    Unless you seriously think the UK might leave the EU, then after the referendum the pound will shoot up for a bit, but what happens after that depends on when the US finally decides to raise its interest rates (and whether the BOE is able to raise them too)

    • Mark says:

      7 Jun7 June 10:38

      I have made a sizeable down payment so only have the balance to pay and due to delays in construction – I have not made any new payments, it’s over 2 years delayed :/

      I am confident once we remain in, the pound will shoot up and i will pay it all off in 1 go, but it’s a gamble. I have enough cash if we do not stay, not that i want to pay more than i have to :/

      • harry says:

        7 Jun7 June 11:03

        Not sure about vote outcome Remain —> £ shooting up much. What are we? 2 weeks away or so. Still far enough away for the polls to currently look really unreliable IMV. Closer to the event, the polls should harden & the currencies move to close to where they’ll be a week after the referendum.

        If you look at the analysis examining why the polls got it so badly wrong in the General Election, it essentially came down to over-simplification of questions asked & general avoidance of complexity by pollsters, combined with statistically badly imperfect poll bases. The pollsters needed to spend a lot more money to expand the numbers polled (maybe by a factor of 10) and ask in depth ‘focus-group’ questions about voting intention with a lot of ‘what-ifs’ included. There simply wasn’t enough money provided (by the people commissioning the polls) to do that.

        You might think an in/ out vote is much more black & white – I would disagree, there are lots of issues that weigh differently with different people. The polling methods are still too ‘cheap’ and the don’t knows are being ignored.

• Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

  7 Jun7 June 08:18

  I’m sure treatments were free in the ‘Business’ lounge at AUH when I was there (in F). Is charging for treatments a new thing?

• Ali says:

  7 Jun7 June 08:28

  Can anyone point me to the bit that says Moneycorp will not charge you anything if you don’t pick up your EURO order?

  • Trevor G says:

    7 Jun7 June 08:46

    I’ve used MoneyCorp regularly for travel cash. I can pickup locally at Southampton airport. Their rates appear to be very good and I’ve ordered a couple of times and not collected. Nothing happens, it just expires. When you order from the website you do not have to input any payment details or register etc. You get an e-mail confirmation and just pitch up on the date and pay there. Good reminder from HFP on this. I ordered a lump of Euros this morning to pick up on the 1st of July so I’ll just wait to see what happens with no risk. 🙂

    • Ali says:

      7 Jun7 June 09:17

      Thanks Trevor – I’m reassured to hear it just expires if not required. I have just made an order for July too on the basis that I can decide whether to pick up (from SOU) later.

  • Blair says:

    7 Jun7 June 08:53

    I was wondering about this too

  • JP says:

    7 Jun7 June 16:18

    Terms and Conditions

    6.2 Contracts for the reservation of currency

    6.2.1 As an alternative to paying for the currency when placing an Order, the Client may elect to reserve the currency, using the System only, and pay for such currency when collecting it from a Moneycorp Bureau (‘Reserve and Collect’). In such circumstances, the Client may elect to pay for the currency at the Moneycorp Bureau using a Payment Card or by cash. For the avoidance of doubt, reserved currency is only available to collect from Moneycorp Bureaux and will not be delivered to the Client.

    6.2.2 Notwithstanding any other provisions herein, the Client shall not be obliged to purchase any currency reserved in accordance with clause 6.2.1. However, where the Client chooses to purchase the reserved currency, the Client will do so at the price shown on the System (except in the event of a Manifest Error) at the time of placing the Order. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Client chooses to purchase the reserved currency then Moneycorp shall be obliged to sell it to the Client.

    6.2.3 The Client can place a Reserve and Collect Order up to 30 days in advance of the intended collection date or in accordance with any other timeframe as displayed on the System from time to time.

    • Genghis says:

      7 Jun7 June 16:26

      Quite clear to me

    • Alan says:

      7 Jun7 June 18:35

      Excellent – order placed!

      Vote already sent in postally – fingers crossed for a clear remain result!

• John says:

  7 Jun7 June 08:40

  It’s quite clear to me that EURO will tank more than GBP if we leave. This will be the beginning of the end for the EU if we vote to leave. Many other (mostly rich) countries across EU will want to have their own referendum and come out. Good luck supporting a failed EURO currency when the EU falls apart!

  • John says:

    7 Jun7 June 09:33

    But the GBP will tank first, so if you want to spend GBP abroad in July/August, then you will suffer. The euro may drop against USD (although it kind of already has) and the GBP may recover in a few months, but that is unlikely to happen straight away

  • David says:

    7 Jun7 June 09:38

    Utterly Flawed. You seem to ignore the EUR strength comes not from the concept – or how long it is thought to last – but on countries that make up the EUR. And none of that is going to change.
    Even if I thought the EUR was about to collapse (as an entity) I’d quite happily have confidence in German banks and Germany to have a viable currency afterwards etc. Same for many other euro zone countries.

    If you think the EUR will fall more that GBP, wow. I can’t see anyone credible arguing that.

    • David says:

      7 Jun7 June 09:39

      That was in reply to John to be clear.

    • Will says:

      7 Jun7 June 10:28

      By that theory take a look at UK bond yields in relation to polls in favour of leave. They don’t move.

      If Brexit were really perceived to destroy the UK exonomy the bonds would be incredibly volatile.

      I’m not entirely sure why people think the pound will be in for such a hit.

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