Pre -order by internet from the Wine Beer Warehouse and if you spend £400 or more get a free daytrip with Seafrance or £30 cash back if you travel with Eurotunnel.
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Shoppers price survey for money exchange with cross channel companies and in France - day-tripper.net
The exchange rate we quote at the top of our pages is from Travelex (www.travelex.co.uk ). In general the rates are not the best available, but in terms of convenience they are a great help, with shops at most ports and airports. Additionally you can pre-order and pick up your currency at the point of departure.
Changing money in France is often confusing and expensive - here is our advice.
Where you change money can be very important. First appearances are often deceptive or misleading. This survey will help you find the best value items.
With the pound yo-yoing up and down shoppers need to be extra careful. Remember if buying tobacco take sterling cash for the best prices.
Ask for smaller denomination euro notes - we hear shoppers are having trouble using 100, 200 and 500 euro notes when shopping.
Wow! On Monday 22nd October 2007, I needed £5,000 pounds exchanged into euro quickly. Phoning around I was offered rates from 1.374 to 1.40 (If I had taken the worst offer (which had a commission charge of £10 as well!), I would have cost me £102.50 extra for the same amount of euro. Foreign Payments offer next day delivery.
Loads of money? You must now declare it to Customs
Don't overload! - more
Best Buys (All the best buys); Tesco Vins Plus in Calais normally offers the best rates if you want to pay with sterling. If you are changing money, particularly small amounts, the Bureau d'Echange in Calais offers a good deal.
Pounds slides - should we join the euro? The slow decline of the Pound Sterling over the years is worrying. This table shows how much it has slide over the last few years. Bear in mind that when the Euro started £1 bought you about 1 euro 50 cents.
| One euro equals 6.5596 (FF's) When you get ... (* rate at 1st January 2008) | ||
| Euro to the £ | You get £ to the euro | Which = Francs |
| 1.662 | 0.6019 | 10.899 |
| 1.524 | 0.6560 | 10.000 |
| 1.500 | 0.6667 | 9.839 |
| * 1.289 | 0.7760 | 8.453 |
| 1.143 | 0.8746 | 7.500 |
| 1.000 | 1.0000 | 6.560 |
CREDIT CARDS - we suggest you ring your credit card company before shopping in France - increased fraud means they are turning down shoppers cards if their spending deviates from the norm. Take your mobile - you can often sort the problem out over the phone.
OFFER 1 - 20% off daytrips to Boulogne with Speedferries. 50 minute crossing. From £20 return (Offer available on this site only)
OFFER 2 - Cheapest ferry fares to Calais with P O Ferry. Cheap daytrips starting at £20 only (No fuel surcharge, subject to availability)
Direct Booking links
| Transmanche Ferries Dieppe | LD Lines Ferry Le Havre | Transeuropa Ferries |
| Norfolkline Dover to Dunkirk | SpeedFerries Boulogne | DFDS Ferries Newcastle |
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| Eurotunnel to Calais |  |
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Find an ATM where you are going - Visa - www.visa.com Mastercard - www.mastercard.com List of ATM's in France (and elsewhere) - www.visa.com. For foreign currency purchase:
Currencies, European Central Bank - www.ecb.int. |
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Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of these surveys, and day-tripper.net has carried out considerable in depth research, they should be seen as a guide only and not definitive. Watch out for minimum commission charges - remember if the minimum charge (£3.00 for example) is more than the commission rate advertised you will have to spend more than £100 to get the 2% commission rate advertised. We did a survey of places where day-trippers going to Calais, France, are most likely to change money - here's what we found (survey date 13/07/01). Other currency rates - European Central Bank Latest Rates - latest rates - www.netconnected.com - www.moneyextra.com - www.natwest.co.uk TIP from a site visitor; September 12, 2003 - If you need a small amount of euro for some reason, Flunch in Cite Europe give 1.545 to the £, if you get a Coffee with milk at €1.70, pay with a twenty pound note you'll get €29.20 change, which is equivalent to €1.46 to the £, and you get the equivlent of a free cup of coffee into the bargain (you would have got 1.365 euro to the pound changing money at a bank). |
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Survey of Bureau d'Exchange, changing money and prices in Calais, France. U.K. prices converted at the rate of 1.53 euro to the £. Survey carried out 13th July. The exchange rate at the bureau in Calais is once again the best, particularly for smaller amounts (under £100), as they do not charge commission. |
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The ferry rates have increased quite dramatically - minimum charge up from £2.50 to £3.00 and 2.00 to 2.75% commission. Once again we recommend the Bureau de Change in the centre of Calais. The Travelex exchange bureau after passport control has not previously offered a good rate, although the difference is marginal. 0% commission and the best price foreign currency - www.travelex.co.uk Our advice? For smaller amounts go to the Bureau d'Echange in Calais. For large amounts go to the Bank or Post Office. For safety and one of the best rates, use your credit card. If you are spending longer away and will be spending more, the following advice in general applies when getting the best rates; 1) Best rate overall - getting foreign currency before you go, closely followed by 2) Travellers cheques, which offer greater security. Using Cards at Cash machines abroad offer good value and are practical and safe - they come in at 3) Debit Cards and then 4) Credit Cards. Simply using your cards in the shop is marginally worst, but the difference is small overall, and the convenience factor high (no cash to carry around or be left with, safety). Normally Tesco offer the best rate if you want to pay in Sterling. The old Continent (now Carrefour) offers the best rate nowadays. Cité Europe shoppers get a raw deal at Carrefour though - if you go to the smaller branch at Centre Mi-voix (the old Continent) you get 1.7% more for your money. |
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Some tips from Online FX Best Rates - Next Working Day Delivery to Your Door - Commission Free Place your order before 12.30pm and your money will be delivered by fully insured special delivery by 1.00pm the next working day. Delivery note: Orders received before 12.30pm on Friday will be delivered the following Monday. Orders received after 12.30pm Friday or placed on Saturday and Sunday, will be delivered the following Tuesday. Special arrangements for Bank Holidays will be advertised on the site at the time. You can add multiple currencies/travellers cheques to your shopping basket at step-3 in the order process. Travel Money Services - Online FX specialises in selling foreign currencies and traveller's cheques. Our travel money service offers commission free currency at highly competitive rates. Avoid the queues, unnecessary journeys and order your travel money from the comfort of your own home or office. Then let our speedy next working day delivery service to take over to ensure your money arrives at your door safely. There is absolutely no service fee or commission on the currency exchange transaction. There is a £4.95 handling fee to cover the cost of delivery and insurance. Payment can be made securely over the Internet with any card bearing the Switch, Delta, Visa, MasterCard logo or by cheque, chaps, swift. We also supply commission free, American Express Travellers Cheques, with the peace of mind offered by free insurance against theft and loss and a 24-hour replacement service |
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Whilst paying for goods at shops with a credit card remains one of the best options, withdrawing money not always so. For example HSBC Mastercard charge 1.5% or £1.50 whichever is the greater and load (charge you more) the exchange rate by 2.75%. However they claim to have access to more favourable exchange rates so these charges are mitigated. |
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From June 15th 2007, the European Union now imposes controls on travellers with 10,000 euro or more in cash (about £7,100) This new regulation is seeking to deal with the crackdown on money laundering. Travellers are required to make a declaration to customs authorities before they leave and on arrival. If you fail to declare your cash, you may under the new rules be searched (both you and your luggage). |
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- Travelex. 
- Onlinefx. 
- Moneycorp. 
- Foreign Payments. We found them very good, competitive and hepful -