My first trip to the Philippines

[Northerner]

get her to see the rates at the malls first before you change it here first,i have always got a far better rate at the malls there and never take any peso with me as my wife picks me.....then my money gets handed over to the boss(my wife) not keith and we go exchange it.

where are you thinking of exchanging it?

Cool idea... I will

I keep a tab on the moneysupermarket website to see who is offering the best deal, and yep.. Right now it is not looking too good.

But what if I turned up in Cebu with £1000 in sterling? Going into a local exchange place with that? From what I have read I might go away with a few light notes...

[JimOttley]

Cool idea... I will

I keep a tab on the moneysupermarket website to see who is offering the best deal, and yep.. Right now it is not looking too good.

But what if I turned up in Cebu with £1000 in sterling? Going into a local exchange place with that? From what I have read I might go away with a few light notes...

Never change it all at once, apart from anything else you might not spend it all.

These days the rates not great so change maybe 200 quid at a time, the mall vendors are often in a little wooden cubicle with a glass front and you might not feel comfortable but they are almost always honest.

I've only ever suffered an attempted scam once at a money changierthat did not have a name on the front, looked respectable but wasn't, we got the Police on them and got our money back there and then had a police escort to a good money changer

The scam was hand over X they take it into the back shop come back and say it was X-100 I blew my top as did Ana


Jim

[Dedworth]

Cool idea... I will

I keep a tab on the moneysupermarket website to see who is offering the best deal, and yep.. Right now it is not looking too good.

But what if I turned up in Cebu with £1000 in sterling? Going into a local exchange place with that? From what I have read I might go away with a few light notes...

Why would you want to walk around carrying that sort of wad ?. I know they are now starting to charge but I've always found it best to get £30 or £40 out of atm's as and when required with Nationwide FlexAccount card

[Northerner]

Why would you want to walk around carrying that sort of wad ?. I know they are now starting to charge but I've always found it best to get £30 or £40 out of atm's as and when required with Nationwide FlexAccount card

Was going to put it all in Rizza's account. Then it costs just the ATM fees to get it out... Trust me, I would be crazy to just walk about with that on me..

[JimOttley]

Was going to put it all in Rizza's account. Then it costs just the ATM fees to get it out... Trust me, I would be crazy to just walk about with that on me..

You could transfer it before you go, withdrawal fees are only about 10 peso a transaction in the Phils. It will still cost you a good bit more than it will changing it on the ground but you would at least feel a bit more relaxed.


Jim

[Northerner]

Ummm.. So would I get a better deal transfering it to Rizza from over here?

[JimOttley]

Ummm.. So would I get a better deal transfering it to Rizza from over here?

No that's what I was saying depends on what transfer methods you have available most are expensive.

I use Xoom but it's not cheap by the time you pay the conversion fee the charges and then the paypal fee :(

If you have access to remittance services of some banks it can be a lot cheaper something I really need to get set up given the way the currency is going :(

Jim

[aposhark]

Ummm.. So would I get a better deal transfering it to Rizza from over here?

IMO I would change £200 in the airport in Manila as that seemed a good rate when I was there some months ago.
In fact, the money changers in Manila city were worse than the airport.
Keep the rest on you and change when you want in the towns near to where your girlfriend will be.

Best of luck.

[JimOttley]

IMO I would change £200 in the airport in Manila as that seemed a good rate when I was there some months ago.
In fact, the money changers in Manila city were worse than the airport.
Keep the rest on you and change when you want in the towns near to where your girlfriend will be.

Best of luck.

Airport rates at NAIA are about 5 peso off the quoted rate for the day just now i.e. 70 peso to the pound will get you 65 peso to the pound. Most good family run money changers would give you 68 peso on the same day.

Money changers in Makati or in any entertainment district will be more likely to give you a tourist rate, anywhere off the beaten track will be pretty fair.

Northerner was I think asking if he should transfer all his cash direct from the UK which is better than the rate you will get changing cash in the UK but is not as good as changing cash in the Phils, obviously safer though.


Jim

[Dedworth]

Was going to put it all in Rizza's account. Then it costs just the ATM fees to get it out... Trust me, I would be crazy to just walk about with that on me..

Ok fine. If you've got a Nationwide card it looks like they are charging 1% which probably stacks up well compared with others

[JimOttley]

Why would you want to walk around carrying that sort of wad ?. I know they are now starting to charge but I've always found it best to get £30 or £40 out of atm's as and when required with Nationwide FlexAccount card

I've lost count of the number of times my UK Visa Debit card has set off a fraud alert in the UK even though I have told them in advance where I am and what I am doing, I am sick to death of the cost of the phone calls to get it all unblocked.

Some cards are better than others but none of them are great anymore :(


Jim