Best Place to Exchange Money?

[quinda]

I've been watching exchange rates carefully these days - I know the Post Office has some decent commission free exchanges, and I usually use those when I travel, but today I saw that one of the local 'Money Shops' was offering a much better ratio on dollars.

Where do you usually exchange your money, or have you stopped bothering?

I deal with Americans online a lot and often get money into Paypal in dollars - I was considering setting up a foreign currency account and just keeping that money for my trip instead of messing with changing money all the time.

How do you deal with currency to maximise your spending money?

[spondishy]

I normally take a little hard currency and use my credit card for the rest of the holidays.

As far as getting the best exchange rates, Marks and Spencers do just about the best exchange on the high street. Personally though I order my currency via the Travelex website and pick it up at the airport. NEVER get your currency from Travelex without ordering it in advance. Their exchange rate is diabolical.

[quinda]

Thanks for the response spondishy - I'd never have thought of Marks and Spencers for currency exchange!

I don't think I could do the credit card thing - I'm not exactly rich, and I'm terrible at budgeting - if I used plastic I would end up spending my entire holiday budget in a couple of days

I tend to take cash, and split it up into X amount per day, then only take that amount out with me so I can't spend any more. I know its a risk to have a ton of cash on you at the start of the holiday, but its the only way I can control my spending *blush*.