I'm planning a trip to Scotland and I want to know where would be the best place to exchange British Pounds (GBP). I think that the exchange rates at the airports are not good, so my options are the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region and Edinburgh. Where can I get a better rate - bank or exchange shop?
EDIT I have no credit card, only V PAY card (Postbank Germany) which I can't use in the UK. The ATM usage fee would be 1%
I have no credit card, only V PAY card which I can't use in the UK.
This is not true. You can use V PAY in UK.
You can use it in shops having their payments handled by some of popular banks:
[...] banks listed below are already able to offer V PAY to their merchants:
United Kingdon: Barclays, HSBC, HBoS, AIB
source: http://www.vpay.com/merchants.html
Besides that, you can use the card in these banks' ATMs.
As a side note, V PAY is designed to work in whole of SEPA, which is far broader than Eurozone.
SEPA consists of the 27 EU member states, the four members of the EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and Monaco
See also: Should I change most of my money in my home country or in the destination country?
Depending on your bank it might be the cheapest to use an ATM in the UK. Look up what they charge you for a) using ATMs that are not their own and b) purchases made in foreign currencies.
If you have a little time you may simply try walking into a bank and ask whether they can change your cash. British Pounds should be available in every bank without preordering them.
If you're lucky they won't charge you any fees. A few years ago this worked perfectly for me.
If I were going on holiday from the UK and needed to change sterling to euros one consideration would be Travelex UK, they don't charge commission, and will send me the money via mail to my home address (alternatively I can pick up at the airport if I desire).
Can you not use the German arm of the company ?
EDIT
My second choice option:
Alternatively I would purchase before travelling a Prepaid Travel Money MasterCard® from Thomson Holidays UK (part of the TUI group).
Just load up the card with the amount you want & there are no commission charges or purchase fees when you buy or reload your card*, the exchange rate is also fixed at the time of purchase, so you don’t need to worry about fluctuating rates and the uncertainty of credit/debit card charges on returning.
(*2% load fee applies to Sterling cards and subject to a minimum £5 application fee).
(Obviously similar pre-paid travel cards must exist in Germany & if my German was of a reasonable standard I could have given an example for you, but i'm sure if you go to http://www.tui.com/ you can find their own branded Pre Paid Travel Card)
