Is now a good time to buy the euro?

Folev the red

Truth is that I don't personally understand all this Euro/Greek debt/Bailout stuff.

I'm going to Greece in July.
I want to take advantage of the current exchange rate, but I understand that Greece could leave the Euro and return to the drachma after their elections in June?

What I wanted to know is that could any change in June devalue the euros I hold, or would there simply not be enough time after the elections to affect me at all?

PL54

You need to speak to our new shirt sponsors

razil

I wouldn't buy Euros at the moment - you may find you can take your pounds with you and get whatever currency they happen to be using by then when you get there

Macronate

hope this helps

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2012/05/should-you-buy-euros-now

MrOneLung

There is no way they could get the Drachma up and running, and come out of the Euro by the time of your hols. The euros could still be used in other countries anyway.

Folev the red

Cheers for the help and quick responses.
This is always a good place just to ask a question as people on here seem to know so much.

razil

There is no way they could get the Drachma up and running, and come out of the Euro by the time of your hols. The euros could still be used in other countries anyway.

not a lot of precedent about for this situation but I do take your point

moutuakilla

I think if they did revert to the drachma it would take at least a few months to change over, and even then i believe they would still be accepting euros. They had years to prepare for the euro, and all that comes with changing, such as repricing things, down to simple signage on shops - bang goes your 1euro shops. And surely they do not have enough drachma in reserve to be able to implicate such a change over so hastily. Personally i think that it'll keep going up for a while, but what do i know i work with animals!

razil

I would have thought there would be a period where someone would need to underwrite the value of the new currency against the euro - anyone?

Saga Lout

If they're going to re-introduce the drachma, to ease re-pricing surely they can just say each "new drachma" is worth 1 euro?

Chances are anyone going over there with euros will be able to buy stuff with them for a while yet. In fact the shopkeepers would probably rather have euros or dollars or even pounds than drachmas!

Gravesend_Addick

I personally pay for everything on credit/debit card when abroad. Always gives you the best exchange rate

Valiantphil

It's a good time to buy Euros - but not if you intend going to Greece.

Most importantly, I would like to point out to everybody that Euro notes where the number starts with an "X" were printed in Greece.

I'm leaving you guys to put 2+2 together, but FYI I get rid of any X numbered notes as soon as I can.

MrOneLung

It makes absolutely no difference which country printed the note.

Valiantphil

It makes absolutely no difference which country printed the note.

From the telegraph today........

Q: What would happen to the currency?
A: Greek euros would be converted into a new currency, probably the drachma. Euro notes would be stamped while drachmas were being printed. After setting an initial conversion rate for the new drachma, at say 1:1 to the euro, the exchange rate would be dictated by currency markets. The drachma would immediately fall sharply.

Sparrows Lane Lion

It takes 4 months* prep to change the currency over, with regards to printing the money, informing those that need to know, etc etc.

Most important thing in this situation is not letting the general population know as there'll be a run of the banks, inflation goes crazy etc*



(*all read in The Times on Monday)

Valiantphil

Yes, the Telegraph article also says that the final announcement will be on a Friday afternoon !

stilladdicted

I've been adding to my Euro collection bit by bit over the past week or so and today got 1.236 with FairFx. If it goes up, I will add a generous more, if it goes down then I'll probably just add enough to cover the holiday.

stilladdicted

oo er, it's gone funny

stilladdicted

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stilladdicted

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cafcfan

I personally pay for everything on credit/debit card when abroad. Always gives you the best exchange rate

Well, maybe but there's probably a hefty "handling/cash advance" fee added.
I keep a Euro and US$ account at my bank and top them up in dribs and drabs as exchange rates fluctuate. The rates I get quoted are always pretty close to wholesale as well. Then when I'm in the Euro zone I just switch my debit card to my euro account and don't get hit with handling fees on any transactions.

MrOneLung

It makes absolutely no difference which country printed the note.

From the telegraph today........

Q: What would happen to the currency?
A: Greek euros would be converted into a new currency, probably the drachma. Euro notes would be stamped while drachmas were being printed. After setting an initial conversion rate for the new drachma, at say 1:1 to the euro, the exchange rate would be dictated by currency markets. The drachma would immediately fall sharply.

I think that refers to any Euros in Greece rather than Greek printed Euros as they could be in circulation anywhere.

BIG_ROB

We're getting around 1.20 Euros to the £ at the moment. Before it was around 1.15 Euros, so I would say now is as good time as any...

cafc-4-life

Where's the best rates at? I'm going Zante(Greece) in August.

BlackForestReds

Truth is that I don't personally understand all this Euro/Greek debt/Bailout stuff.

They fudged the criteria by which they were allowed to join the Euro (as did Italy which simply and unilaterally re-valued its gold reserves to meet the convergence criteria). Then they borrowed too much on the bond markets because in the Euro they found that they could borrow at the same interest payments as say Germany. While they knew that this was unrealistic they thought that they had better tuck in before the ECB prevented it or the bond markets caught on. The Irish are in trouble for similar reasons - although in their case they cut taxation in the hope of attracting foreign investment, but they too plugged the gap in their finances with cheap money from selling bonds.

Regarding your holiday cash - I'd say hedge your bets as you seem to have done and buy some Euros now while rates are good. It's anyone's guess what will happen next, but it might be worth taking some Sterling with you - I've a feeling that buying stuff in Sterling in Greece might get you a very good deal as individual Greeks might/will want to do business and get some hard currency in their pockets.

Enjoy your holiday...

legaladdick

I would say that taking euros is a better option than sterling if only that the euro can be used across most of Europe whereas sterling is only a currency in Britain. You can get 124 euro for £1 at Waterloo. In general terms you should avoid cards as you will either get a less attractive rate and/or pay admin charges.

Here is a link to a useful website for travel money.
http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/holiday-money/ If you can collect from London (or get a friend to do so!!!) you can get very good rates.

DiscoCAFC

I think the Euro is close to collapsing once Greece goes back to their own currency. I am cruising along the Mediterranean in June so I'm asking the same question.

Think I will leave until the last minute unless our exchange rate weakens!

stilladdicted

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I would say that taking euros is a better option than sterling if only that the euro can be used across most of Europe whereas sterling is only a currency in Britain. You can get 124 euro for £1 at Waterloo. In general terms you should avoid cards as you will either get a less attractive rate and/or pay admin charges.

Here is a link to a useful website for travel money.
http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/holiday-money/ If you can collect from London (or get a friend to do so!!!) you can get very good rates.

It was this site that recommended the pre-paid FairFX Eurocard which I ordered and have been busily topping up plus ordering plain Euros. Todays rate was 1.236 which is pretty good. The pre-paid card costs 1.5 Euros per transaction if used in Euroland, and can be used like any Mastercard icluding getting cash out of holes in the wall. You top up the money on the card on-line, so if your card gets nicked, then you don't have all the hassle of cancelling cards. Don't know if anyone has used this card, but it seems like a good idea for careless/forgetful/gin sodden muppets such as myself.

_MrDick

I'd be looking to get drachma's if I were you.

Valiantphil

It makes absolutely no difference which country printed the note.

From the telegraph today........

Q: What would happen to the currency?
A: Greek euros would be converted into a new currency, probably the drachma. Euro notes would be stamped while drachmas were being printed. After setting an initial conversion rate for the new drachma, at say 1:1 to the euro, the exchange rate would be dictated by currency markets. The drachma would immediately fall sharply.

I think that refers to any Euros in Greece rather than Greek printed Euros as they could be in circulation anywhere.

"Euros in Greece" is a meaningless phrase- you could just walk across the border with them and they are not in Greece anymore !

They mean the X numbers - not worth risking it, just spend those ones first.

MrOneLung

I bet a not insignificant amount of euros in Greece are from another country. Are you saying there will be a two tier system whereby if they had euros from their holiday in France or if the 10,000 euros they have that happened to be printed in Germany they can buy more goods in the shops than with their euros? I work for large corporate and private foreign exchange company that also has a retail and am sure the branch networks would have stopped accepting or stocking 'Greek' euros. As for the rate, well as staff< I get the London sell rate when buying so todays rate for me would have been 1.359