Whether buying currency online actually saves time or money is questionable. Most of the major banks, and American Express, don't even offer the service. Some of those that do are reviewed below. I wanted to buy £300 in Australian dollars for a trip beginning in two days' time.
No commission, £5 handling fee
Currencies: 26
Highly efficient site. Notes can only be sent by special delivery to your home, however.
No commission, £5 handling fee
Currencies: 69
Tesco lets you stipulate whether notes should be in high or low denominations and offers to buy them back at Going Places and Travelworld shops. Easy to follow.
Currencies: 31
Delivery takes two working days rather than one at Simply FX, and the minimum order is £300. However, there's no commission and no handling fee, making this the cheapest deal of all.
£1 commission, no handling fee
Currencies: 65
BAA encourages you to reserve notes and collect them from a pick-up point at one of its airports. (Not all British airports belong to BAA, by the way). This means you don't have to type in a credit card number.
Handling fee from £4
Currencies: 61
A protracted service. Chequepoint asks customers to fill in an online form and wait for a reply. They then complete the form, print it out, sign it and fax or deliver it to their bank. Once Chequepoint's bank clears the transaction, the company posts or couriers the currency. Does anyone really trouble with this?
The EU's official euro website is aimed at the euro zone, and Lloyds TSB's guide, which can be found here, is more useful for British travellers.
