buy
foreign currency and travellers cheques : birmingham airport
You
can buy foreign currency and travellers cheques online and get
great rates and no commission, or you can buy it at the airport,
not get as good rates and pay commission. That's the basic choice.
[See
this birmingham airport
news article on how bad the rates and charges at airports
can be].
Buying Foreign
Currency Online
You can buy
your currency online via a number of foreign exchange companies.
Each time we check the rates, including commission and delivery
charges, we find that Onlinefx,
Travelex
and the
Post Office are the most competitive.
With Onlinefx,
if you buy it via a website called www.1stholidaystore.co.uk and
pay via a debit card, the currency is delivered free as well as
commission free. If you order by 2 p.m. your currency can be delivered
to your home or work by 5.30 p.m. the next day. (NB: If paying
with Switch, Delta and Solo cards, just type "free delivery"
in the Promotion / ID box at payment stage.)
With Travelex
you need to give 48 hours notice, but you can collect your currency
from the airport if they have a desk their (as they do at Birmingham
airport terminal 1, but not terminal 2). And with the
Post Office you can pick between delivery, or you can
pick your currency up at your local Post Office.
Buying Foreign
Currency at Birmingham Airport
If you want
to buy your currency at Birmingham airport, the good news is that
there are currency exchange bureaus on both levels of both terminals,
and they remain until the last flight has left the terminal.
At terminal
1 Travelex have desks on both levels before customs and in the
departure lounge. Standard opening hours are from 05:00 until
20:00, 7 days a week, but you can contact TravelEx on +44 (0)121
782 1717
At terminal
2 Currency Express have a desk in the arrivals area open 7 days
from 05:30 to last flight. They also have desks in the check in
area and the departure lounge open 7 days Sunday - Friday 05:30
- 22:00, and 05:30 to 20:00 Saturday. You can contact Currency
Express on +44 (0)121 782 4010
