uk pound v peso

[Paul279 18]

I send money regularily via Orbitremit, uk bank a/c to phils a/c, right now their rate is 65.50.

[misty 72]

What is 'Rustans' ? Money changer inside the supermarket or owned by the Supermarket?

 

No Rustan's in Iloilo so I am talking about the Supermarkets and Dept stores here including SM, Gaisano and Robinsons.

 

Yes, I agree Cash is king and in general money changers are usually the one's to give the best exchange rates as they all seem to be a bit competitive, well in my area at least

 

SM gives a crappy exchange rate. You should either try out Q Exchange, 3rd floor at The Atrium Mall. There's also one by Delgado Street, just across Amigo Mall. I forgot the exact name of the money changer there, I think the name starts with Cash .. you won't miss it, it's opposite Bench store in Amigo. They give a good rate there.

[spooks 1,729]

Aaahhh. The good old days. I remember oh, very late 2004, very early 2005, the pound was well over 100, like 105? 108? Something like that. The highest, I believe, it had ever been.

 

Around the same time, the USD was at its highest ever as well, at something over 56. We won't see that again for a very long time, if ever, during our lives.

yes it was 110 and we used that rate to buy our house here and do work on it. Selling and going back to pounds is probably a good time

[udonthani 2,027]

never ever buy any Asian currency in the UK before you come out for a holiday like you would buy say US dollars or Euros prior to going on holiday there. That goes for all of them, baht, ringgit everything. The rates are appalling in the UK. All of the arrival airports in south east Asian capital cities will give much better rates than you will find even in the best place to buy foreign currency on the street in in the UK - at the multitude of bureaux de changes around Victoria station in London, where there is most competition therefore better prices. You are likely to get somewhere around 10% more US dollars for your pounds around there than you will in even a large provincial city like Manchester or Edinburgh. Rates at provincial airport moneychangers as opposed to Manila, and in particular Cebu is a different story. The rates there are so bad, I wouldn't be surprised if they were about the same as UK rates. Once I tried to change some Malaysian ringgit at Mactan airport, they said they'd give me 11 something pesos for each one. Of course I told them to stuff it. Even at the moneychangers at Foodah in Consolacion, were offering 14, the very same day. Avoid Mactan airport moneychangers at all costs.

[USMC-Retired 10,995]

Something I did not see. Make sure you have nice new crisp notes. No rips tears ink stains or excessively worn. You will have issues if you do not follow that exchanging them. Exchange some money as suggested prior to leaving. Rates will be better here for the most part.

[udonthani 2,027]

notes in good condition, do matter but only when it's US dollars. I've had a few non-mint but not like really bad, $100 bills refused before, though each time it wasn't difficult to find some other moneychanger that would take them.

 

UK pounds, they seem to take anything, I've given them really old messed up fivers and they took them without hesitation, though usually its a good idea to arrive with larger 20s or even 50s.

[sheffieldmel 22]

Mel, your making a mountain out of a mole hill, you can only get 10k pesos at the Post office anyway, it's the maximum pesos you are allowed to bring into the Philippines, without the hassle of a special declaration.

(Pesos have to be ordered from the PO, they don't hold it as stock like the major currencies. Usually you have to show your passport when ordering).

 

Foreign currency you can bring in as much as you like.

did not know about the limit at po just checked there and assumed they would be same as travel agents etc, are you 100% about bringing as much as you want in foreign currency?. The reason i ask is earlier this year i went on a weekend trip to Belgium and the coach driver said they may ask you how much money you have on you going out, as it happens they did not, he said it was due to tobacco being much cheaper in Belgium. but my point is why would they ask if they cant do anything about it

[Alan S 4,607]

If UK customs find you have more than £3,000, they confiscate it until you can prove it is legitimate. (i.e., you have paid tax on it!)

 

I suspect they may also do so with lesser amounts if they are suspicious. For example, if you were on a trip to France with only 4 hours ashore, it would be hard to justify a massive amount of cash.

[sperry 557]

goo

If UK customs find you have more than £3,000, they confiscate it until you can prove it is legitimate. (i.e., you have paid tax on it!)

 

I suspect they may also do so with lesser amounts if they are suspicious. For example, if you were on a trip to France with only 4 hours ashore, it would be hard to justify a massive amount of cash.

 

good news. very little reason for anyone in western europe (other than germans) to walk around with lots of cash.

 

though how you prove u pad tax on one £3000 compared to naother £3000 is an interesting question.

[Skywalker 19,177]

If UK customs find you have more than £3,000, they confiscate it until you can prove it is legitimate. (i.e., you have paid tax on it!)

 

I have no idea where you got that gem from Alan? I regularly bring £10k into RP from London, and I've never had a problem. I declare the cash to customs at Manila airport, and show them a bank statement to prove the withdrawal (something to do with money laundering laws), and they issue me a certificate (free - so far).

[whiskers 0]

I second the previous poster who suggested changing your money at Rustans supermarket in the basement of the Ayala Mall, if you happen to be in Cebu-this booth offers a good exchange rate, but I also like the fact that the booth is not on some dingy sidestreet but very much in public,surrounded by shoppers and guards.Not that I would trust the guards to help you out, but I reckon they and all the other bystanders would act as a deterrent and you would be unlikely to get robbed/mugged in the mall.

[Alan S 4,607]

I have no idea where you got that gem from Alan? I regularly bring £10k into RP from London, and I've never had a problem. I declare the cash to customs at Manila airport, and show them a bank statement to prove the withdrawal (something to do with money laundering laws), and they issue me a certificate (free - so far).

 

In that case, I doubt that you have been stopped by US customs, so it doesnt apply..

[hookedtothenet 311]

Just got some money into my bank account (PNB) from the UK. Got the exchange rate of 65.305. It entered my bank today and there were no bank charges, they just made there money through the exchange rate.

As stated before, cash is king but I am happy with that exchange rate considering I am not planning a trip to the UK any time soon to acquire the cash so had to do it this way.

[Davaoeno 37,645]

Declaring cash when entering or leaving the UK

If you are arriving in the UK from a country outside the European Union (EU), or you're leaving the UK to travel directly to a country outside the EU, you must declare any cash of 10,000 euros or more (or its equivalent in other currencies) to customs officers.

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When you need to declare cash

You only need to declare cash if you are carrying 10,000 euros or more (or the equivalent value in other currencies) and you are:

• entering the UK from a country outside the EU
  
• leaving the UK to travel directly to a country outside the EU
  

If you are entering or leaving the EU through an EU country other than the UK, the declaration is made in that country.

Definition of EU

When declaring cash the EU is:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Canary Islands), Sweden and the United Kingdom (not including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).

<a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/customs-channels.htm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(119, 68, 119);">Going through customs

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Your rights if your cash is seized

Customs officers will only seize declared cash if they have reasonable grounds to suspect it is the proceeds of, or is intended for use in, illegal activities.

Seized cash cannot be kept for more than 48 hours (not including public holidays and weekends) without a court order.

A court may order seized cash to be:

• held while investigations are carried out
  
• confiscated if the investigation shows it is associated with criminal activity
  

[samatm 3,008]

Aaahhh. The good old days. I remember oh, very late 2004, very early 2005, the pound was well over 100, like 105? 108? Something like that. The highest, I believe, it had ever been.

 

Around the same time, the USD was at its highest ever as well, at something over 56. We won't see that again for a very long time, if ever, during our lives.

 

I remember those days... we built a small house in leyte for about 1/2 of what it would cost today..what with appreciation of the Peso and inflation at 8 - 10 %. anyway who knows currency rates are fickle. One errant Chinese torpedo, or military coup attempt would send the Peso seeking cover under the Dollar again.