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What currency?


Mark frae Crieff

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Huge thanks for the recommendation for Starling bank. That was an unbelievably good experience setting it up ! 2 and a half minutes and I have a full UK bank account with debit card in three days. That's including all the money laundering gumph done. If I went in to a high street bank I reckon it'd take me a week !

I always get stung by using my BofS card where I get a transaction fee, ATM fee / cash transaction fee if I use one and a crap exchange rate - this has probably saved me about 50 beers at Albanian prices so that'll be Friday's intake sorted !  

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9 minutes ago, WeeJohnny said:

Huge thanks for the recommendation for Starling bank. That was an unbelievably good experience setting it up ! 2 and a half minutes and I have a full UK bank account with debit card in three days. That's including all the money laundering gumph done. If I went in to a high street bank I reckon it'd take me a week !

I always get stung by using my BofS card where I get a transaction fee, ATM fee / cash transaction fee if I use one and a crap exchange rate - this has probably saved me about 50 beers at Albanian prices so that'll be Friday's intake sorted !  

Same experience for me, felt like a bit on arse sending the video though lol.

Had a nightmare with money over in Israel, forgot to let Santander know I was leaving the EU and they blocked the card and even when it was sorted out the bank machines were only letting me lift 400 shekels at a time (about 80 quid) which doesn't really get you far in Tel Aviv so good to know I won't have that hassle again!

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1 hour ago, Scotland Ever More said:

Same experience for me, felt like a bit on arse sending the video though lol.

Had a nightmare with money over in Israel, forgot to let Santander know I was leaving the EU and they blocked the card and even when it was sorted out the bank machines were only letting me lift 400 shekels at a time (about 80 quid) which doesn't really get you far in Tel Aviv so good to know I won't have that hassle again!

I travel that much the wee Indian lassie in my local branch now jokes with me that I’ve to let her know when I’m at home now instead of on the road. 😄

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8 hours ago, Scotland Ever More said:

Can these Starling cards just be used anywhere that takes a credit card then?

Its just a normal debit card which uses the Mastercard base rate for exchange rates. I liked it in Mexico when was was paying in Mexican Pesos and swiping my card id instantly get an update on the app to say how much i had spent in £.

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Also have to say the Starling Customer Service is excellent and they have a great 24 hour live chat service which is really good. You dont need to tell them you are abroad so no risk of card being blocked. Because it sends a message to your phone i even managed to catch a fraudulant transaction which i might have missed from my ordinary bank account. 7 of us in our group and we all agreed it was fantastic in Mexico and we all use it to travel now.

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On 11/2/2018 at 3:16 PM, Que Sera Sera said:

My surmusing of this thread tells me to bring either: a currency card, Euros or English notes. Can anybody tell me if I should think any differently in Kosovo and Montenegro?

Montenegro use the Euro as their main currency so you’ll be fine

From researching for Kosovo as a possible destination a couple of years back they also use the Euro if memory serves me right

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Apparently, Euros are widely accepted in Albania, but usually at a rate that is favourable to the seller. It appears that the local currency (Lek) will get you the best prices, but the advice is to only exchange around £10-20 a time, due to the difficulty in converting small denominations back.

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6 minutes ago, McVinceSCT said:

Do you think it makes a difference if you change € to lek or £ to lek?

For example, if you want 10 000 lek, is it better to change € or £, or isit the same?

In terms of exchange rate, it's six or half a dozen (Pound very slightly better at the moment - 12p better in Pounds at current rates from 10,000 Lek; not taking into account any fees).

You'll probably be more likely to be able to use Euro cash in shops/pubs than Sterling, but it may be much easier/cheaper to obtain Imperialist banknotes than Euros in the first place.

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16 hours ago, killiefaetheferry said:

Revolut is tremendous. Used it since it launched a few years ago. No issues, and full interbank exchange rates.

I got 1 and used it in Israel and was great but it doesn't appear to list Albanian currency as an option.

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Dozens of exchanges in central Tirana. They will change pounds and Euro to Lek. Very low transaction charge at most and it doesn't matter which currency you have with you. Certainly no need to change pounds to Euro in the UK, to then change into lek at an exchange in Albania. I regularly use ones around Wilson in central Tirana and never been ripped off. I also have one that takes scottish notes at the board rate so do not worry.

There is a 24 hour exchange at the carousels in arrivals at Tirana airport. You can either change 20 quid their or pay the taxi with Euro; normally I get a taxi to central Tirana for 1500lek or less, then change what you need at a street exchange into LEK. If you have something you want to change back then just go to most exchanges and they will convert back to sterling at the board rate

You can use euro in a lot of places but will lose a little in each transaction since prices are generally in LEK.

Have a great trip and gezuar!

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11 hours ago, moomkin said:

Dozens of exchanges in central Tirana. They will change pounds and Euro to Lek. Very low transaction charge at most and it doesn't matter which currency you have with you. Certainly no need to change pounds to Euro in the UK, to then change into lek at an exchange in Albania. I regularly use ones around Wilson in central Tirana and never been ripped off. I also have one that takes scottish notes at the board rate so do not worry.

There is a 24 hour exchange at the carousels in arrivals at Tirana airport. You can either change 20 quid their or pay the taxi with Euro; normally I get a taxi to central Tirana for 1500lek or less, then change what you need at a street exchange into LEK. If you have something you want to change back then just go to most exchanges and they will convert back to sterling at the board rate

You can use euro in a lot of places but will lose a little in each transaction since prices are generally in LEK.

Have a great trip and gezuar!

Spot on mate, cheers!

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