I'm travelling to Portugal? Where should I change my money? At the airport or while I'm in London?

Where would I get the best rates?

Also if I use my debit card abroad to pay for things in the supermarket ( I don't have credit cards) then would I be charged extra? Or does that depend on your bank. Mine is NatWest.

Same as last time you asked.

The airport will give the worst rates

Do it in London; there are plenty of good value bureau du change places around, or the Post Office generally does fairly good rates

Use the travel money calculator on the link.

If you click on "collect" rather than have the money sent to you, you will need to print off the form which gives you the exchange rate you will get for 24 hours. Sometimes it is one of the booths in, for example, Waterloo Station, sometimes one of the other bureau de change in London. If you change money at the airport, you might get less money (unless it is prearranged and a better rate from the money calculator)

If you use your debit card, you will be charged the exchange rate at the ATM (whatever that is on the ATM you are using). You will then be charged between £2 and £5 per withdrawal depending on how much you take out.
For use in shops, they will charge a Foreign Purchase Fee of 2.75% of the value of the transaction (minimum £1).

You need to tell Natwest 24 hours in advance of going abroad. You can go into a branch or use their app if you have it.

It's best to change it in advance as you'll face fewer charges.

Never change it ahead- exchange places in your country are going to charge you a lot more. You have to check with your bank about what the charge will be to use the ATM. And notify them in advance. I have one debit card where the bank doesn't need to be notified, and one where they want to know exactly what dates I'll be in which countries. It's ALWAYS cheaper to take the money out of an ATM than to use currency exchange places- they have to charge to pay for their facilities and the employees.

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