Always save ours for next year's holiday

Many airports have collecting boxes/bins etc for foreign change that can be 'recycled' to the benefit of a local charity. So be generous once you've gone through immigration and customs, and let someone else benefit from your foreign holiday!

i always keep my coins for next year's holiday !! ( always have to phone parents and in laws when we have arrived ) so comes in very handy !!

bhic wrote:

And do you tend to change back any forign notes?

simply NO as i save my €'s (euros) for my next holiday !! i have about £80.00 already for my holiday this year!

whats the point changing them back to then change back again later this year or next year

whats the point changing them back to then change back again later this year or next year

I guess none, but I wondered if maybe some people had a way of actually making a few quid with left over currency. I used to save my foreign notes but I ended up with some Spanish pesatas.....which are now useless, and I have about £40 worth of pesatas. I forgot all about them and found them a few days back. I've also found some US $'s.....no idea how much they are worth.....but I have about $96. I've also got some Greek Drachmas.....again they are now useless and I've got several drachma notes. And for some strange reason I have one French Franc note...its a 20 franc note. But again, its useless. So now I simply change it all back to UK GBP's. I've never been to France to the best of my knowledge so no idea where that came from

BHIC

You must have been to France. Wasn't that you I saw swimming in those nice speedos

We always keep our euros for our next trip, or if hubby goes skiiing with kids before our next sunny holiday they will take it but more often than not eldest son takes it when he goes on holiday with his mates.

It never gets wasted.

Jackie

hi bhic

if i was going to a non euro country then yes i would probably change my currency back into pounds!
there is no way i would be stuck with foreign currency that is no good to me!
the reason i don't change my euros back is firstly i have family in Spain so i frequently visit them and secondly so far all our holidays have been to Spanish islands where the euro is used!

like you i wonder now if people do actually make money by changing it back! i was always led to believe that the exchange rate is less and that you actually loose money !

lou x

depends how much we bring back ( not usually alot!!!). We give some coinage change to the charity thing on the plane and usually keep the 1 euro coins for laddo to feed into the pool table on his next visit to whichever canary island we go to next. if it is a substantial amount ( i don't know how we managed it but we brought back over 300 euro's) so we change it back.

Last holiday we took all those spare notes we had (Euros, Singapore Dollars, Malaysian Ringitt - had been hanging about for years) and got them changed at Bangkok airport for Thai Baht. Not vast amounts in themselves but they bought us four or five evening meals and the Thai banks did not take much in commission not like your UK ones.

We have in the past made up montages from our holiday - photos, tickets to various attractions and local transport, local currency etc and hung them on the wall...brings back happy memories and makes a talking point for guests.

I dont change my currency back as I dont seem to ever have any left. any coins I have I leave for the maids.

Marion

Some very interesting replies coming in now. . I also tend to leave tips for the room maids, but I don't insult them with the 'shrapnel' ....only if it is a 1Euro Coin or more. Sometimes I hold onto some of my coins because they are handy for tipping the Excursion Coach Drivers. I never seem to mislay foreign coins, but foreign banknotes always seem to find a home of their home only to be discovered when they are no longer of any value . I'm sure there is a way of making a few quid by converting foreign notes back into GBP's, only I've just not found it as yet.

Somone mentioned giving up your foreign coins on the return flights....now I used to do this with Britannia Airlines as they donated these coins to 'Born Free', (which I am a great admirer of and a contributor to) but now that they have changed to ThomsonFly, they don't seem to do that anymore, at least not on the ThomsonFly flights I have taken recentley.

Still, I suspose one day, England and the remainder of the UK will go Euro (I personally hope not) and that will put an end to what to do with left over Euros. As a matter of interest, calling about Euros, can you spend Irish Euros in Spain Can Spanish Euros be spent in Greece Can Greek Euros be spent in France Because all these countries have there own individual euro designs do they not

( Have I just gone on my own topic )

BHIC .... all Euro currency is usable in all Euro zone countries.

(On a separate note, I don't how many times we are going to have to ask you this, but can you please cut down on this excessive use of emoticons. I'm sure you must have a '?' on your keyboard which you could use. But I suppose this is marginally better than the 34 emoticons you placed in one single post yesterday).

David

BHIC .... all Euro currency is usable in all Euro zone countries

So, forgive me for being a bit dumb, but does that mean then that in theory whilst on my hols in Benidorm, it is quite possible I could be given, say for example, a euro note back in my change that originated in say Greece? And if I was, I can still spend that 'greek' note elsewhere in Benidorm without being challenged? And I assume then that the greek euro note has the same value as the spanish euro note if I exchange it back to GBP's here in the UK?

Yes, that's the whole point of the euro. In Portugal it's quite usual to pick up Irish,French,Spanish and German currency.

Thank you so much. Sorry for appearing a bit on the dim side about the Euro....but at least now I know if I come home from Benidorm with my folks with any Spanish euro notes, I now know that I don't really need to change them back to GBP's when I take myself alone to one of the Greek Islands. I have been doing this up until now, and this was one of the reasons why I started this thread.

Euro notes are common to all Euro zone countries. Euro coins have a common Euro zone side and a reverse national side and are fully usuable in all Euro zone countries, irrespective of which national identity is shown.

David

Thank you very much. Boy, do I feel foolish. I've been changing up Spanish euro notes back to GBP's and then less than a few weeks later I change up my GBP's into Greek euro notes......heaven only knows how much money I may have lost with all these unnecessary conversions. I must admit I never knew this and I have learnt something valuable this evening.

Thank You.

I'm so sorry, - I quite forgot to answer the original question in my last post.
We keep all the small change that we accumulate over the course of our holiday and, when we go to buy our Portuguese alcohol prior to our return home, we put all the small change in a collection box at the liquor store in aid of a local animal protection league.

we put all the small change in a collection box at the liquor store in aid of a local animal protection league.

That is to be commended, well done. I wonder if there is a similar collection box at Alicante Airport when you could deposit your old coins in aid of the Animal Sanctuary? I must say I have never seen one, but then I don't tend to look.

No need to apologise Sagres, it is my fault for sort of going a wee bit off topic on my own post.

I've been changing up Spanish euro notes back to GBP's and then less than a few weeks later I change up my GBP's into Greek euro notes...

You're joking, B.H.I.C......... please tell me you're joking !!