Stansted Airport Currency Exchange: Should you exchange money at the airport?

Stansted Airport is a large regional airport about 40 miles northeast of London. It may be overshadowed by Heathrow, but Stansted is still the fourth busiest airport in the UK, serving 20 million passengers a year. While Heathrow handles many international flights, Stansted is a regional airport that serves flights to destinations within the UK and nearby European destinations.¹ Whether you’re flying into the London area from Dublin, or leaving on an impulse trip to southern Spain, you may want to exchange some of your spending money at a currency exchange kiosk. It’s super convenient, the service is right there by your departure gate, so you don’t need to make a separate trip.

This article walks you through currency exchange strategies and informs you of the currency exchange options online and at Stansted. As well as suggesting some alternatives that can save you money, like Wise for instance.

How to convert currency at Stansted airport?

London’s Stansted airport contains several currency exchange kiosks, and there are also some highly rated currency vendors on the route to Stansted from metropolitan London. It’s a good idea to call the business and inquire about the exchange rates and fees of each before going one, or see if they have a website that lists the exchange rate.

This table lists some of the currency exchange kiosks in and around Stansted.

Exchanging your currency may not be the part of travelling that you most look forward to - but if you follow this article’s advice, and seek out the fairest currency exchange options, you’ll have more money in your pocket to spend on your trip away. Researching now, means saving money later.

Can you order your currency online?

Yes, you can. Stansted airport has a partnership with Moneycorp⁵, which means you can order currency online through the Moneycorp website and pick it up at the airport before you board your plane.⁶

Fourex don’t offer the option to order your currency online, but allow you to exchange your money on-the-spot at their kiosks located at Stansted Airport Train Station.³ Eurochange do offer the opportunity to pre-order your money online with their click and collect service - but there’s no kiosk located at Stansted airport.⁷

Need holiday money, or looking to exchange currency for your next trip? Wise may be able to save you money

Planning your next trip, and wondering how you are going to be able to spend in the local currency of the place that you are visiting - but also get the most value for your money? Wise might be able to help with this.

Rather than getting your travel money when you’re in the airport, why not check out Wise’s borderless multi-currency account and Wise travel money card. Compare the best travel money exchange rates and give it a try.

You can open a borderless account online, and get a linked debit card to make spending overseas easy. You can then spend in the local currency almost anywhere in the world.

Banks and currency conversion providers often give you a bad exchange rate to make extra profits. Wise is different. Its smart new technology skips hefty international transfer fees by connecting local bank accounts all around the world. Oh, and Wise gives you the most fair exchange rate out there, the mid-market exchange rate.

It couldn’t be simpler - and because you’ll avoid many of the costs of regular airport currency exchange services, you may find that you have more to spend on yourself while you’re travelling.

Now, back to what you came here to read.

What are the fees to convert your money at the airport?

Although they may advertise a no fee service, you may be losing out as many service providers don’t offer you the best exchange rate. This means that you may not get the best value for your money, and have less to spend in your destination.

Exchanging your money at the airport may sound convenient - but are you really getting the best exchange rate?

Are you sure you’re getting the best rate when you exchange at an airport? The truth is that you often aren’t, as currency exchange vendors set their own exchange rates. Airport travelers are often in a hurry, pressed for time, and have a limited set of options for currency exchange services. That gives businesses an incentive to add a likely mark-up to the rate in their favor, because they know many travelers will use their service anyway.

Currency exchange vendors make their profits by adding a mark-up on the rate in their favor. This means that although they may advertise a no fee service, they are able to make their money through this mark-up and you receive less value for your money.

Currency exchange rates are always changing as currency markets are open 24 hours, and currency pairs, like Euro/US Dollar, are in constant flux. If you look up a currency pair on Google, or using Wise’s currency calculator, you can see the real exchange rate. This is called the mid-market rate, and is considered the fairest rate because it’s closest to the pure market rate. Exchanging money at the mid-market rate means you’ll end up with more money to spend in your destination country.

The good news is that exchanging your currency at an airport kiosk is not your only option, and may not be the best one. Do yourself a favor and look into Wise, an online currency exchange solution.

When we travel, we often just want to get to the airport quickly and without hassle - board, and then get straight to our destination to enjoy ourselves. But it pays to take time to plan and prepare for currency exchange. Keep Wise in mind for this part of your journey. They’re foreign currency experts and have designed incredibly useful products to make getting foreign currency easy, convenient and great value for money. They can save you a number of headaches and let you focus on the fun of travel.

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Sources checked on 06-May 2019.