Cheap FX & Money Transfer?

[Travellar]

Experts,

I will shortly be relocating to Australia and plan to convert about €25k to Aussie dollars.

1. Is there a better way to do this than to shop around the local banks?
2. After conversion what is the cheapest way to transfer the money to an Aussie bank account or take it to Australia?

Thanks

 

[DirtyH2O]

If you have accounts at both ends then using an FX exchange mechanism like xe.com will save you a lot of money.

 

[Foxtrot]

I've just made my 2nd trade with xe.com, and the overall experience was excellent. The exchange rates were better than what I was quoted from BOI and Ulster Bank (although the very unhappy woman working the foriegn currency desk at BOI keeps claiming they could've done better ), and the customer service was very friendly and efficient. It's a bit of a pain setting it up (you have to fax in ID for money laundering laws, etc) but if you're exchanging sums of money that are signifigant to you it's well worth it.