Is it best to take pounds to the phils and exchange them there

Thank you so informative and I didn't know about not leaving with more than 10,000 pesos so that a good to know.

Well I plan to give whatever I have left to my fiancé anyway.

I had a couple of thousand left on the first occasion and gave it to Melody, but had to phone her to give it back to me for the airport departure taxes.

What about asking your fiancee to open a bank account with an ATM card and do a bank transfer just before you leave? You can collect the card from her on arrival and withdraw what you need on a day-to-day basis, then simply leave her with the card again when you leave.

That's a really really great idear thank you.

Sounds familiar. Very nearly didnt have enough for payment at the airport on my wedding visit.

That makes sense.

So I can still take 1000 British in cash.

Thanks for that as I don't really like using my card so I plan to take 1000 in cash to change as and when I need it and whatever already in peso to pay for my hotel and things to do me until I can get to a money changer and my credit card for emergencys but will Deffo take a wage slip or do and bank receipts just incase.

don't be too afraid to change a half decent wedge on arrival.

rates at Manila's airports vary. Although at each of the three (out of the 4) terminals where they have incoming international flights, they are not too bad at any of them. The rates can be better at the airport than they are in many of the outlets in town.

Terminal 1 has the best rates. The rates there are nearly as good as you will find anywhere in Manila, except at the high-volume places around Ermita where there is the best rates you will find anywhere in the country.

Next is Terminal 3, they have pretty good rates too although not as good as Terminal 1..

I have reason to believe that you are flying in with PAL, which means you will be arriving at Terminal 2, where they have the worst rates of the three terminals. However the rates there are still not all that bad. Even with the hotels paid for, I'd change about £200 straight off. You don't want to have your hand forced by looking around for a moneychanger in town only very shortly after arrival. Give yourself a time 'cushion'.

I haven't bothered to bring in cash in recent years. In the old days, I did, and I had the worry of having all that cash on me. But, in the last few years, I have always been able to find an ATM that takes Visa (I use Barclays) or one the one occasion when there wasn't one (Canlaon City, Negros, two years ago) I could find wifi in the excellent little hotel we were staying in (the F&C Guest House) and send my then girlfriend (now my wife) some cash to a branch of Cebuana L'Huillier by World Remit.

Yes you lose a bit on card fees and exchange rates, but the peace of mind is worth a lot.

He's only going for 12 days. With the hotels paid for he doesn't need to use ATM's at all. If I was him I'd ust use cash, 1000 pounds is WAY too much with the hotels already paid for. That's 5000 pesos a day. It should be more like 3000 and even that's a bit profligate.

Like most people, I find that whatever I bring, or draw at ATMs, I leave with just enough for the cab to the airport and the terminal fee (now included in the ticket).

Leaving the country with more than 10,000 pesos unspent is never a problem...

5,000 pesos a day is a lot though when the biggest slice of the daily spend, accommodation, is already paid.

mind you it does sound a bit like he's being roped in to entertain the entire tribe, in which case 5,000 will only be barely enough to cover the nightly karaoke bill.

terminal fee is only now included in the ticket prices in dpeartures from Manila's airports. You still have to pay it at all the other Philippines international airports like Clark and Kalibo and and in Cebu where it's 750. This makes a difference when people want to buy a cheap 'throw away' ticket to satisfy the onward ticket requirement but which they don't intend to use. With the terminal fee now being included in tickets out of Manila, it might now well be cheaper to get a 'throw away' from some airport other than Manila.

I have never got away with a visit to K's parents' home in Mindanao without being roped into paying for a family party or a family trip to the beach, costing 10,000 pesos either way - and this is a family who don't have their hands out, otherwise.

Not everyone is a cheapskate like you, Whippy!

We lost a key to one of ours and the battery had run out inside.. After 5 mins on Youtube I learned how to open the thing with nothing more than bare hands and minimal force..

Yikes! Thanks, Boots.

I suppose that there would be no way that the guest could prove the safe had been opened, in that case?

I've only ever left my passport and tickets in one but I won't be doing that any more!