Take pounds with you and change a hundred quid or so at the airport, when you get to your final destination ask your missus which is the best money changer to go to for the best deal and change the rest. Definitely inform the bank that you are going to the Philippines so that your cards are not declined when using them there. I can inform my bank online that I am going overseas, I expect you can do the same.
Check the current exchange rate before you fly, write it on a piece of paper and put it in your wallet. Throw a box of your favourite teabags into your case as well if you are a tea drinker.
If you are going to transit Dubai, it would be well worth a stopover. Lots to do and see here. You will recieve visa on arrival if you hold UK or European passport. Change money before you leave UK, you will get a better exchange rate. That applies to all your overseas travels. Agree its best to advise your bank if you're going to be using debit/credit cards out of country. Re clothing, I wear shorts most of the time in Fils, as I do in Dubai during social hours. T's and polos, work fine. Some people are more prone to mozzie bites than others, depends on blood type I guess. If you are prone to bites, you would do better with long sleeve shirts and trousers. I have visited Manila couple of times, but only for 4 or 5 days at a time, so cannot offer advice about places to visit apart from malls, bars, restaurants. I do know that traffic is very bad and that it floods very badly during rainy season. Road to our hotel was so flooded one night, the taxi couldn't get to the hotel. Drove around for ages trying to find a route through. Oh and I often wear blue and green......
Its not a secret. You will always get a better exchange rate changing money in the country of that currency. For the same reason you do not want to take foreign currency back to UK as the reverse applies and you will lose on the rate they will buy your pesos for.
No, you are mistaken David. Please budget more carefully, check what you get against the XE.com rate, not the tourist rate. In both Thailand and Philippines I get better than the interbank rate using local moneychangers, and no commision is charged. I never change money back to GBP.
I don't agree, but if you want to differ then please share the date, time, rate you obtained, and exchange mechanism you used. Might add the xe.com rate at the time of exchange as well, this could become a competition.
Yes, always safest to phone your bank, and they will flag up that it will be used in the (considered dodgy) Phils, between the dates of your holiday. I take a few hundred quid cash and change it at money-changers there... £20 notes or 50s, plus my cards of course.
There's no one size fits all answer. Sometimes you can get a better rate outside the country. But I'm afraid david that in this case you do generally tend to get a better rate in the Philippines in my experience if you are talking about money changing kiosks.
Handy tip for finding a reputable money changer is to use google. "Best money changer in {Place name}" will often return discussions from local expat forums, tripadvisor, or similar.
Don't change money in Western Union branches, Robinsons Malls business centers or banks. Better do so in not know money changers in the malls or in the streets. Better value.