Take a little local currency to tide you over, then the rest in sterling, & exchange there - better rate by about 10%, usually.
Visa, Visa Electron, Plus Card, MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus are all acceptable in almost all ATM's in Egypt . In addition, all cards carrying "123" or "NAPS" ATM network logos are also acceptable.
One of the best ways to get money is to open a Nationwide Flexi Account. You get free ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world.
The bank next to Ghazala Gdns, in Na’ama changes Scottish notes, but you will struggle to get them, & N. Irish ones, changed in general.
Don’t flash hard currency about; pay in local. If you use dollars or sterling, you leave yourself open to be ripped off re: exchange rates. They believe that all the tourists are rich & seeing hard currency in use only re-enforces this belief. They always ask you what currency you’re using, in the hope that you say “dollars” or “sterling”!
www.luxortraveltips.com has the rate updated every day.
http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/g... locates atms for you, as do http://www.mastercard.com/uk/personal... & http://www.visaeurope.com/personal/fi... .
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-... fraudulent atms
TIPPING:- People report differing experiences on the locals’ expectations of tips. If you receive good service, then tip, if you don’t, then don’t tip. If you want to tip a little as you go along (to ensure good service) then do so; it’s personal preference.
Where possible, tip in local currency. They do accept dollar notes & £1 coins but will have to save them up & ask a tourist to exchange them for local notes, as they can’t get them changed any other way. The wages are low & £1 is quite a lot to them. This over-inflates their economy & makes a mockery of what a waiter will then have earned in comparison to a city Dr. or teacher, for e.g. It also increases the expectation of high tips.
Small denomination notes are hard to come by in Egypt so it may be that you feel obliged to tip the bell boys in another currency at the start of your hols. When you get some small notes; hang on to them! Generally, don’t tip if you don’t want to! The English are perceived as being softies.
