Best Travel Money Rates
Travel Money Guide
When you are looking to buy travel money always shop around, compare costs and look to see how much you will pay in total for your currency. Look out for any hidden costs including commission, handling and postage fees (if you are buying online) to make sure you are getting the best possible deal.
Never leave buying your currency until the last minute! You are likely to receive the worst deal and airport bureaus have a habit of leaving people feeling short changed. Instead use this guide to help you plan ahead and see how you can get the best deal.
Where can I buy travel money?
There are a wide variety of companies offering bureaux de change services ranging from high street banks, travel agents, the post office and specialist travel money companies. You can purchase your travel money online, over the telephone or in person. Take advantage of all of these options and shop around, this will allow you to find the best rate.
Online companies will usually have the most competitive rates however do bear in mind that they are likely to charge a handling fee for paying by credit/debit card and a postage fee for delivery. These charges could cancel out the benefits of the exchange rate offered. Some travel money companies do offer free deliver on orders above £500. One way to get the most out of ordering online is to arrange to collect the currency from a designated branch this will save you the delivery charge.
Our travel money comparison tables show you clearly how to find providers with lower or zero fees.
Commission V’s Rates
Most bureaux de change firms offer ‘Commission Fee’ travel money which means they will not charge you a fee to change your pounds into your holiday currency. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is the best type of deal on offer! Commission Free deals are often counteracted by a very poor exchange rate.
Let’s look at this example to see how many Euros you would get if you exchanged £500 with two different companies.
Commission Exchange Rate Amount Received
Company A £5 Flat Fee 1.07 529.65
Company B No Fee 1.065 532.50
As you can now see although initially the rate offered by Company A seemed more appealing in reality you are getting less money to spend abroad.
Exchange rates
Exchange rates change by the second, however most bureaux de changes will have a set rate for that day. When comparing the rates offered by competitors make sure that the rates you are looking at are from the same day. Using different day rates will make your findings inaccurate and won’t allow you to see who is offering you the best deal.
There are so many factors that can cause exchange rates to fluctuate and go up and down making it difficult to know when is the best time to buy your currency. The best advice is to simply buy at a rate that you feel happy with, if time is on your side and rates do drop you can wait to see if the rate will improve before making your purchase however this is a gamble as rates could drop even further. Monitor the rates well in advance of your trip so you can understand if that has been any recent large movements in the rate.
Traveller Cheques
Travellers cheques offer a safer way of carrying large amount of foreign money. Your name will be printed onto the cheque and each cheque has an individual number on which can be traced to the place of purchase. If your cheques do get stolen or become lost you can cancel them and will received replacement cheques. Do bear in mind that not every shop will accept traveller’s cheques, however most large hotels worldwide will cash them for you.
Using your Card whilst abroad
Beware some banks will charge you for every transaction you make abroad including withdrawing cash out of an ATM machine and the exchange rate you will receive is likely to be uncompetitive. This will only be revealed once you have returned home and receive a nasty shock in the form of your bank statement showing that your holiday has cost you far more than expected.
Our advice is to contact your bank before you travel and find out any fees or charges you may incur for using your card abroad. Ask how they calculate the exchange rate before you go away and make the decision as to whether you are happy to make withdrawals abroad on your card or whether you will need to make alternative arrangements in order to save money.
You may also want to consider pre-loading a currency card which is a very good half-way house between carrying currency and using your bank card. See prepaid currency cards for more information
Left over money – Selling it back
if you have any travel money left over when you get back home you can simply sell this back and exchange the currency for British pounds. The same rules apply as when you bought the currency, make sure that you shop around to get the best deal and compare rates.
Travel money companies will only exchange notes and not coins so it’s best to spend any loose change before you return unless you are planning to visit again soon. Some companies offer buy back guarantees. These are worth looking into if there is little chance of you revisiting that country again in the near future.
Top Travel Money Tips
- Research and buy your travel money in plenty of time before your trip.
- Use our comparison tables to find the best deal
- Contact your bank to find out what fees or charges your may get charged for using your card abroad and how they calculate their exchange rates. Also inform them if you do plan to use your card abroad to prevent them freezing your account.
- Plan how much you are likely to spend.
- Consider taking a combination of travel money and other methods of payment such as traveller’s cheques or pre-paid currency cards especially if you want to take a large amount of money with you.
- Keep small notes handy for taxis and paying tips whist on holiday.
Exchange any currency notes back into pounds sterling on your return home.