Millions of Britons heading overseas this Bank Holiday and summer will face higher holiday costs, as research finished by foreign currency echange specialist Moneycorp shows the Pound has lost value against almost 80% of the tip global currencies before twelve months.
Moneycorp checked out how Sterling has fared against the 50 global currencies since last May. The research revealed that the Pound has weakened against 38 out of the 50 currencies previously year.
What it means is that British holidaymakers heading to popular destinations akin to Australia, the usa and mainland Europe, will feel the financial pinch of the weaker buying power of the Pound this summer.
British holidaymakers must head much further afield, akin to the Far East and South America, to get real value for money. The Pound has strengthened almost 15% against the Japanese Yen since last May. That suggests for each £500 converted into Japanese Yen, that’s an additional £74 in comparison to exchanging the same quantity year ago.
And Brits hoping to make their holiday money stretch further will probably want to consider South America, where the Pound is 11% stronger against the Argentinean Peso and three% stronger against the Brazilian Real. With the Pound also strengthening against the Peso and Real between May 2011 and 2012, by 7.1% and 17.4% respectively, Sterling is eighteen.8% stronger than the Peso and 20.7% stronger than the genuine in comparison to two years ago.
On the flip side of the coin: Australia has long been a fave long-haul destination with the Brits, however the strength of the Australian Dollar is probably going to have eliminate many holidaymakers this year. The buying power of the Pound Down Under has crumbled in past times four years, almost 30% weaker against the Australian Dollar (28.3%). Even before 365 days, Sterling has lost 4.7% of its value against the Australian Dollar.
Matthijs Boon, Moneycorp’s Director of Travel Money, comments: “The weak performance of Sterling over the last year means our summer pounds aren’t going to stretch quite as far this year as they did last year.
“For more adventurous holidaymakers, one strategy to get well for money this summer is to observe long-haul destinations corresponding to Argentina, South Africa and Brazil. However, cheaper destination costs might want to be weighed up against the upper price of flights to get there, in comparison to hopping on a plane over to mainland Europe.”
Moneycorp the best way to make your travel money stretch further this summer:
1/ Once you haven’t booked your summer holidays yet, then consider picking a destination where the local currency has actually weakened against the Pound – there are some!
2/ Don’t use a mastercard to withdraw money from an ATM abroad as you’ll be hit not only with the bank’s exchange rate, but additionally a currency trading fee and an ATM fee. Plus, the sum you’re taking out will even start accruing interest immediately.
Instead, use a pre-paid currency card, inclusive of Moneycorp’s Explorer card (which permits users to load as much as 14 different currencies on one card). Since you load the cardboard up before you allow, you won’t pay a foreign currency echange fee if you withdraw cash from an ATM, and you’ll also get a greater exchange rate.
Also, attempt to withdraw money from ATM machines in main banks instead of from machines in shops, as bank ATMs are less more likely to charge withdrawal fees.
3/ Take a mixture of money and cards on holiday to hide the primary few days of your holiday. It really is worth having some cash for situations where a card isn’t accepted akin to taking a taxi from the airport or tipping in restaurants.
4/ Order you travel money online to get one of the best exchange rates. That you would be able to then have the currency dropped at your house address or to a bureau on the airport you’re departing from. Moneycorp has bureaux at Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton & Southend Airports and throughout Central London.
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