Whenever you travel abroad at some point in the proceedings you will need to ensure that you have a means of obtaining travel money, Euros if you are travelling to Europe and Dollars if you are going to America. There are a number of ways of obtaining the currency that you need, what you need to know is how to get a good exchange rate for your money.
Exchange Rates
One of the problems with buying currency from a travel agent is not just the commission that many agents charge, but the fact that you won't necessarily get good exchange rates. The current global financial problems have meant that the exchange rate, never totally reliable, can now change from one hour to the next. If you have paid 90p for a Euro, and the pound goes up against it in the meantime, you will be paying more for your travel money. You may have purchased a mixture of cash and travellers cheques and although it means you aren't walking around with a load of cash, and some hotels and apartment complexes charge a commission for changing your travellers' cheques.
Credit Cards
Credit cards have two things going for them when it comes to purchasing your travel money, you get the exchange rate of the day, and you don't have to carry around a pocketful of Euros everywhere you go. The problem with using a credit card to buy your travel money is that you are charged every time you use an ATM machine and the credit card company will also charge you a premium for taking out cash. If you don't pay your credit card bill in full before the allotted time, then you will be paying interest on all those extra charges, which in real terms means that you got a bad exchange rate.
FairFX Prepaid Card
If you really want to get good exchange rates when you go abroad then the simplest and cheapest way of doing so is with a FairFX prepaid travel money card. Currency cards work in the same way as a prepaid credit card. You put whatever money you have set aside onto the card before you go away and it is ready to use when you reach your destination. The exchange rate that you get with a currency card is better than the deal you would have got from your travel agent, and quite a bit cheaper than using a booth at the airport or on thei high street to change your money, and cheaper than most credit cards. The FairFX currency card is a reusable card and can be loaded up with pounds, euros or dollars. You can buy your card and your currency online, if you wish you can have the money transferred to your foreign currency bank account.
Order your FairFX card today for better rates on holiday money.
Thursday 06 May 2010, 02:17pm
Previous Next
