If you are going away on a family holiday then you want everyone to have a good time but in the current economic climate you don't want to overspend on foreign exchange currency. Most people like to make sure that they have at least some foreign currency before their holiday departure date. There are several ways of purchasing foreign currency, some more cost effective than others.
Getting Currency From theHigh Street
An increasing number of people who used to buy foreign currency from their travel agents now by it from high street shops. It may be convenient to buy from your travel agent, but there is often a price to pay for this in commission and losses on the return of any unused currency, and even 0% commission shops build their costs into their exchange rate margin. Buying your currency in this way may not be convenient and it is all too easy to overspend if you find that you have not purchased sufficient currency for your needs.
Travellers Cheques
A time honoured way of buying foreign exchange currency is by purchasing a small amount of euros or dollars in cash, and having the rest on traveller's cheques. Traveller's cheques are useful for foreign currency and most banks and agents will make a refund on any unused cheques. One of the problems with traveller's cheques is that many hotels and other outlets will charge you a commission on every cheque that they change. Although commission is often a small amount, if you have a lot of cheques it can rack up significantly over the course of a fortnight.
Credit Cards or Currency Cards?
More people take little or no hard foreign currency with them when they go abroad and prefer to get their cash as and when they want it via their credit card. Buying foreign exchange currency on a credit card can be an expensive business. There is always a risk with credit cards that at crucial times such as Christmas and annual holidays, there is much more of a tendency for people to spend more than they had originally budgeted for. When you withdraw currency on your credit card, most credit card providers make an additional charge on top of the usual interest rates. Some credit card companies still charge you extra for using your credit card abroad and for using foreign ATM machines.
In case you hadn't heard, there is a simple way of ensuring that you don't overspend on foreign exchange currency, and that is to use a prepaid currency card like the FairFX. Currency cards are similar to prepaid credit cards, in that you load them up with the amount of money you intend to spend before you go. You can get these cards and load them with currency online and then use them in the same way that you would use a credit card. The currency card is proving to be one of the best ways to buy euros and dollars cheaply, and to avoid overspending on foreign exchange currency.
Friday 04 June 2010, 03:24pm
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