Holidays are still available cheaply as long as you pre plan your Travel Currency.

Travel currency is available at good rates at the moment if you are going to Egypt, Dubai or Thailand.

The United Kingdom’s Post Office’s Travel Money Monitor reported January currency purchases going up by 17% for the Egyptian pound, 23% for the United Arab Emirates Dirham and 45% for the Thai baht.

However the British Pound is still weak and you may want to look at ways of getting around that before considering you travel plans. For instance many people who went from Britain to Canada to see the Winter Olympics suffered as the pound was very low to the Canadian dollar.

There are prepaid currency cards which can guarantee you against any sudden currency dips, such as the FairFX or the Caxton FX.

These cards can be topped up over the phone or online making them a great deal. Although many high street and online currency dealers say that they give commission free travel currency, the commission is usually built into the exchange rate.

Peter Harrison at moneysupermarket.com said: “Using an appropriate travel currency product can save holiday makers a packet and there are several different options which are available to any savvy travellers.”

The prepaid currency cards can save you from getting charged by your bank for overseas transaction fees. These fees usually run at about 3 per cent and with ATM fees of anywhere up to £4 to consider as well, a prepaid currency card makes a lot of sense.

One way to ensure that you are not overspending is to go to a country which is outside of the European Union where you are more than likely to get better value for money. Despite the recession Europeans are still very keen to take their holidays as long as they can get value for money.


Jonathan Cudworth, the Expedia travel company director of product management, said: “By booking flights and hotels together customers can make their money go further.  “They can also pinch the pennies by visiting destinations that offer the best currency exchange rates and by ensuring that additional hotel costs are kept to a minimum.”

Although travel currency is constantly fluctuating, until recently the United States has counted as one of these good value travel currency destinations.