Currency conversion mistakes costing holidaymakers £127 a year
Muddled maths mean some holidaymakers run out of money.
Holidaymakers are accidently spending far more that they intend when abroad as they struggle to make currency conversions, according to new research.
Barclaycard’s Holiday Habits study claims these currency miscalculations mean we are spending an average of £127 extra per person.
More than half of us (52%) try to keep track of our spending by converting foreign currency into pounds, but over a quarter of us get the calculation wrong. And that miscalculation can be costly - for more than a quarter (27%) the muddled maths mean they run out of money while away.
So why are we getting the conversion wrong? The study reckons that almost half (44%) struggle to make the mental conversion, while almost a quarter (24%) of us admit to having got the sums wrong after indulging in a few drinks.
Cut the cost of your travel insurance
How to avoid overspending
While we may overspend once we are abroad, as a nation we are getting a lot better at planning for our holiday spending. The Holiday Habits survey found that 78% of us now shop around to get the most competitive exchange rate for our currency. Read Best places to buy your holiday money.
And once we are on holiday an impressive 54% of us will barter in order to get the best deal on our shopping.
If you are worried about breaching your budget when you are on holiday consider setting up balance alerts to warn you if you are spending to much. Most banks and building societies offer this service so check with yours before you go on holiday.
Also make a note of the exchange rate for a variety of prices before you head away. For example, a note on your phone or in your wallet of what €1, €10, €50 and €100 are in pounds will help you make more accurate conversions.
Cut the cost of your travel insurance
More on travel:
Best places to buy your holiday money
The best prepaid cards for spending abroad
The best credit cards to use on your travels
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I always make myself a little ready reckoner to carry with me abroad showing the relevant currency conversions of say £1, £5, £20, £50 etc. Where I do sometimes struggle is in identifying foreign bank notes accurately, especially for those currencies which extend into the millions and have notes which look very similar to each other. In Vietnam earlier this year I almost made this mistake of handing over a note which was worth 10 times that of the fare to a taxi driver. Not sure I would have ever seen the correct change had I done so!
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20 June 2015