Save £30 On Holiday Money
It doesn't take many minutes to compare a few prices online and save some pounds. Surprisingly, though, even cheaper deals can sometimes be found on the high street!
Part of me feels like I'm being slightly stitched up when I exchange holiday money. I give them some bits of paper (or my card details) and they exchange them for bits of paper which, in total, are worth several pounds less than the paper I just gave them. Still, that's business.Even so, to ensure I get as much foreign currency as I can, I compare prices from several providers. A recent survey from Travelex found that just one family in ten shops around for the best deal. They say that this is because families have the least time to plan their trip. The survey was of just 500 people, but I still think this provides a fair indication that lots of people just buy from the first provider they come across.Yet, if you're exchanging pounds for, say, _750, you can quite easily save £30 by shopping around. That's an extra £30 that could be spent in duty-free! I checked some online and telephone prices and came up with these results:Online and phone foreign exchange prices (£500-worth of euros)ProviderEuro rateHandling FeesDelivery chargesNumberof eurosTravelex.co.uk1.4215£0.00£0.00710.75Interchange (phone)1.425£0.00£6.00712.50Currency-Express.com1.411£0.00£0.00705.50Marks & Spencer1.411£0.00£0.00705.50Onlinefx.co.uk1.4208£0.00£4.95710.40www.postoffice.co.uk1.3931£0.00£0.00696.55American Express1.3875£0.00£0.00693.75Thomas Cook1.38£0.00£0.00690You'll see that Travelex comes out top of this list with Interchange in second place (even after deducting the £6 delivery charge). Travelex is more than £20 cheaper than Thomas Cook online. You'll find that the cheapest provider can change on a daily basis, and at any one time a provider could be cheap for euros, but expensive for Autralian dollars, for example.I also had a wander down Oxford Street for some offline rates, which had some surprising results:Offline foreign exchange prices (£500-worth of euros)ProviderEuro rateHandling FeesDelivery chargesNumberof eurosEurochange(Marble Arch)1.44£0.00£0.00720.00Interchange1.435£0.00£0.00717.50Post Office1.3931£0.00£0.00696.55Eurochange beat Thomas Cook online by £30 and Travelex online by almost £10. This rate is specific to their branch in Marble Arch, London. Each of their 75 branches set their own rates, so be sure to check before you buy.This demonstrates that it's not always cheaper to buy online, although banks will usually be expensive, as will buying currency at an airport.Neither of these tables show commission, because they are all commission-free rates. This doesn't mean that commission-free providers will always be the cheapest though; you should compare prices looking at all the costs: the exchange rate, commission, handling fees and delivery charges.Travelex points out in its study that there can be other costs too. The Change Group, for example, charges 11% if you pay for your cash using a debit or credit card. If you're changing £500, that means £55 in fees! What's more, when ordering foreign currency from Travelex you should try to do so with a Switch, Maestro or Nationwide debit card as other cards charge a 2% fee. On the other hand, with the pound being so strong right now, I feel like I can live like a king when I travel these days, regardless of the rate and charges!> Compare travel insurance through The Fool.