How much extra are you paying for your holidays billed in foreign currency?

The most common way to book a holiday is through a UK-based travel agent or website; however there are instances when the booking is done overseas. With an overseas booking the invoice is often sent in a currency other than British sterling.

For example, Simon Brown decided to change tradition and book a villa for Christmas in St. Lucia. His plan was to fly his family out along with relatives stateside to spend the festive holiday in the sun.

The villa was found on a American-based website and although there was a currency converter to help with the conversion from US dollars to British pounds the invoice was sent out in US$. The total due was $5,000 which was split into two payments. Mr Brown’s initial action was to contact a bank to find out how to make an international payment however a friend recommended that he used a currency exchange company.

Currency exchange companies specialise in moving money in and out of the UK through bank to bank transfers – as opposed to supply cash for travel money. By specialising in this very specific process, specialists are able to get rates far better than offered by the high street bank. Furthermore they can offer options to lock in exchange rates for future payments that are not readily available from the banks.

In Mr Brown’s case, he signed up with a currency specialist to determine whether or not the exchange rate offered would be better than the bank. Mr Brown explains, “After comparing rates, I was gobsmacked to discover that if I used the bank, I’d have to cough up and extra £300. And what made me even happier is that the specialist didn’t charge for the transfer giving me £25 (for each transfer) more in savings.”

Mr Brown was given the option to buy half the currency now and the remainder closer to the due date; however he felt more secure to fix the current exchange rate for both payments.

“If the exchange rate gets worse in the next few months before the 2nd payment I don’t want to find extra money to make up the difference. With the bank I wasn’t offered this option,” explained Mr Brown.

In this case, Mr Brown sent the sterling due immediately and for the 2nd payment he simply needs to send the fixed amount when it’s due. By fixing the exchange rate Mr Brown knows exactly how much the holiday villa will cost and won’t have any nasty increases to ruin Christmas!

For more information on Smart Currency Exchange, please call our freephone: 0808 163 0102 (+44 (0)207 898 0541 from outside the UK) or visit our website at: SmartCurrencyExchange.com