Travel Money Tips for Thailand

March 14th, 2011

One of popular destination for UK travellers is Thailand, a country famous for its exotic culture, cuisine and beautiful beaches. All these aspects make it the perfect holiday destination for the summer break. The ‘Amazing Thailand Grand Sale’ slated to be held between June 15 and August 15 in Bangkok and Phuket, will make the trip even more eventful.

When planning your trip to Thailand booking in advance will help you find the best deals on flights, airlines and hotels. When you are buying your travel money, US dollars and Thai Baht will keep you going throughout the trip. However, if you’re looking to do some shopping, or back-packing keeping you money safe is a big issue. However, a perfect solution is a travel money card. Not available in Thai Baht you say? No problem, using a British Pound travel money card allows you to load your card with pounds (at no exchange rate), and then your currency is converted to Thai Baht as you pay for your hotel room or withdraw money from the ATM. Generally at a much more attractive exchange rate than your bank credit or debit cards. Also as the cards need to be preloaded, they help prevent you from overspending in Thailand. However, if you do want to do a little more shopping, then you can easily top-up your card online.

Your travel money will go further in Portugal

February 10th, 2011

With the Easter Holiday’s just around the corner, I am on the lookout for that perfect destination that won’t be too taxing on my pocket and yet will be the perfect place to explore with my family.

After, doing some research on the internet, I decided that the some of best places to visit for Easter would be the Southern European countries, such as Portugal. The countries have become quite affordable to the British travellers after the Sterling’s good performance against the Euro in 2010.

Portugal is known to rival the beautiful landscape of Spain as well as the food of Italy, with its perfect cuisines and olive oils. It is also considered to be the most affordable holiday destination in Europe, according to the Post Office’s Holiday Money Report. This report higlights that the 7.4% increase in Sterling’s value against the Euro, combined with restaurants, bars and resorts competing on price in a battle for business has resulted in a drop in holiday costs by around 49%, as compared to 2010 – great for UK holiday makers.

With such a price crash, planning a holiday to Portugal’s Algarve has become more affordable for the budget traveller. For instance, on average a traveller can use his travel money or currency card to buy items such as coffee, Heineken, coca cola in a bar or cafe for significantly lower in Portugal compared to Greece, Malta, Cyprus, France and Spain.

Skiing holidays for the budget traveller

January 19th, 2011

As the Big-Freeze comes to an end, Brit’s seems to be all geared up to travel and ski. The Euro-Pound rates reaching a favourable position has also made a perfect skiing holiday to France much more affordable than in 2010. Therefore, one of the best destinations for an skiing vacation in 2011 would be the pristine white slopes of the French Alps. A holiday on the Alps would provide you with a dose of France, and views to rival Lake Tahoe but, without the annoying jetlag.

Although, France is considered to be a pricey destination; interestingly, there are still many options available for the budget traveller. One of the best ways to plan your holiday is to search online for budget deals or all-inclusive deals which include transfers from the airport to the hotel, food, lodging and visits to certain tourist destinations. For instance, a simple search revealed that many French hotels have rolled out all-inclusive offers of under £500 for travellers, including the Courchevel 1300, which is offering £399 for 7 nights' board at Chalet Veronique. Other hotels include the Chalet Hotel Sapiniere in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (Chamonix), which is offering £499 for 7 nights' board. You can easily book your stay online, and by also paying for your ski hire or skiing schools online before you travel you can save compared to buying when you arrive in your resort.

Now, as a frequent traveller, I would prefer not to carry a huge amount of cash with me while travelling. Not only is it quite risky to carry cash in a foreign land, but I have noticed that if you have cash in hand you tend to spend more than your planned budget. Therefore, I often prefer to use a pre-paid currency card on my travels. A pre-paid currency card allows me to pre-fill the card with a certain amount before I leave. The card is accepted at stores and hotels internationally and can be used for shopping and hiring ski-gear, or even paying online. Since these cards do not have a credit facility, it prevents me from exceeding the planned budget limit. Also, if I do exceed my limit, I can easily recharge the card online. To know more about the various travel money options visit our comparison pages.

Plenty of savings on offer for Christmas shopping in New York

December 1st, 2010

The helping hand extended by the UK to avert the crisis of Euro has led to the US Dollar gaining in strength against the pound. Despite the lower buying power of the pound against the dollar this winter, there are still significant savings to be found when Christmas shopping in America. A recently released Christmas Shopping Guide from Post Office Travel Money showed potential savings of 53% on high fashion items when purchased in America.

Designer jeans offer great buys with skinny jeans from top lifestyle brand Hollister costing 53% less in New York (£23.49) than in London (£50); while the classic brand, Levi’s 501s, are around 49% cheaper. Even toys for kids are cheaper. The best buy toy this year is the Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear - £50 in London but only £25.57, 49% less, in New York. The new guise of Barbie, Barbie Video Girl, is around 44% less in New York (£42.38) than in London (£76).

With the recent increase in duty-free allowance to £390 for UK citizens travelling from outside the Eurozone, Apple enthusiasts will be able to bring back this year’s ‘must have’ gadget, the iPad, from New York saving 15% in the bargain (New York price: £364.62, London price: £429).

With all these bargains, relying on your debit card for pre-Christmas shopping purchases in New York could prove to be unwise choice of payment. The poor foreign exchange rates and the charges levied by your bank for the use of your card overseas could wipe away all your savings. On the other hand, a prepaid US Dollar card could help you save even more due to better exchange rates than most bank cards, and low ATM withdrawal fees. To find out more about the charges for these cards and compare all the currency card providers visit our comparison pages.

Australia: Winter Sun, Ashes series and a BBQ Christmas lunch

November 18th, 2010

Australia is a popular destination for many Round the World travellers holidaying extensively in Asia. Many spend close to a month travelling in Australia before moving on to other popular Asian destinations like Thailand or Vietnam. With the Ashes series being played in Australia this year, this country of winter sun seems to be an even more popular destination with travellers looking forward to ushering in the New Year down under.

As the Australian dollar is strong against the pound at the moment, you need to make sure you get as many Australian Dollars for your British Pounds as possible, and you can get the best out your budget by choosing the correct travel money options. For example, carrying all your foreign currency as cash with you would be a hassle and less secure while relying on your UK debit or credit cards could be expensive due to the various charges levied by UK banks for using cards abroad.

A better alternative could be a pre-paid British Pound/multi-currency card, which allow you to store your money in pounds. When you spend in Australia your money is converted into dollars, as it would be with a UK debit or credit card, although you can often get better foreign exchange rates and lower ATM withdrawal fees with these cards. However, you do need to be careful with these cards and make sure you understand the foreign exchange and ATM fees as some providers do have hidden fees. To give you a benchmark Barclays debit card charges a 2.99% foreign exchange fee for use abroad, with NatWest and HSBC charging 2.75%.

To know more about these cards and compare the various providers, visit our comparison pages and get the best deals on your travel money.