Holidaymakers are receiving daily news of changing restrictions that may impact their travel plans.
In the last few weeks, popular holiday destinations like Spain, France, and Croatia have been added to the UK quarantine list. Travellers are left having to make quick decisions around whether to change or cancel their plans.
Unfortunately, much of this can’t be helped, but we’d like to give you our top tips on travel money and how your Currensea travel debit card can help.
Currensea travel debit card
If you bought holiday money to take with you, you may be considering changing it back to pounds. Our overall advice is to keep your travel money for a future holiday if you can afford to, as it’s likely you will lose out due to fees or the exchange rate.
If you decide to change it back, beware of hidden costs of exchanging. If the rate is better than when you bought it, you could sell and not lose very much. However, you are unlikely to make a profit because of fees levied by exchange bureaus. Be cautious about those who promise ‘no fee’ exchanges, as their fees are often hidden by an inflated exchange rate.
Currency markets are constantly moving, especially in this volatile time, so keep an eye on live exchange rates and pick the most favourable time for your holiday money.
An entirely different option would be to donate your holiday money. There are many charities and causes that will happily take your unused currency – even small amounts.
You’ve made a great decision to get a Currensea travel debit card, saving you time, money, and hassle for future holidays. You can also put it to good use right now, even if you’re not able to go on holiday.
It is a good idea to use Currensea when purchasing in foreign currencies especially the euro and dollar, as you will know exactly what you pay at that moment (we use the interbank exchange rate and Mastercard exchange rate). You don’t have to wait to see your statement to find out at what exchange rate the sale was settled. Exchange rates can vary a lot, and with Currensea you will avoid paying more than you wanted to.
You could make some significant savings by using your Currensea travel debit card for online purchases. Good examples are for payments and subscriptions with international companies, for example, Amazon, Alibaba, Google, Salesforce, Mailchimp, and many others. You could also save money on international news and magazine subscriptions this way. The reason is that you will pay with the local currency at the time of purchase, and not have to wait for the settlement, which could see you paying more than you bargained for.
In both of these cases, just be sure to check the import taxes on any items purchased overseas, otherwise you may be hit with an unexpected bill.
You can be assured that purchases with your Currensea travel debit card are covered by all the usual Mastercard purchase protections. Currensea is also FCA authorised.
