Travel-Money.org Blog: The latest perspectives on the travel money industry

Visit Corfu for a Traditional Easter Celebration

March 21st, 2011

With Easter holidays approaching, people are looking for holiday inspiration. Why not add a little culture, and head to Greece to experience the traditional Easter orthodox celebrations?

Greek orthodox Easter celebrations are the ideal occasions to immerse your family in rich Greek culture and traditional Easter customs, while also enjoying the sunshine. One place to visit is the island of Corfu. The town holds a sombre Good Friday procession, concluded by turning on purple lights, giving the town a pretty purple glow in the evening. On Easter Saturday, Corfu citizens start the day by throwing large pots from the window to ward off evil spirits. The town also organizes a night of music and dancing where everyone is asked to light candles to bring in the good spirits.

As well as planning the location of your holiday, don't forget to plan your travel money. As the number of Euros you get for your pounds has been declining in March, make sure you search out the best exchange rate before you go. By looking at the different providers online you could save yourself enough money for an extra few glasses of wine or beer on your holiday, especially compared to buying Euros at the airport. So to see how many Euros you can get for your travel money budget, take a look at the exchange rates of some of the major currency exchange providers.

Travel Light on a Late Valentine’s Day Getaway

February 22nd, 2011

Having already visited Paris, Rome and Venice, often termed as ‘dream destinations’ for Valentine’s Day, this year, I wanted it to be different and special. I was on the lookout for a new romantic destination and Florence seemed to be the perfect city to visit. The next thing on my wish list was to avoid the mad Valentine’s Day crowd and to go easy on my budget, therefore I decided to plan a late and short getaway to Florence..

The perk of travelling to India during the World Cup is that you can visit some amazing places around the cricketing venues after or before the matches. The sheer diversity and contrasting cultures that you encounter is unbelievable. The country has some beautiful beaches, snow clad mountains, serene temples and some absolute awe-inspiring architecture.

Florence is considered a Tuscany masterpiece with its medieval charm, and old world glamour. The city’s historic churches and piazzas add to its old world glamour, while it’s numerous vineyards and groves of olives add to its scenic beauty. Since, I wanted to experience every essence of this medieval city; I decided to book a stay in a bed and breakfast (B&B). Not only do most B&Bs (which are quiet prominent in Florence) fit within your budget (they charge around € 99 and € 159per night), but most of them also allow you to book online.

I am also planning to get a travel card or a prepaid currency card rather than carry cash with me. Travel cards give me the feeling of security as then I don’t have to carry wads of cash and constantly worry about it. They also give users the privilege to spend directly as they are designed to be a cheap alternative to regular credit or debit cards by saving up to £40 on exchange rates without levying any commission charges, great for booking your hotel online as well! If you want to know more about various travel money options, do visit our comparison pages.

Britons heading long haul for some winter sun

December,9th 2010

With UK getting the first snowfall of this winter, many Britons are digging deep in their pockets to plan an escape to sunnier climates. Despite the rise in the Air Passenger Duty, long haul destinations like Sri Lanka and Jamaica offer great value to travellers looking for some winter sun.

The new Long Haul Report by Post Office revealed Sri Lanka, Mexico and Kenya as best value destinations for the winter sun holiday replacing Thailand at the top spot. The strengthening of the Thai Baht made holidaying in Phuket, Thailand 12.7% more expensive than last year. On the other hand, holiday purchases like a meal for 2 at a local restaurant in Sri Lanka (£25.00) including a bottle of wine was nine percent lower than in Thailand (£34.57) and over two-thirds less than in Australia (£116.88).

Among the mid haul destinations, Dubai came ahead of the traditional and popular option of Egypt, emerging as a cheaper option for UK travellers. With a three course evening meal for 2 at a local restaurant with a bottle of house wine costing £52.63, Dubai was 6.7 per cent cheaper than Egypt (£62.99). Across the Atlantic, Jamaica (£86.38) emerged as the best value destination amongst the Caribbean Islands surveyed.

With so many destinations to choose from, it is imperative to plan trips carefully with a well-established, ATOL-protected tour operator to protect you from any changes in circumstance. Buying currency online or relying on a prepaid Pound card instead of your UK bank cards for your foreign currency will help you get the best deals on travel money. To find out more about the various currency card providers visit our comparison pages

Preferential exchange rates for Nationwide FlexAccount customers switching t5 pre-paid currency cards

November 8th, 2010

The overseas transaction charges announced in August by Nationwide for its FlexAccount debit cards came into effect from 1st November. Now the Nationwide Building Society will levy a 2% foreign exchange charge on transactions abroad plus a £1 flat fee on cash withdrawals abroad. This replaces the 1% currency-conversion charge levied earlier.

This card has been used by many travelers for its low cost use, but FlexAccount holders can now bypass these new charges by employing an alternative for their travel money needs – a pre-paid currency card.

In an exclusive deal for Nationwide FlexAccount customers, my TravelCash has offered the Nationwide customers preferential exchange rates for three years on their my Travel Cash Prepaid MasterCards and £5 free when they sign up for a Euro, USD or Multi-Currency (British Pound) card before 15th November 2010.

my Travel Cash, states that "The Nationwide FlexAccount charges £28 for four £50 card purchases and eight £100 cash withdrawals. Whereas the same transactions cost only £23 with a my Travel Cash Multi-Currency MasterCard but £43.52 by Barclays and HSBC, £48.52 by NatWest/RBS and £49.92 by Lloyds TSB, according to Nationwide."

To take advantage of this offer, please visit mytravelcash.com/nationwide

Eurozone ski resorts provide the best value for money this winter

October 25th, 2010

The recently published survey by Post Office Travel Money and Where to Ski and Snowboard, revealed Italy’s Cervinia as the lowest priced leading resort and popular US destination of Vail as the most expensive of all the destinations surveyed for UK skiers this winter. Eastern European destinations, on the other hand, offered the best value budget resorts for UK skiers this winter. The research compared costs for lift passes, equipment hire and ski lessons together as well as meal and drinks prices in six world-class resorts and 12 mainstream budget resorts across Europe and North America.

Though Cervinia shares its ski area and famous mountain Gornergrat with Zermatt in Switzerland, they are far apart in terms of holiday costs. While Cervinia was the cheapest ski destination in Europe with total expense for skiing, meals and accommodation rounding up to £415.79, Zermatt was the most expensive destination with total expenses clocking in a whopping £563.91. A 50cl carafe of wine costs you £5.96 in Cervinia but would set you back by almost £15.17 across the mountain in Zermatt. A weak Franc made this skier paradise an expensive destination with £1 buying only CHF 1.5 as compared to CHF 2 in 2008.

The exchange rates played a key role this season with UK skiers getting 8% more cash in their pockets than last year. Though better exchange rates brought Europe within reach of many skiers, it also put a squeeze on ski trips across the Atlantic this winter. So as you logon to book your ski trip, a research for travel money could get you the best deals on your foreign exchange. Investing in a prepaid currency cards will ensure that your travel cash remains dry and handy as you ski down the mountain in Cervinia.