Post Office sources claim that ‘UK holidaymakers waste huge sums on airport currency exchange charges.’
Foreign notes and coins. Photo: VDuBourdieu©2010
According to pricing research by Post Office Travel Money, tourists are wasting over £28 million a year by buying Euros at UK airports.
They allege that families changing money at the airport face losing an average of £16.60 – enough to buy a round of drinks for four and eight ice creams in Portugal.
However, sterling has rallied by almost 10 per cent since it sunk to a 2010 low point in March, and is now worth four per cent more than a year ago – spelling good news for hard-pressed holidaymakers.
Euros are available over the counter at 8,700 Post Office branches, while over 70 currencies can be pre-ordered for next day branch collection at all 11,500 Post Office outlets or online at postoffice.co.uk. Home delivery can also be requested online.
The Post Office grumblings about foreign exchange rates may, however, be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
During the volcanic disruption to the airways in April, 2010, I discovered that Post Office charges - ostensibly free - are built into the exchange rate. That means you lose when you buy and you lose when you sell. And if you have to take the money back again, you lose a good deal.
When I complained to my local bank about the low return offered for currency bought from the Post Office a week earlier, they suggested Cooperative Travel. And I was very happy with the result.
A week later, when my trip was on again, I went back and got excellent deals from my local branch of Cooperative Travel on buying NZ and European currency.
So find out what the Post Office offers, by all means, and then check out the difference on their prices here:
