Half-term holidaymakers go long-haul as Pound hits six-month low

Date: October 27, 2009

• Travelex.co.uk reports up to 26% increase in long-haul currency sales
• Travellers to USA receive almost $120 more for every £500 they exchange
• Travellers continue to shun Euro-zone on back of weak Pound

With the Pound plummeting to a six-month low and October half-term fast approaching, Travelex.co.uk advises travellers to consider destinations outside the Euro-zone and plan ahead to get the most for their travel money this Autumn.

On the back of a declining Pound, leading foreign exchange specialist Travelex.co.uk reports a surge in demand for currencies for longer-haul destinations, as travellers continue to avoid the Euro-zone to maximise their budgets and head to places with guaranteed sunshine. Topping the list of long-haul half-term hotspots is the United States, where travellers can expect to receive almost $120 more for every £500 they exchange compared to six months ago.¹

According to Travelex.co.uk, other Autumn sun destinations experiencing an increase in popularity include South Africa, Hong Kong, Thailand and the Caribbean. Travelex.co.uk reports an increase in orders in the past twelve months of South African Rand by 26%, the Hong Kong Dollar by 16% and sales of the Thai Baht are up by 11%. The Caribbean is also enjoying a surge in popularity as sales of the East Caribbean Dollar continue to rise and the Pound has increased in value more than 6% against the Jamaican Dollar in the last year.

Travelex Director, Peter Davies, said: “While the value of the Pound is still on the decline against the Euro, travellers can get more for their money by heading outside the Euro-zone, with the United States and closer-to-home destinations, including Turkey and Egypt, continuing to provide excellent value for money.”

The Pound has increased in value over the last year by nearly 7% against the Turkish Lira, resulting in an extra 29 Turkish Lira for every £500². With low cost flights and a choice of resorts to suit every traveller, Turkey has seen a staggering surge in popularity this year, with Travelex.co.uk reporting sales of the Turkish Lira up by 21%. Online sales of the Egyptian Pound have also increased by 16% over the past year.

As well as opting for a great value destination, Travelex.co.uk advises travellers to plan ahead to get the best deal on their currency. Updated daily, Travelex.co.uk offers a Price Promise guaranteeing to beat other currency providers, with the best price foreign currency, commission free, or the difference refunded. Travellers can also opt to pick up currency at the airport or have it delivered directly to their home. For travellers heading to the popular United States, they should take advantage of Travelex.co.uk’s unrivalled four hour pre-order service on US Dollars.

Travelex.co.uk also warns half-term holiday-makers to avoid high credit and debit card charges. Families wanting the benefit of secure spending abroad should use the Travelex Cash Passport, which offers fee-free spending, both on transactions and on ATM withdrawals, across all of its seven currency cards. Combining the convenience of spending on a bank card, with added budgeting and identity protection benefits, prepaid cards offer significantly better value than credit and debit cards.³ With the Travelex Cash Passport, travellers can also lock in the rate of their currency in advance and take advantage of 24/7 Global Emergency Assistance and commission free loading online.

¹ Travellers on 13/04/09 received $650.60 for £500. On 13/10/09, at Travelex.co.uk customers receive $768.47 for £500 – a difference of $117.87
² Travellers on 13/10/08 received 1,079.50 for £500. On 13/10/09, at Travelex.co.uk customers receive 1,108.37- a difference of 28.87 Turkish Lira
³ A report from the UK Card Association reports £600 million was wasted on credit and debit card charges during 2008

Ends

For more information visit: www.travelex.co.uk
For more information on Travelex Cash Passport visit: www.cashpassport.com

About Cash Passport:

• Available in Euros, American Dollars, British Pounds, South Africa Rand, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Dollars
• No purchase or ATM withdrawal fees
• Can be used fee free in more than 1 million ATMs around the world and at millions of POS terminals in shops, hotels, restaurants
• Second card available to use if first one is lost or stolen
• Signature and PIN protected
• If the card is lost funds will be transferred in as little as 20 minutes via an award-winning, 24/7, multilingual global emergency assistance service. A new card will be sent within 24 hours. Other benefits of the service include:
  • Emergency cash
  • Medical and legal support
  • Interpretation and ‘send a message home’ services
• Preloaded with exchange rate set at time of purchase allowing the traveller to avoid unreliable exchange rates while abroad
• Unspent funds can be rolled over to the next holiday, spent in the UK on return or cashed out

About Travelex:
Travelex is the world's largest foreign exchange specialist with over 720 retail branches in more than 25 countries, at key airport, seaport, rail and tourist locations. Over 40% of travellers - 1.7 billion passengers a year - pass through airports where Travelex operates including the major gateways at Amsterdam, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York, Rome, Sydney & Tokyo. Every hour, Travelex provides foreign currency to more than 2,000 customers.

Travelex Online & the Travelex Price Promise:
Travelex.co.uk guarantees the best price, commission-free foreign currency in the UK. Every day Travelex.co.uk monitors the exchange rates of the leading Banks, High Street foreign currency providers (Travel Agencies, The Post Office, M&S) and a basket of other online providers to ensure we offer customers the best deal. In the unlikely event any provider should happen to beat us on any of our 60 currencies, we will refund the difference.

Travelex UK Retail:
Travelex has over 120 stores in the UK, with presence at the major airports including London Gatwick and Heathrow – further we are the only company to provide foreign currency exchange services at all 5 Heathrow terminals. Travelex offers customers the convenience of over 60 currencies, in stock and readily available around the clock from our retail branches, plus help and advice from our expert staff. Additionally, Travelex has a rapidly expanding network of ATMs which offer both foreign and local currency.

Travelex Group:
In addition to its Retail operations, Travelex is the world's largest non-bank provider of international payment services, providing integrated payment solutions for businesses. The Group is also one of the world's leading providers of outsourced travel money to Banks, Travel Agencies and other financial institutions

For more information, please contact:

Kat McGettigan – Talk PR / Hannah Shanks – Talk PR
0207 544 3804 / 0207 544 3616
Kat.mcgettigan@talkpr.com / Hannah.shanks@talkpr.com