How To Get The Most From Your Holiday Fund

IF chaos at the airport and flight cancellations aren’t enough to cope with, the exchange rate for holiday money has been in turmoil over recent weeks too.

- Tricia Phillips

While exchange rates are not normally something that feels relevant to your life, when you’re planning a summer holiday, suddenly it comes into focus.

In the middle of June, the pound hit its lowest level against the euro since May last year, at 86.77p, and the lowest level against the dollar since Covid hit in March 2020, at below $1.20.

Barclays warned it hadn’t hit the bottom yet. It expects it to fall to the point where a pound gets you just over 1.1 euros.

This isn’t good news to anyone planning a trip abroad this summer, as it will mean holiday spending won’t stretch as far.

Latest research from Post Office Travel Money shows the pound has fallen against most currencies, which means it will buy less than it did 12 months ago for 11 of the Post Office’s top 30 bestselling currencies.

Those travelling to the US will get more than £76 less on a £500 transaction, as the pound has dropped 13.3% against the dollar. Anyone lucky enough to be off to the Caribbean will get £73 less.

Turkey is one of the few popular Brit destinations where sterling will stretch further than last year. If you change up £500, you can expect to receive over 65% more in Turkish lira – that’s almost £198 extra.