Title – Currency cards beat sky-high airport rates
Source – London Lite
Date – 25th February 2009
One of the key considerations when you are planning independent travel is the best way to take money with you and how to access it when you are travelling.
The balance between cards, cash and travellers cheques should be a starting point. Currencies should be your second consideration; often a combination of local currency and US dollars, Euros and Stirling is required. If you are travelling through many countries this can mean that you end up with far too much cash on parts of your trip and far too little in countries where access to more may be a challenge.
For example when you travel in Papua New Guinea, cash is essential as banks can be few and far between, yet it can be a very dangerous country and you really want to avoid carrying too much cash… then there is the added problem that in some parts of New Guinea cash is pretty worthless as a barter system still largely exists… it can be a real headache.
During the global economic meltdown we are now experiencing, foreign exchange fluctuations have been unprecedented and there are likely to be more to come. Some have been advantageous to UK travellers and the pound has strengthened against the weakest currencies; but unfortunately most have strengthened against the pound.
As an example some independent travellers we advised recently set off for South East Asia on a three month trip last year. The US dollar is widely used in many of the countries they visited. At the start of their trip £1 was worth just under $2, by the time they got back it had lost about 25% of its value and a £1 only bought $1.45; this put a serious dent in their budget. Foreign exchange is not always a subject independent travellers take much interest in while travelling, or at least not until their cards start being rejected…
There are ways of effectively ‘hedging’ against these fluctuations which should be a consideration for independent travellers while this economic turmoil continues and there are increasingly different ways of accessing your money when abroad, which add convenience and protection.
At
Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance alongside sessions on Travel Safety, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice and more. Currency cards are one consideration which offer some level of protection from both currency fluctuations and the more traditional concerns over the safety of your money from theft and fraud. The focus of our workshop is on suitable solutions for your specific travel plans.Source – London Lite
Date – 25th February 2009
One of the key considerations when you are planning independent travel is the best way to take money with you and how to access it when you are travelling.
The balance between cards, cash and travellers cheques should be a starting point. Currencies should be your second consideration; often a combination of local currency and US dollars, Euros and Stirling is required. If you are travelling through many countries this can mean that you end up with far too much cash on parts of your trip and far too little in countries where access to more may be a challenge.
For example when you travel in Papua New Guinea, cash is essential as banks can be few and far between, yet it can be a very dangerous country and you really want to avoid carrying too much cash… then there is the added problem that in some parts of New Guinea cash is pretty worthless as a barter system still largely exists… it can be a real headache.
During the global economic meltdown we are now experiencing, foreign exchange fluctuations have been unprecedented and there are likely to be more to come. Some have been advantageous to UK travellers and the pound has strengthened against the weakest currencies; but unfortunately most have strengthened against the pound.
As an example some independent travellers we advised recently set off for South East Asia on a three month trip last year. The US dollar is widely used in many of the countries they visited. At the start of their trip £1 was worth just under $2, by the time they got back it had lost about 25% of its value and a £1 only bought $1.45; this put a serious dent in their budget. Foreign exchange is not always a subject independent travellers take much interest in while travelling, or at least not until their cards start being rejected…
There are ways of effectively ‘hedging’ against these fluctuations which should be a consideration for independent travellers while this economic turmoil continues and there are increasingly different ways of accessing your money when abroad, which add convenience and protection.
At
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