Money Travel Tips

Travelling abroad? These tips will help you get sorted with your foreign currency and find the best travel money rates.

* you can get a better travel money rate by ordering in advance and not waiting until you get to the airport
* if you got your foreign currency at the Post Office®, and you are not travelling again you can sell back leftover notes without paying any commission at any Post Office® branch by showing your receipt
* it’s a good idea to have small- and medium-denomination notes rather than large

1. know how much cash to take. Carrying too much money can be a safety issue, but travelling with too little may also be a problem if you have difficulties accessing your bank account. Before ordering your currency, check whether cashpoints are widely available at your destination and whether your hotel or rental car agency accepts credit cards.
2. stay away from big notes. In some countries, taxis or smaller shops might not have enough change to handle large-denomination notes, or may not accept them for security reasons. Be sure to get plenty of smaller notes for food, drink and taxis while you’re on holiday.
3. keep small notes at hand for tips. Having small notes before your trip will make it easier to tip taxi drivers or hotel porters when you arrive. Check your guide book or ask your holiday rep how much to tip.
4. check that your bank card works abroad. Some banks put an automatic international security stop on cards to prevent fraud. Contact your bank before you go on holiday to check.
5. book your travel money in advance. It pays to be early, since you won’t get the best deal at airport or station foreign exchange counters.
6. consider a range of travel money. You might want to consider not putting all your travel money eggs in one basket. For instance, if you take just travellers cheques, converting them to cash might not always be as convenient as having cash in your pocket. Likewise going loaded with rolls of notes and nothing else means you could come unstuck should your travel money go on a holiday of its own! You might consider taking enough cash to keep you going for a few days at a time backed up by travellers cheques.


Source: http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/travel/travel-money/travel-money-tips